2016 NFL: Divisional Playoffs

And now we come to the Divisional Playoffs.  This round usually is a lot of fun.  This year, all four games are rematches from earlier in the season.  Only one will be played at the same site as the regular-season game.  Interesting note: this is only the third time since the league switched to eight divisions that all eight division winners have met in the Divisional Round.  Also, for some reason, almost every year this century has had one of the four Divisional Playoff home teams lay an egg.  Will it happen this year?  We shall see…

@ Atlanta Falcons 36, Seattle Seahawks 20

• Interesting Factor #1: Atlanta’s head coach used to be Seattle’s defensive coordinator.
• Interesting Factor #2: In Seattle during Week Six, Atlanta lost by two and felt cheated out of the opportunity to win when the officials inexplicably kept their flags in their pockets when receiver Julio Jones was blatantly interfered with on a fourth down pass in Seattle territory.
• Interesting Factor #3: The Atlanta fans entered the gates knowing that it could be the last time they see their team play a game in the Georgia Dome.
• Seattle made quite a statement on their opening drive, going 89 yards in 14 plays that took 8:34 off of the clock.
• Atlanta running back Tevin Coleman made an outstanding play on the first play of the second quarter. On second and three from the Seattle 13, he ran sweep to the right.  It looked like it would be a five-yard loss, but he juked his way out of it to turn it into a seven-yard gain, making it first and goal from the six.  Atlanta quarterback Matt Ryan then threw a touchdown pass to Julio Jones on a quick slant, and the extra point tied the game at seven.  That made this the seventh straight game where Atlanta scored a touchdown on their first possession of the game.
• With 13:10 left in the second, Seattle receiver Paul Richardson made a diving catch, then got up as Atlanta cornerback Jalen Collins passed by and ran the ball into the end zone for what appeared to be a cheap touchdown. The play was overturned by the replay booth, however, as Collins clearly touched Richardson before he got up.  On the next play, Atlanta defensive end Brooks Reed sacked Wilson for a seven-yard loss, and Seattle ended up having to settle for a field goal two plays later.
• On Atlanta’s first punt, which came with 10:34 left in the second, Seattle returner Devin Hester made an electrifying 78-yard return that nearly went for a touchdown. Except it didn’t count, since linebacker Kevin Pierre-Lewis was caught holding Atlanta guard Larry Richardson while the punt was in the air.[1]  The penalty enforcement spot is at the spot where the kick ended…and since it was inside the 20, the penalty was half the distance to the goal.  HUGE mistake.
• Two plays later, Wilson fell in the end zone, where he was touched for a safety. Right guard Rees Odhiambo[2] stepped on Wilson’s foot just after the snap, causing him to fall.
• After the safety punt, Atlanta gained three more points on a Matt Bryant field goal, making the score 12-10 in favor of Atlanta.[3]
• Seattle made a great punt coverage play with 3:48 left in the second to pin Atlanta inside their own 1. Fox then ran a mind-boggling stat: this season, Atlanta had 10 touchdown drives that started inside their own 10.  No other team had more than six.
• On cue, Atlanta marched 99 yards in nine plays to score a touchdown. The drive culminated in a 14- yard pass to a wide-open Coleman.
• Seattle committed yet another special teams penalty on the ensuing kickoff. This time it was on guard Mark Glowinski, who was caught holding.
• Seattle cornerback Desean Shead’s knee injury on the second play from scrimmage of the second half made me grimace. His leg wasn’t supposed to bend the way it did.
• Later in the drive, Seattle defensive tackle Michael Bennett was irate, and he almost picked a fight on the play that scored a touchdown.
• Atlanta linebacker Philip Wheeler gave Seattle a huge gift with 6:41 left in the third when he committed a foolish illegal formation penalty on 4th-and-short. It negated Seattle’s punt and gave them a first down instead.  With Atlanta holding a 26-10 lead, the last thing Atlanta needed to do was take their foot off the throat of the Seattle offense.  Fortunately for Atlanta, Seattle only scored a field goal at the end of that drive.
• After Atlanta safety Ricardo Allen a fluttering Wilson pass with 8:16 left in the fourth, the fans got as loud as I have ever heard a Georgia Dome crowd get. And I am including pro wrestling events.
• Atlanta punter Matt Bosher was very upset with referee Gene Steratore with 2:51 left in the fourth. Pierre-Lewis dove to block the punt and barreled into Bosher’s plant leg.  Steratore ruled that Pierre-Lewis was blocked into Bosher.  After seeing the replay, I disagreed.  He was blocked shortly before, but that didn’t send him into the punter.  He got through the block and still managed to plant his feet and dive on his own, so how could he have been blocked into him?[4]
• Classy move by Atlanta to kneel out the clock after the two-minute warning, even though they had 1st and Goal from the 3. 

