As 2011 started, we were already waist deep in football excitement. Teams have battled their way to the playoffs, and finally, we’re here. To start off the schedule, the Saints and Seahawks fought for the win during the Wild Card weekend with Seattle knocking out New Orleans with a 41-36 win. Next, the Jets and Colts played an extremely thrilling and close game, with the Jets keeping up their streak with a 17-16 win, keeping fans on the edge of their seats, while Folk kicked the winning 32-yard field goal, knocking out the Colts.
Sunday Night Football started off with the Ravens knocking out the Chiefs in an easy 30-7 win, with Lewis leading the Ravens through a third-quarter surge with one touchdown and two field goals off of three turnovers. The Packers and Eagles faced off next in an intense game where the Packers proved everyone wrong, knocking out the Eagles with three touchdown passes and the 33 second steal by Cooper to win the game. The teams led gruesome practices throughout the next week, so when they returned to the field for the Division Playoffs, fans were given exhilarating games yet again.
To kick it off, Baltimore and Pittsburg went head to head to try to get the win, but when Roethlisberger and Antonio Brown connected for a 58-yard pass with less than two minutes to go, they knew they had it. Then there was the toss that led Mendenhall to score the winning touchdown from two-yards for a victorious 31-24 win over the Ravens. It was a most fitting comeback for Roethlisberger.
Next up: Packers vs. Falcons. Although Green Bay wasn’t home, it sure felt like it when the teams’ fans chanted, “Go, Pack Go!” as they conquered at Baltimore. Rodgers threw three touchdown passes and ran for another score, and threw a total of 366 yards to lead Green Bay to the highest-scoring playoff win in history. Why wouldn’t Packers fans be happy? Rodgers completed 31 of 36 passes and put up more yards than Brett Farve ever threw for in a playoff game. “It was one of those nights,” Rodgers stated. “I felt like I was in the zone.”
As Sunday rolled around, so did the beginning of the end of the Divisional Playoffs. First up: Seahawks and Bears. Although Seattle put up an amazing fight, they couldn’t hold their winning streak against Chicago. Cutler played an amazing game against Seattle by running for two touchdowns, one of six yards and one for nine, threw for two more, and threw a 58-yard touchdown pass caught by Greg Olsen. Taylor added another one-yarder and Davis caught a 39-yard throw with 4:40 left. Cutler left the rest up to defense, which left them on top.
Now, this past weekend, the Bears and the Packers went head to head, but of course there are no scores to post because the games hadn’t started by the time this was written. But for next week’s article, there will be updates on the games from Sunday. May the best teams win!
