NFL Playoff Mainstays Dominated in First Round

Two near constants in late postseason play this decade, the New England Patriots and Philadelphia Eagles, lost dramatically in the first round to close out their seasons.

The pair of mainstays lost by a combined 67-28.

The similarities don’t end with near identical final scores (a 34-14 win for Dallas, 33-14 for Baltimore):  The teams both won with power running games steamrolling their opposition. 

For Dallas, Felix Jones led the way with 148 yards for a team with 198 net yards on the ground.  Baltimore was powered by Ray Rice’s 159 yards to lead their 235 yard rushing performance.

Added to similar ground success was a capacity to force turnovers.

Tom Brady was harassed into coughing up the ball four times, tossing three interceptions along with losing a fumble.  Philadelphia spread the turnover wealth around, losing three fumbles by three different players (Donovan McNabb, Michael Vick, and Leonard Weaver) along with one McNabb interception.

The swarming defenses and power rushing games fly in the face of a regular season that was in many ways the year of the pass. 

Neither team appeared completely up for the game.

The Philadelphia Eagles looked just as flat and confused in the Wild Card Round as they had in their Week 17 loss to those same Dallas Cowboys to give up the NFC East division lead.  When the game had ended, Dallas virtually doubled Philadelphia’s time of possession (39:34 to 20:36). 

The seasoned New England Patriots were still reeling from the unexpected injury to Wes Welker in Week 17.  They were pounded early as Baltimore jumped out to a 24-0 lead to close the first quarter.  In the middle stages of the game they threatened to make it closer than their NFC counterparts by closing the gap to 27-14.

Baltimore held strong and shut New England down in the fourth quarter with a clock chewing running game.  The final time of possession favored Baltimore modestly (32:21 to 27:39), but felt like it weighed far more to the Ravens.

With second round matchups upcoming, the relieved Cowboys and fired-up Ravens now look to be genuine threats.  Both are playing their best football of the year at the right time in the midst of several teams suffering late-season stumbles.

Baltimore played Indianapolis close in a 17-15 loss to the Colts.  They also stuffed San Diego 31-26 early in the year.

Both wins give the team confidence that they can face any AFC opponent, though they will likely need more out of quarterback Joe Flacco across the rest of the playoffs after the Ravens running game allowed him to win on a mere four of ten passing for 34 yards and an interception. 

Dallas also has seen some success against a top seed in their own conference.  The Cowboys played New Orleans in Week 15, dealing the Saints their first loss of the year while starting a three game winning streak to close the regular season.

Whether or not they can translate this success into even deeper playoff runs remains to be seen.  What is certain, however, is that in the opening round, Dallas and Baltimore emerged as dominant victors in embarrassing their veteran opponents.