@ New England Patriots 34, Houston Texans 16

• Interesting Factor #1: EA Sports Madden NFL 17 simulated this game early Saturday with each of New England’s three quarterbacks starting. Each time, New England won.
• Interesting Factor #2: This game’s betting line had the highest point spread of any playoff game in more than a decade.
• The first score of the game came on a 13-yard swing pass from Tom Brady to running back Dion Lewis with 9:27 left in the first. It could not have been run any better.  Lewis caught the ball, turned the corner, and ran into the end zone untouched behind a block by fullback James Develin on the two-yard line.
• After Houston made a field goal to get on the board with 1:15 left in the first, Lewis took the ensuing kickoff 98 yards for a touchdown – again untouched. So, Lewis so far had touched the ball twice, scoring touchdowns both times without being touched.
• Lewis’ stats were tarnished the next time he touched the ball. After a Houston field goal cut New England’s lead to 14-6, Lewis fumbled as he was hit on the return.  Houston recovered and quickly scored a touchdown to make the score 14-13.
• Impressive goal line stand by Houston to limit New England to a field goal right before halftime. New England had first and goal from the three and did not score a touchdown.
• After halftime, Houston quarterback Brock Osweiler reminded us that, well, he’s Brock Osweiler, and he started making plays that remind the football world why Denver GM John Elway let him go. New England, in the process, increased their lead to 24-13.  With 2:07 left in the third, the score almost became more lopsided on a bizarre play.  Osweiler was hit as he threw, and the ball squirted out.  New England safety Patrick Chung scooped it up and took it all the way.  There was a flag, however, for illegal substitution, since players from the New England bench ran onto the field during the runback.  Upon review, the play was changed to an incomplete pass, which also negated the illegal substitution penalty.  Did everybody follow that?  I’ll wait so you can reread it, if necessary.  (Waits…) OK good.
• Great hustle by New England cornerback Logan Ryan to make a diving interception on a tipped ball with 12:55 left in the fourth.
• Lewis scored a rushing touchdown with 12:13 left in the fourth, giving him a touchdown by reception, run, and kick return in the same game.
• Osweiler threw three interceptions in the second half.
• With the victory in this game, New England has now made six consecutive AFC Championship games, a record for the Super Bowl era, breaking a record that they previously shared with the 1970s Oakland Raiders. Amazing, especially with the salary cap.[5]

