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Saturday's divisional games

Packers over Seahawks: A fun game to watch, if you like the Packers. I turned the TV on when it was 14-0 Seattle. That was the high point for Seattle's postseason, since the Packers ended up winning by 22.

I was stoked to see Favre play so well, and he played so under control. He didn't take any dumb chances, but he still had a cool Favre play, that one when he was falling forward avoiding a sack and flipped the ball ahead to tight end Donald Lee for a first down.

But mostly it was just cool to see Favre playing with such passion and to see a playoff game in Lambeau in the snow. I know a lot of people are waiting for Favre to retire, and I know the Packers haven't been very good in recent years, so maybe it doesn't really matter if he stays or goes. But Green Bay is professional football, you know? I'd hate to see Favre retire and have such a prominent franchise fade from the national scene. I couldn't help thinking about that during the game.

Patriots over Jaguars: As any idiot or sane monkey could have predicted, the Patriots defeated the Jaguars. (I do NOT think it's impressive that I called this game. I do think it's amazing that anyone got it wrong.) The Jaguars played the Pats pretty neck-and-neck in the first half, though, which I guess gives them an Eli Manning-like moral victory. (Now watch Manning beat the Cowboys tomorrow and have everyone wonder on Monday what I meant by that...obviously I'm talking about the 16-0 game where the Giants kept it close.)

The Jaguars' vaunted running game picked up 80 yards on 22 carries. Lawrence Maroney of the Patriots had just as many carries, but picked up 122 yards and a score. Tom Brady had the best completion percentage in playoff history, which is kind of a dumb stat but neat for him, I guess.

Forget the stats, though. The Patriots had a bunch of sweet plays, like the fake-snap-to-the-tailback that ended in a touchdown pass, or that play where it looked like Brady was throwing it away but instead threw it to Donté Stallworth for 53 yards, or maybe Stallworth's last first-down catch, where he dove for the marker on third down and helped kill some clock at the end. I'm just glad today was such a great day for football.

Comments

John said…
Maroney went for 122 yards and the Pats held the Jags to 80 yards on the ground. I guess, Blaine, the Pats can neither run the ball nor defend the run well enough to beat the historic Jacksonville franchise.

Stallworth had a huge game, and I particularly liked his smart play to pick up the first down at the end.

The Seahawks-Packers was one of the most fun games to watch I have seen in awhile. It reminded me of playing in the front yard during a snow storm, and Favre was playing some inspired football. All I have to say is that if the weather is like that in Green Bay next weekend, the Giants don't stand a chance.
8:02 AM
blaine said…
I was really surprised that the Jags came out throwing the ball, and for the most part, continued to throw the ball the whole game. Garrard even had more yards passing than Brady! Clearly the Patriots are a better team than the Jags, but I think Del Rio did a good job changing up the plays in the first half, but the Jags were outmatched in the second half. I would've liked to have seen the Jags try to come out running the ball more in the third quarter, and try to send some more guys at Brady to put some pressure on him. Having said that, no matter how many changes they could've made, it's clear that the Pats would've still found a way to win. That offensive line for the Pats is pretty amazing. The way they man-handle D-linemen, it reminds me of the O-line of the Cowboys from the 90s.
10:38 AM
Mike said…
Yeah, I loved the weather in Green Bay, and it would be cool to see it again this week. Plus I think a Packers-Patriots Super Bowl could be a lot of fun.

Blaine, at least you see it now...
1:56 PM
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