NFL Playoff Recap: 10 Things We Learned from Wild Card Weekend
With Wild Card Weekend officially finished, it's time to take a look back and digest everything we saw. There were a number of stories that emerged from the first round of the playoffs, but none as big as the Seattle Seahawks upsetting the defending Super Bowl champion New Orleans Saints.
Matt Hasselbeck may have played his final game in Seattle this past weekend and if it was indeed his last game at Qwest Field, he went out on top. The Seahawk QB was brilliant throughout the afternoon tossing four touchdown passes as he led the offense to a season-high 41 points.
Other than finding out that Hasselbeck still has some game left in him, here are 10 things we learned from Wild Card Weekend.
Michael Vick Reverted to His Old Passing Ways
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Philadelphia Vick went back to Atlanta Vick against the Green Bay Packers. Vick never looked comfortable in the pocket even when there was no pressure from the Packer front four. Defensive coordinator Dom Capers mixed coverages wonderfully throughout the game.
What was most impressive about Capers' scheme was how he had the defense sit back and force Vick to beat Green Bay in the pocket. Unfortunately, for Vick and Eagles fans, he was unable to do so. Vick showed improved accuracy this season and rarely turned the football over.
But in the biggest game of the season, Vick misfired on a number of throws and threw a game-ending interception on a 1st-and-10 deep in Green Bay territory. While Vick improved leaps and bounds this season from the QB we saw in Atlanta, it's clear that he's far from a finished product.
The Chicago Bears Are the Biggest Winners of the Weekend
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The Atlanta Falcons went 13-3 in the regular season earning themselves the No. 1 seed in the NFC. On the other hand the Chicago Bears finished with two less wins, yet will get the benefit of hosting the now 8-9 Seahawks whereas the Falcons will have to host the red hot Packers.
Make sense?
Whether it's fair or not doesn't matter because it won't change anything. And with the momentum Seattle gained with its win over New Orleans they aren't going to go down without a fight. Nevertheless, though, the Bears benefited the most from the Seahawks winning.
Last Year's Super Bowl Teams Just Weren't the Same
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The faces of both franchises remained the same in Drew Brees and Peyton Manning, but the supporting casts were different. Both Indianapolis and New Orleans lost key players to injury this season from last year's Super Bowl teams, which ultimately ended up being too much to overcome for each side.
The Saints lost their key running back in Pierre Thomas, who played such a vital role in last year's playoff run. On the Colts' side, the biggest loss of the year was when Dallas Clark went down for the season. Clark's been Manning's go-to-guy in crunch time over the years and was clearly missed in Saturday night's loss to the New York Jets.
Even if both squads were healthy, it doesn't mean that they would have necessarily been a shoe in to get back to the Super Bowl, but their chances of getting there would have greatly increased.
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Matt Cassel Isn't the Answer at QB
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Look at Cassel's regular season numbers, and you are mislead to believe that he is one of the better QB's in the NFL. When in fact that is not the case at all. Cassel is a solid QB on a team who emphasizes the running game and taking care of the football.
Against Baltimore, Cassel was terrible. He turned the football over three times and threw for a paltry 70 yards. Those aren't numbers you can win with from your QB.
When Cassel was asked to make plays—after the Kansas City run game was unsuccessful—through the air he not only was ineffective, he also looked scared. If the Chiefs want to build on this season's success they are going to need to find a new signal-caller because in the biggest game of the season, Cassel didn't just come up short, he face planted.
And so did the Chiefs' chances of moving on into the next round.
Green Bay's the Most Dangerous Team
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This just in, the Packers are good. Really good. Aaron Rodgers wasn't spectacular against the Eagles, mostly because he didn't have to be. Instead the Packers pounded the ball on the ground for most of the afternoon choosing to wear down the Eagles defense.
And when Rodgers needed to make a play through the air he did. It was an impressive offensive performance from Green Bay because of how balanced they were. When this team gets any semblance of a running game, the Packer offense becomes that much more dangerous.
Enough about the offense, how about the Packers defense?
Vick was sacked three times and never was able to get into a rhythm. Clay Matthews had one of those sacks, but the biggest defensive play of the game belonged to Tramon Williams who intercepted Vick to end the game.
With the Packers D playing the way it is and recent emergence of the running game, nobody will want to see Green Bay right now.
Nick Folk's Foot Backs Rex Ryan's Mouth
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Ryan pitted himself up against Manning as if they were squaring off in a boxing ring. While that certainly would be entertaining it was just as fun to watch Ryan and Manning battle on the football field—well, for Rex, the sidelines.
At the end of the game Ryan's Jets were the ones left standing after Folk nailed a 32-yard field goal to send Manning's Colts another disappointing first-round loss. The game started off slow with neither team able to get anything going on the offensive end, but by the end of the game both teams were firing on all cylinders.
It was a great ending for the Jets, and they will move on to face the New England Patriots. As much smack as Ryan talks, it's good for the game that he was able to back it up. Now we will have another week of this to look forward to.
Adam Vinatieri Remains NFL's Best Kicker
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Vinatieri doesn't attempt many 50+ yard field goals, but that didn't cause Jim Caldwell to even hesitate to send his kicker out to try and give the Colts the lead. And Vinatieri rewarded Caldwell's faith by absolutely crushing a 50-yard field goal through the uprights.
The ball would have been good from 60 that's how well Vinatieri struck it. Once again the kicker out of South Dakota St. reminded us all that he's still the best in the game.
Vinatieri will be a free agent after the playoffs conclude, and if you're a Super Bowl-contending team there's no doubt Vinatieri is worth the dough.
Marshawn Lynch Etched Himself into History
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Lynch's 67-yard TD run is already being touted as one of the best playoff runs of all-time. And despite the Saints poor tackling on the play, it's hard to argue. The run put a dagger in the Saints comeback hopes and put the 'Hawks up by 11.
It was a highlight reel run that we will be shown for years to come. Not only was it a great run, but it pretty much summed up the whole game; it was just as hard to believe the 'Hawks won as it was that Lynch would evade almost every Saint defender en route to the end zone.
The whole game had a fairytale-esque feel to it, and Lynch's run was no different.
Jim Caldwell's Timeout Will Land Him on Hot Seat
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Poor, Jim Caldwell. He panicked, called an inexcusable timeout and ultimately will receive a large share of blame for Indy's early exit.
Caldwell may have landed himself on the hot seat after Saturday night's time management gaffe when he called a timeout allowing the Jets to regroup, which was then followed by Mark Sanchez hitting Braylon Edwards along the sidelines to set up a chip shot field goal.
Judging by Manning's face—after the timeout was called—you could tell he wasn't entirely pleased with Caldwell's decision making. If the Colts don't either win the Super Bowl next year or make a better run at it, I wouldn't be surprised if Caldwell is relieved of his duties.
That's down the road, but Caldwell's seat got a hell of a lot warmer over the weekend.
The Best Has Yet To Come
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Wild Card Weekend was fantastic as three of the four games came down to the end. And if we learned from this past weekend, we should be in for some even more exciting games next week.
In the AFC, the two matchups pit division rivals against each other, which will make this upcoming week one chalk full of storylines. There isn't a dominant team in the field like there was a year ago, so it's conceivable to believe that any team still remaining the playoffs could win it all—yes, even you Seattle.
Bottom line: next weekend's games will be some of the most anticipated matchups in recent history.
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