Green Bay Packers 34, @ Dallas Cowboys 31

• Dallas finished 13-3. Green Bay finished 10-6, but they haven’t lost in two months.  Green Bay has one of the best quarterbacks in a generation; Dallas has two extremely good rookies in key positions (quarterback, running back).  Dallas also has Jason Garrett as a head coach.  Having him on the sideline is like having a guillotine cocked and ready to drop.  Why?  If the game is close during crunch time, he is quite likely to make a boneheaded decision regarding strategy.[6]
• With 11:28 left in the first, Dallas faced 3rd and 2 from the Green Bay 33. They ran a shotgun pass that was nearly picked off.  Helloooooo!!!  They have stud running back Ezekiel Elliott, who regularly runs for six yard gains.  Instead, they ended up settling for a 50-yard field goal by Dan Bailey.
• With 10:19 left in the first and Green Bay facing 3rd and 5 from their own 30, Rodgers called a quick no-huddle play as Dallas was trying to substitute. The exiting player barely did not get off the field in time, so Dallas was penalized for an illegal substitution.  I was irritated by the call as a neutral fan, because the exiting player was on the field by only a step.  I felt that it was a cheap way to get five yards, because, seriously, did it have any effect on the outcome of the play?  (No.)  But, the NFL has called it strictly for a long time, so Dallas’ coaching staff should have been aware and stopped the substitution when they saw that Green Bay was not huddling.  Consequently, Green Bay got a gift of a first down.[7]  Two plays later, Green Bay scored a deep passing touchdown to receiver Richard Rodgers on a free play.  Why was it a free play?  The still-confused Dallas defense had a player jump offside.
• On the ensuing drive, Dallas was moving the ball well. With 5:55 left, they faced 2nd and 5 at the Green Bay 37.  QB Dak Prescott found WR Terrance Williams on a slant for a 22-yard gain to the Green Bay 15.  However, WR Brice Butler had run into the huddle as a substitute, realized he wasn’t supposed to be out there, and then returned to his sideline.  Because he did not participate in the play, he earned a 15-yard penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct.  Instead of having 1st and 10 at the Green Bay 15, Dallas had 2nd and 20 from their own 48 – a 37-yard mistake by Butler.[8]  Dallas ended up punting.    Mental mistakes can KILL a team, especially in the Divisional Playoffs.
• Rodgers has to be so frustrating to defend. On 3rd and 7 with 4:00 left in the first, Rodgers looked like he was about to be sacked, but, instead, he sprinted toward his right and fired a dart to WR Jared Cook, who changed his route and was sprinting toward the sideline, giving Green Bay a first down.
• The officials missed an obvious hold when Rodgers overthrew receiver Davante Adams on a fly pattern on 2nd and 2 with 1:07 left in the first. His shoulder pad was hanging out of his jersey, for crying out loud.
• After Green Bay scored their second touchdown of the game with 14:05 left in the second, the camera cut to a shot of Garrett on the sideline as Green Bay lined up to attempt the PAT. Garrett had the deer-in-the-headlights look already.[9]
• Yet another silly penalty by a Dallas defender negated a third down stop with 10:44 left in the second and Green Bay leading, 14-3. This time, cornerback Morris Claiborne ended up contacting Adams in the face while chucking him at the line before he ran his route.  The pass to Adams was off-target, falling incomplete.  But, instead of 4th and 6 at their own 36, they had 1st and 10 at their own 41.  Five plays later, Green Bay scored another touchdown, making it 21-3.[10] [11]
• This seemed to light a fire under Dallas, because they marched 75 yards to the end zone, taking only four plays and 1:34 to do it. It was capped by a 40-yard bomb from Prescott to receiver Dez Bryant.
• The ensuing kickoff featured a huge mistake by returner Christine Michael. He muffed the kick in the end zone.  When he scooped it up, the very tip of the ball was out of the end zone.  Had he knelt down, it still would have been a touchback, because the entire ball has to leave the end zone in order for it to be considered in the field of play.  He did not know that rule, however, and ran the ball out.  He made it to the five before he was tackled.
• Dallas almost was caught again during a substitution with 5:15 left in the second, but wisely called a timeout before being penalized.
• With 5:10 left in the second, Dallas cornerback Claiborne got away with a hold.
• Dallas did not convert a third down until Prescott scrambled for a four-yard gain and a first down with 3:10 left in the second.
• With 1:08 left, on an attempted pass into the end zone from the Green Bay 15, Dallas tight end Jason Witten was held by Green Bay linebacker Joe Thomas, who halfway swung him to the ground. Witten was hot under the collar as he got up, and I don’t blame him.
• Dallas’ last timeout of the first half came immediately after that in order to avoid a delay of game penalty. That means that of Dallas’ three first-half timeouts, none were for strategic purposes.
• At the end of that drive, Dallas ended up settling for Bailey’s second field goal of the game, giving the ball to Green Bay with one minute left in the half, two timeouts, and Mr. Hail Mary as quarterback. Talk about playing with fire.[12]
