Bleacher Report's Post-Conference Championship Awards
The combatants have been set.
On Sunday, Feb. 1, the New England Patriots and Seattle Seahawks will meet at University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Arizona.
The winner will leave as Super Bowl champions.
On Sunday we watched football history. The Seahawks put together the biggest comeback in conference championship history, rallying from a 16-0 halftime deficit to win an instant classic in overtime.
The Pats, on the other hand, pounded the Indianapolis Colts 45-7, propelling quarterback Tom Brady to a record sixth start in football's biggest game.
It was—well, it was why we love football. And I still haven't caught my breath.
Here's a look back at the best (and worst) of Sunday's conference title games.
Team of the Week
1 of 10
Winner: New England Patriots
Here's one I bet you haven't heard before!
The New England Patriots are going to the Super Bowl!
Yeah, yeah. I know. It does get sort of old after a while.
Still, of the week's two winners, there's little question which one was more impressive.
For the fourth time in four meetings against the Andrew Luck-led Colts, the Patriots treated Indy like a cat treats live dinner.
They played with them for a while, then they killed and ate them.
Riding a brute power running game, the Patriots hammered the Colts on the ground with LeGarrette Blount, who rumbled his way to 148 yards and three scores.
The Pats dominated on the other side of the ball as well. Luck was pressured throughout the game. He completed only a single pass to a wide receiver in the first half and didn't eclipse 100 passing yards until late in the third quarter.
A drive on which he threw an interception to Darrelle Revis turned the game from a rout into a laugher.
The Patriots put on a clinic, and if they play like this two weeks from now, the only thing the Seahawks will be continuing is the dry spell since a team won two Super Bowls in a row.
Which was the Patriots (XXXVIII and XXXIX)—because of course it was.
Coach of the Week
2 of 10
Winner: Pete Carroll, HC, Seattle Seahawks
This one's something of a toughie. After all, in the first half of Sunday's NFC Championship Game, it was fair to wonder if Seattle Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll bothered to mention to his team that it had a game.
However, despite falling into a 16-0 halftime hole and playing like a stinking pile of, well, not good for most of the first three quarters, the Seahawks never quit.
Carroll also didn't leave anything in the chamber, either. The fake field goal that led to a touchdown in the third quarter. The onside kick with just over two minutes left, when there was still (in theory) enough time to kick it deep and hope for a quick three-and-out.
Both calls were aggressive. Both calls also worked.
Those are the kind that always make coaches look smart.
After the game, Carroll told The Associated Press (via ESPN), "It takes everybody and everybody had to contribute to get that done. It was so much heart, so much belief today. Somehow, somehow we pulled it out."
Well, everyone did contribute, including the Seahawks' eternally optimistic head coach.
Honorable Mention: It may have been a losing effort, but the Green Bay defense came to play on Sunday.
For the first three quarters, the unit, under coordinator Dom Capers, completely stymied Seattle offensively. Selling out to stop Marshawn Lynch while daring Russell Wilson to beat them with his arm, the Packers forced five turnovers, including four Wilson interceptions.
Yes, Capers' defense faltered late, but Green Bay head coach Mike McCarthy wasn't hearing accusations after the game that the defense let the team down, according to Lori Nickel of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
"You talking about our defense," McCarthy asked. "Hey they made the big plays when they needed to."
Well, except for that last one, anyway.
Goat of the Week
3 of 10
"Winner": Mike McCarthy, HC, Green Bay Packers
It started even while everything was going right for the Green Bay Packers.
The Packers spent almost the entire first half of Sunday's NFC Championship Game in Seattle on the Seahawks' side of the field. Twice in the first quarter, only a single yard stood between Green Bay and the end zone.
And twice Green Bay head coach Mike McCarthy kicked field goals rather than going for it.
Granted, NBC Sports analyst (and former head coach) Tony Dungy tweeted that the safe route was the wise one. "Mike McCarthy is coaching a very smart game," Dungy said. "He is playing the way you have to play here in Seattle to beat the Seahawks."
Bleacher Report's Ian Kenyon disagreed after Seattle head man Pete Carroll reached into his bag of tricks for a fake field goal in the third quarter. "Pete Carroll coaching to win," Kenyon said. "Mike McCarthy coaching not to lose."
With the Seahawks storming back and the Packers stuck in neutral, Grantland's Bill Simmons did one better than Kenyon. "This was an incredible bad coaching performance by Mike McCarthy," Simmons said. "We're gonna be telling our grandkids about it."
It wasn't entirely McCarthy's fault that the Packers managed to lose a game handed to them on a silver platter.
With that said, though, he deserves his share of the blame for not taking that platter and beating the Seahawks with it in the first quarter.
His decision not to go for the touchdown either time let the Seahawks stick around.
And the Seahawks showed McCarthy what happens if you let them do that.