• On the first play from scrimmage in the third quarter, Rodgers rolled right on a pass play, throwing the ball a split-second before getting belted by defensive tackle Maliek Collins. Receiver Randall Cobb caught the ball while dragging his toes to barely stay inbounds.
• On Dallas’ first play from scrimmage, Elliott ran up the middle for 22 yards. He followed with a four-yard run.  Again…why didn’t Dallas do this repeatedly to start the game?
• Prescott made an impressive throw while being tackled with 9:54 left in the third. At the last second, on his way to the ground, he threw an accurate pass to Witten on the sideline for a 12-yard gain.
• Prescott threw an interception in the red zone with 7:11 left in the third, but it was on a tremendous play by Green Bay safety Micah Hyde, who read the play perfectly and jumped the screen pass, snatching it almost from the receiver’s hands. Dallas is fortunate that he didn’t take it all the way.
• Rodgers threw an interception on the ensuing drive.
• The play Dallas ran to score a touchdown with 11:39 left in the fourth was perfect. Prescott took the snap in shotgun formation, play-faked to Elliott, and lobbed a touch pass to Witten for a six-yard touchdown.[13]
• With around eight minutes left in the fourth, Green Bay’s defense started to look worn out, and Dallas’ offense took advantage. Elliott began continued running for big gains.[14]  Prescott made accurate throws.  Eventually, Dallas faced third and two from the seven, where Prescott hit Bryant on a quick slant with a lob pass for the touchdown.
• With the score now 28-26, Dallas went for two. They were 0 for 2 on the season on two-point attempts, but they made it this time when Prescott ran a quarterback draw from the shotgun formation.  The game was tied, 28-28, with 4:08 left.  I was wondering if that was too much time for Rodgers to work with.
• The Davante Adams ankle injury with 3:53 left in the fourth was painful to watch.
• Coming out of the two-minute warning, Green Bay had the ball, 1st and 10 from the Dallas 45. Rodgers was in the shotgun with an empty backfield – four receivers and a tight end.  Dallas rushed four against a five-man protection scheme.  Lee broke through the line for Dallas, and Rodgers ran toward his own goal line to avoid the rush.   At his own 40, he spun, planted, and heaved a deep ball toward the right sideline.  Safety Jeff Heath intercepted the ball at the Dallas 15, barely getting both feet down inbounds.  While the ball was in the air, however, a flag was thrown.  The penalty was announced as defensive pass interference against safety Barry Church.  However, it was actually against cornerback Anthony Brown for grabbing Ty Montgomery at the 35.  Problem, though.  The ball was not in the air yet, so it should have been a five-yard penalty and an automatic first down for defensive holding at the 40.[15]
• After the field goal, Dallas started from their own 25 with 1:33 left in the fourth, trailing 31-28, with one timeout left. On the first play, Prescott completed a 24-yard pass to the middle of the field.  Then, he completed an 11-yard pass for another first down, this time at the Green Bay 40.  Dallas hustled to the line and snapped the ball with 49 seconds left…and spiked it.  I couldn’t believe it!!!!  Why would they do that?  Run a play to the sidelines, or keep throwing over the middle, because it’s obviously open!  They still had one timeout left.[16]  Now, they only had two plays to get a first down and avoid a long field goal, and they ran the risk of giving the ball back to Mr. Hail Mary with too much time left on the clock.[17]
• The next two plays were a seven-yard completion at the sideline, ending with the receiver going out of bounds. (If only that had happened on first down.  )  On third and three, Prescott’s pass was blocked at the line by Perry.  Bailey tied the game with a 52-yard field goal with 40 (?!???) seconds left.  Plenty of time for Rodgers, whose mastery of the Hail Mary has led Bill Simmons to refer to a Rodgers Hail Mary as a “Touchdown Attempt.”[18]
• Green Bay started from their own 25 with 35 seconds left. Plenty of time for Rodgers.
• With 18 seconds left, Rodgers got blindsided at his own 32 for a 10-yard loss. Somehow, he held onto the ball with only one hand while getting tattooed, then rolled over and quickly called a timeout.  HOW DID HE DO THAT?  That play has tied Jeff Hostetler’s effort in Super Bowl XXV while getting sacked in the end zone by Bruce Smith as the greatest Iron Grip to Avoid Fumbling while Taking a Bone-jarring Hit plays of my lifetime.[19]
• Two plays later, with 12 seconds left, Rodgers fired a 36-yard pass completion to tight end Jared Cook, who made one the greatest footwork feats I can remember to stay inbounds. He folded his shins underneath himself while dragging his toes.  I’ve included two photos for reference.    Simply stunning.  As he fell out of bounds at the Dallas 32, the clock stopped with three seconds left.  This set up a 51-yard field goal attempt by Crosby to win the game.
• After a circus catch like Cook’s, it was as sure of a sure-thing as could be possible for a 50-plus-yard field goal attempt that Crosby would make it. He did.
• It was an exciting game that will be remembered for ages. I’ll not only remember it for Green Bay’s heroics – but also because Jason Garrett struck again.[20]