(Dis)Honorable Mention: Call this the near-Goat of the Week award, otherwise known as the "Whew!"
The chief valet delivering that silver platter to the Packers Sunday was Seattle quarterback Russell Wilson, who kept delivering the football to the opposition.
For the first time in his NFL career, Wilson threw four interceptions, all on passes intended for wide receiver Jermaine Kearse. A fifth pass fell incomplete.
Now, the sixth time he targeted Kearse? That worked out a bit better.
Yes, Wilson threw that game-winning pass and ran for another score during Seattle's frenetic comeback.
However, there's a reason Wilson was overcome by emotion at the end of the game.
He was relieved, because he knows as well as we do that he was horrible for most of the afternoon.
.jpg?w=256 "Colts Jaguars Football")
Play of the Week
4 of 10
Winner: Seahawks' two-point Hail Mary
It's nearly impossible to pick just one play from Sunday's NFC Championship Game. It's like opening a can of Pringles and picking one as the best. They're all equally salty and delicious.
However, one play stood out as the wackiest in a game filled with wacky plays.
After Marshawn Lynch scored the go-ahead touchdown for the Seattle Seahawks, the team lined up to go for two.
Quarterback Russell Wilson rolled out, bought some time, bought some more time, drifted back a good 15 yards—and floated a rainbow up for grabs.
A rainbow that tight end Luke Willson caught for the two-point conversion.
Two points the Seahawks wound up needing, as the Packers drove downfield for a 48-yard Mason Crosby field goal that forced overtime.
Honorable Mention: It will forever be buried in the Packers' loss, but that final drive to tie the score featured a nice little bit of running from Green Bay quarterback Aaron Rodgers.
Sure, the 12-yard scramble wasn't the longest of Rodgers' career. But given that Rodgers essentially picked up those 12 yards on one good leg thanks to his injured calf, the run may have been his gutsiest.
That was no consolation to Rodgers after the game, according to Dan Hanzus of NFL.com.
"It's going to be a missed opportunity that we're probably going to think about the rest of my career," Rodgers said.
Drive of the Week
5 of 10
Winner: Seahawks' overtime game-winner
If you're playing the Seattle Seahawks at CenturyLink Field and the game reaches overtime, pray you win the toss.
Otherwise, you may not even see the ball.
For the second time this season, the Seahawks took the opening drive of overtime, drove the length of the field and scored a touchdown.
Even in today's kinder, gentler overtime, that's all she wrote.
It also marked the second straight season in which Jermaine Kearse caught the deciding touchdown pass in the NFC Championship Game, Sunday's coming courtesy of a 35-yard first-down strike from Russell Wilson.
After the Seahawks' miracle win, Kearse turned to Bob Condotta of The Seattle Times and said simply, "That was an interesting day."
That's one way of putting it.
Honorable Mention: You'd never know it to look at the final score, but Sunday evening's AFC title tilt was actually a game at halftime.
The Patriots led the Indianapolis Colts 17-7 at the break and received the second half's opening kick.
Using a combination of power running and quick passes, the Patriots engineered a nine-play, 87-yard drive that culminated in a 16-yard touchdown pass to Nate Solder.
You heard me. Nate Solder. The tackle.
Hey, it was that kinda day for the big uglies.
The Patriots' trickeration put New England up 24-7, and just like that the rout was on.
Best Decision
6 of 10
Winner: Seahawks' fake field goal
It's back to Seattle for some more wonkiness.
With about five minutes to go in the third quarter and the Seahawks facing the same 16-0 deficit they began the second half with, the team lined up for a Steven Hauschka field-goal attempt at the Green Bay 19.
Points are points, right?
However, as Bleacher Report's Kyle Newport pointed out, head coach Pete Carroll and the Seahawks had something up their sleeves:
"Punter Jon Ryan took off with the snap and hit 6'6", 306-pound tackle Garry Gilliam on the run for the touchdown. The fake field goal put the Seahawks on the board for the first time all game.
Gilliam decided to mark the occasion by breaking out one of Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers' signature celebrations.
"
The touchdown put the Seahawks on the board, got their fans back into the game and began one of the most improbable comebacks in NFL history.
Honorable Mention: Yes, it was an obvious call for the New England Patriots to pound away on the ground again against the Colts, especially after Jonas Gray gashed Indy for 201 yards on the ground earlier this season.
Still, where some coaches would get cute or fall prey to their own egos, Darth Hoodie didn't fix what wasn't broken.
Once again Patriots head coach Bill Belichick repeatedly hammered the Colts defense with a power back. This time it was LeGarrette Blount; but while the name on the jersey was different, the result was the same.
Thirty carries, 148 yards, three touchdowns. And another blowout win for New England.
Worst Decision
7 of 10
"Winner": Packers kicking field goal(s) on 4th-and-goal
Listen, I get it.