 

Pittsburgh Steelers 18, @ Kansas City Chiefs 16

• Great tackle by KC safety Ron Parker with 10:07 left in the first to save a touchdown and force Pittsburgh to settle for a field goal.
• KC responded well with a 25-yard kick return by Demetrius Harris, followed by a six-play, 55-yard touchdown drive that culminated in a five-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Alex Smith to receiver Albert Wilson.
• Pittsburgh kicked another field goal on the following drive, this one from 38 yards. I was thinking that Pittsburgh would be in trouble if they kept having to settle for field goals, especially against a team as talented as KC.  Then KC’s receivers started dropping passes…
• …and Pittsburgh took the lead, 9-7, after Chris Boswell’s third field goal, which came with 9:18 left in the second.
• After Smith was hit as he threw with 7:58 left in the second, Pittsburgh linebacker Ryan Shazier intercepted the hiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiigh pop fly (as the late, great Harry Caray would have described it). Pittsburgh got to the KC 5 before a tipped Roethlisberger pass was intercepted by the diving Eric Berry for a touchback.  The KC Safety made a gorgeous play.
• After KC went three-and-out yet again, Pittsburgh started their possession from their own 45. They took ten plays to go 28 yards and kick yet another field goal, this time from 45 yards, to take a 12-7 lead.  With the exception of the aforementioned touchdown-saving tackle by Parker and the two interceptions, I was not impressed with the play of either team.  At all.  I was thinking, “Can these teams both lose?  This is ugly.”
• KC’s final possession of the first half came to a fitting end as running back Charcandrick West caught a pass and eventually fumbled while running with the ball. No one forced the fumble.  He wasn’t in the process of being hit.  He simply dropped it.
• Boswell kicked his fifth field goal of the game with 10:11 left in the third to make it 15-7.
• After the teams traded punts, Smith had tight end Travis Kelce ahead of his man deep up the middle, toward the right side – but Kelce dropped it.
• Two plays later, the KC coaching staff called time out a split second before the snap. The players had already begun to run the play before they realized that a timeout had been called.  While the players were going to their benches, hot-head tight end Kelce decked Pittsburgh cornerback Ross Cockrell with a two-handed shove.  The idiot ended up costing his team 15 yards with an unnecessary roughness penalty.[21]
• Four plays after Kelce’s penalty, Wilson dropped a third-down pass that would have been deep enough for a first down, and KC had to settle for a 48-yard field goal by Cairo Santos to make the score 15-10 with 10 seconds left in the third.
• I thought Pittsburgh might actually score a touchdown on 2nd and 8 with 10:38 left in the fourth…but Roethlisberger ended up overthrowing receiver Eli Rogers. Then KC sacked Big Ben at the KC 25, and Boswell kicked field goal number six, this time from 43, to make the score 18-10 with 9:49 left in the fourth.
• On the ensuing drive, KC’s backs and receivers decided that it was time to stop dropping passes, and they looked like they had looked all season. They even converted a 4th-and-8 from the Pittsburgh 38 as Smith hit receiver Chris Conley for a 12-yard gain.
• Three plays later, Pittsburgh safety Sean Davis also hit Conley, except that it was helmet to helmet while Conley was diving to catch a deep pass near the 2. Davis was protesting, but it was an obvious call.  He hit Conley in the side of the head with his own helmet.  Conley probably had a concussion.    Easy penalty.  Davis was lucky he wasn’t thrown out of the game.[22]
• KC ran an outstanding play to convert fourth-and-two from the four, bringing fullback Anthony Sherman in the game to run a drag pattern to the right. Smith play-faked to Tyreke Hill, who faked an end-around to the left side, and then Smith rolled right to hit Sherman with a touch pass.  Sherman was tackled at the one.
• On the next play, running back Spencer Ware plunged into the end zone for a touchdown.
• On the ensuing two-point conversion, Smith hit Harris with a nice pass to the middle of the back of the end zone to tie the game. Or so we thought.  Left tackle Eric Fisher held defensive end James Harrison[23], giving Smith just enough time to throw.  The most irritating thing for KC is that Fisher probably didn’t need to do it.  After the penalty, KC had to score from the 12, the attempted pass to receiver Jeremy Maclin at the back of the end zone was broken up by Davis.
• On the ensuing kickoff, Santos chipped the ball high, and KC downed kick returner J. Gilbert at the five.
• KC finally held Bell to a small gain on the next play, but Big Ben found Rogers open over the middle for a five-yard gain. On the play after that, Big Ben scrambled to the right, getting out of trouble, and found Brown running toward the right sideline, outrunning linebacker Justin Houston to get to the ball.  The first down allowed Pittsburgh to kneel out the clock.
• Pittsburgh played just well enough to win. And how sweet was it for Pittsburgh offensive coordinator Todd Haley to defeat his former team?

Final thoughts

• Atlanta showed how good they really are. Yes, Seattle had their momentum derailed by foolish penalties – namely the hold on the punt return – but Atlanta was clearly the better team.
• Because Green Bay beat Dallas, Sunday’s NFC Championship game will be the last game ever played in the Georgia Dome.
• Kansas City beat themselves. They had several opportunities to win but didn’t capitalize.  Almost every blown opportunity was an unforced error, too.  But, Pittsburgh came through in the clutch.  KC didn’t, and they have the shame of losing to a team who only scored field goals during the entire game.
• The winner of Sunday’s AFC Championship Game will set the record for the most Super Bowl appearances by one team – nine.
• Sunday’s games look like they will be lots of fun to watch. Until then… 

Wednesday, January 18, 2017, 10:14 am MST

[1] It was a blatantly obvious hold, too.  He tackled Richardson, who was trying to get downfield to cover the punt.

[2] I have to mention that I love saying his last name.  Can you imagine Marv Albert saying it?  “Odhi-AM-bo!”  It would take me a long time to tire of hearing that.

[3] The 41-year-old Bryant had an outstanding season and made his first Pro Bowl.

[4] Understand, though – I had the benefit of replay from a perfect angle.  Steratore had a different angle and had to watch at full speed.

[5] They’ve only made two Super Bowls (and won one) in the process, but still…impressive.

[6] For an example, look at any close Dallas loss.  Ask a Dallas fan, and you’ll get a lengthy list.

[7] Then, after the penalty, Dallas used a timeout because the defense was discombobulated.  Why didn’t they do that when they noticed that there was no huddle?

[8] The officials made themselves look foolish when they initially spotted the ball as if it were a five-yard penalty instead of 15, drawing boos from the crowd.

[9] It’s not like Packers coach Mike McCarthy is a rocket scientist, however, but he has the luxury of having a quarterback who sees the field so well that it’s like having another coach out there.  Other football examples: Peyton Manning, Joe Montana, Kurt Warner.  (There are more; these are simply the ones I mentioned.)

[10] Yes, Rodgers got away with running a play with his chinstrap unhooked, but that can be very hard to see.

[11] During both this drive and the last one, Dallas’ young offensive players sat in stunned silence.  Dallas’ coaches were nowhere to be found.  Why weren’t they keeping these guys’ heads in the game?

[12] Green Bay didn’t score, but that was still playing with fire.

[13] Oddly enough, with all of the accomplishments Witten has had in his long career, that was his first postseason touchdown reception.

[14] I still don’t understand why Dallas didn’t use him more in the first quarter.

[15] Five yards normally wouldn’t be a big deal, but the field goal that Mason Crosby kicked three plays later to break the tie was a 56-yard knuckler.  Does he make it from 61?  Not with the same kick that he did, but who’s to say he would have kicked it the same?  61 yards is a long shot, but it’s certainly in play.  Unfortunately, we’ll never know.

[16] After the game, Garrett said that they wanted to save the timeout in case they needed it for a field goal.  They ended up using the timeout attempting to ice Crosby before he kicked the game-winning field goal.

[17] I told you!  Jason Garrett strikes again!

[18] He’s successfully thrown four Hail Mary passes in the last 14 months.  Well, four that I can think of off the top of my head.  There may be more.  Last year’s Thursday night game in Detroit, two on the same drive – both of which risked killing me with a heart attack – in the Divisional Playoffs against my beloved Cardinals, and the one going into halftime last week against the Giants.

[19] Had Hostetler – the Giants’ quarterback – not hung on, the Bills would have fallen on the loose ball in the end zone, making it a touchdown instead of a safety, and it is quite likely that only the biggest football geeks would know who Scott Norwood is. (My friend and die-hard Bills fan Bill Meldrum’s shoulders probably sank after reading that.  Sorry to open old wounds, Bill.)

[20] And I guarantee he’ll still be Dallas’ head coach next year.  Jerry Jones loves him like a son.

[21] KC got a first down on the next play, anyway, but still…

[22] Two plays later, Conley “passed the concussion protocol” and was back in the game.  WHAT?!??  How is that possible?  He had an obvious concussion, for one.  Secondly, there was not enough time for the doctor on site to properly check him.  Not even close.

[23] I still can’t stand Harrison.  I doubt I’ll ever get over Super Bowl XLIII.  By the way, in that game, he was down at the one.  Look at the replay.  His forearm was down before the ball entered the end zone.  Alas.