Your team is on the road, playing against one of the NFL's best defenses. Points are at a premium.
While speaking with reporters (including Lori Nickel of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel) after Sunday's loss, Green Bay Packers head coach Mike McCarthy gave the same rationale for twice eschewing 4th-and-goal from the 1-yard line for field-goal attempts in the first quarter against the Seahawks:
"Field goals early in the game, we knew that points were at a premium. Frankly, I would have liked to have gone for it there on fourth down, but based on what we saw, on second and third down, I just felt that you had to take points. I didn't think a lot of points would win this game. I didn't think it would take a lot of points to win this game, today was my thinking coming in. I felt great about our defense all week, just the way they've been building here in the last eight, nine weeks. So, that's why we had to take the field goals.
"
Still, the fact is that despite absolutely dominating the first half of the NFC Championship Game, the Packers led by only two scores at the break.
If you want to kick the first time, fine. No argument.
But the second time down? That was off a Seattle turnover. The Packers were playing with house money and folded.
The Seahawks turned the ball over five times.
The Packers managed all of six points off those turnovers—in part because McCarthy apparently left his aggression in Wisconsin for the week.
Offensive Player of the Week
8 of 10
Winner: Marshawn Lynch, RB, Seattle Seahawks
Before the NFC Championship Game, there was a footwear kerfuffle regarding everyone's favorite media-averse, earthquake-causing running back.
As ESPN's Ed Werder reported, the NFL made it clear to Seattle running back Marshawn Lynch that were he to wear his $1,100 gold-plated cleats, he would be penalized for violating the uniform code—up to and including ejection from the game.
As an aside, spending a grand on gold-plated shoes is dumb, even by rich-people standards. But whatever, it's his money.
Lynch ditched the shoes. Turns out he didn't need them.
Beast Mode was in full effect Sunday against a Green Bay defense that did everything to stop Lynch short of using a Taser.
That's a penalty too, I think.
Twenty-five carries for 157 yards and a touchdown on the ground. A 26-yard catch that was inches from a second trip to the end zone.
Simply put, for most of the game Lynch was the Seattle offense.
When reached for comment after the game, Lynch delivered this extensive, thoughtful reflection on the big game...
Ha! Had you going there for a second, huh?
No? Well I thought it was funny. So there.
Defensive Player of the Week
9 of 10
Winner: Morgan Burnett, SS, Green Bay Packers
Sunday's conference championship games may have featured an epic comeback and an epic beatdown, but they didn't really feature an epic individual performance on the defensive side of the ball.
In fact, the week's best defensive showing by an individual went for naught—and got him ripped by the Twitterverse in the process.
Green Bay's Morgan Burnett is one of the more underrated strong safeties in the NFL, and against the Seahawks the fifth-year veteran did everything but stand on his head.
Burnett tallied 10 tackles, two sacks and an interception in the game, with three of those stops coming behind the line of scrimmage.
Burnett caught flak for not trying to advance his fourth-quarter interception (he simply slid to the turf with just over five minutes left), and among those critics was Jay Busbee of Yahoo Sports:
"Whether he panicked, whether he feared fumbling, or whether he, like most of the rest of America, believed he'd just clinched the game for Green Bay, Burnett hit the ground and slid. Had he moved further into Seahawks territory, he could have set up, at the very least, another field goal that would have further tightened the screws on Seattle. Instead, the Packers soon punted, and less than two minutes later, Seattle was in the end zone for the first of its three late touchdowns.
"
That's some pretty hardcore 20-20 hindsight, though, and it only serves as a painful reminder that the finger-pointing and "what happeneds?" are only just beginning where the Packers' stunning defeat is concerned.
Honorable Mention: It's hard to pick just one defensive player from the New England Patriots who best exemplifies Sunday's AFC annihilation—so I won't.
Whether it was defensive end Rob Ninkovich chasing Andrew Luck, linebacker Jamie Collins making plays or cornerback Kyle Arrington shutting down wide receiver T.Y. Hilton, all three levels of the New England defense played a great game against the Colts.
And they all deserve some run.
Player of the Week
10 of 10
Winner: LeGarrette Blount, RB, New England Patriots
New England Patriots running back LeGarrette Blount is a January man.
Forget about August. To be blunt, Blount doesn't like it.
Get it? Blunt? HA! That's gold, Jerry! Gold!
And you can forget about November. Blount's not a fan.
However, get Blount on the field in January, against the Indianapolis Colts, and it's on like Donkey Kong.
For the second straight season, Blount bludgeoned the Colts in a playoff game. This time it was 30 totes for 148 yards and three touchdowns—and it sent the Patriots back to the Super Bowl.
The game made Blount the first player in NFL history to score three or more rushing touchdowns in a postseason game more than once.
Not bad for a player who was out of work eight weeks ago.
.jpg?w=480 "Colts Jaguars Football")
.png?w=480)
