NFL - NEWS & NOTES

What?! They picked Justin Tucker over Boswell? WTH were they thinking??? lol Honestly looks like it would be hard to argue those selections.

 

I still like the Colts a lot. Wish I would have thrown money on them back then

 

Colts whip the Texans, head to Kansas City...

The Colts were the last team into the playoffs, but they weren’t the first team out.

Instead, Indianapolis made a statement in Houston today, putting a whipping on the Texans and getting ready for what should be a good game next weekend in Kansas City.

The Colts’ offense got off to an outstanding start, with Andrew Luck marching them down the field for touchdowns on three of their first four drives. By the time everyone was settled in, it was already 21-0.

And after that it was never really in doubt. The Colts’ offense stalled for much of the rest of the game, but the Colts’ defense delivered, with an excellent performance that largely held Deshaun Watson in check and gave Lamar Miller no room to run.

The Texans didn’t even get on the scoreboard until the fourth quarter, when Keke Coutee caught a pass from Watson and ran to the corner of the end zone, and even then it appeared that Coutee hadn’t actually scored and had fumbled just before getting the ball across the goal line. Replay stayed with the ruling on the field, however, giving the Texans their only touchdown.

But the Texans’ next drive ended with an incomplete pass by Watson on fourth-and-10, and that was all she wrote. Marlon Mack and the Colts’ offensive line had no trouble moving the ball and running out the clock in the final minutes of the fourth quarter. Mack finished with 24 carries for 148 yards, a tremendous game against what had been the best run defense in football this season.

Although many league observers are attributing the Colts’ turnaround to the return to health of Luck, it was the defense that really shined for the Colts today, and it was a defensive performance that could earn coordinator Matt Eberflus a head-coaching job. This Colts defense is good. Next week, this Colts defense is going to have its hands full in Kansas City, where it will need an even better effort to slow down Patrick Mahomes.

But the Colts looked today like they’re capable of beating anyone. This was an impressive start to the postseason. (PFT)

 

Allen Hurns being carted off on a stretcher...

 

Seahawks finally get a 1st down with 9 to play 2nd quarter, wow.

 

That was ugly. Thiesman-like, his foot was facing the wrong way. Looked like a compound fracture. Really gruesome

 

Seattle with great field position after a missed 58 yard FG

 

Seattle up 6-3. Seahawks appear to be getting away with quite a bit of pushing off

 

I heard Joe Buck's reaction, and I didn't even want to look...Glad I missed it.

 

I back door covered Seahawks +2.5 because Janikowski was injured.

 

Cowboys run by Seahawks to advance to divisional round...

Dak Prescott won his first playoff game, and Jason Garrett his second as a head coach as the Cowboys beat battle-tested Pete Carroll, Russell Wilson and the Seahawks.

The Cowboys’ hard-fought 24-22 victory over Seattle sends them on the road to either New Orleans or Los Angeles next week in the divisional round.

The Seahawks led 14-10 after the third quarter, holding the Cowboys to only 25 yards in the period. But the Cowboys scored twice in the fourth quarter and blew a third scoring chance when Prescott threw a red zone interception in the end zone. K.J. Wright intercepted the pass intended for Noah Brown.

Prescott’s biggest play of his career came not with his arm but with his legs. On third-and-14 from the Seattle 17, Prescott scrambled for 16 yards to the Seattle 1. He punched it on the next play, putting the Cowboys up two scores with 2:08 left.

Elliott finished with 137 yards and a touchdown on 26 carries, and Prescott ran for 29 yards and the touchdown on six carries. Elliott’s 1-yard touchdown run with 12:28 remaining proved the winning score, but Prescott added the exclamation point, putting Dallas up 24-14.

Prescott completed 22 of 33 passes for 226 yards with a touchdown, an interception and yet another fourth-quarter comeback.

The Cowboys held the Seahawks, the league’s top rushing team, to only 73 rushing yards.

Wilson completed 18 of 27 passes for 233 yards and a touchdown, a 7-yard pass to J.D. McKissic on fourth down with 1:18 remaining. The Seahawks, who lost kicker Sebastian Janikowski to a thigh injury on the final play of the first half, got a Chris Carson run for the two-point conversion.

But punter Michael Dickson‘s drop kick attempt at an onside kick never had a chance. Cole Beasley recovered.

The Cowboys celebrated their first playoff victory since 2014. Garrett, whose contract expires after next season, now has a 2-2 postseason record in his nine-year career. He has never advanced past the divisional round as a head coach. (PFT)

 

Sunday's Playoff Action...

 

Cowboys will try to win their first road playoff game in 26 years...

The Cowboys will try to do something next weekend that they haven’t done in 26 years: Win on the road in the playoffs.

Dallas will head to either Los Angeles or New Orleans, depending on the result of today’s Eagles-Bears game, and attempt to snap the franchise’s seven-game road playoff losing streak. Only the Lions and Browns have longer road playoff losing streaks than the Cowboys.

The last time the Cowboys won a postseason game on the road was in January of 1993, when the Cowboys beat the 49ers 30-20 in the NFC Championship Game at Candlestick Park. That game saw Troy Aikman throw for 322 yards and Emmitt Smith run for 114 yards.

The Cowboys will need Dak Prescott and Ezekiel Elliott to have similarly productive games if they’re to beat the Rams or Saints on the road. Dallas will certainly be an underdog next weekend, but perhaps this can be the Cowboys team to snap that long road playoff losing streak. (PFT)
__________
________________________

Good luck there, Cowboys. Rams or Saints on the road is tough, but to be the best, you got to beat the best.

Homefield is so important these days...

 

Thanks.


Still a work in progress, but most of it comes down to just making up my mind on what I want to include and what I want to remove.

The idea for the calendar came from @IrishDawg42 . It's two fold -
1. It's useful information for draftniks
2. It's a constant reminder for me to check my own calendar

 

Wtf? I remember Janikowski being scratched for a game back in '01, they still call him the polish bomber?

 

I think it was, the 'Polish Cannon'.

 

I bet all the underdogs against the spread on one ticket. I probably should have bet the Colts straight up or even tweaked it by giving points to the Texans but I was fine taking them at -1. Now the Seahawks covering +2.5 was a gift thanks to an unfortunate injury to Janikowski. I've got the Chargers + 3 and the Eagles + 6.5 today.

 

If the Chargers cover should I hedge my bet?

 

Yes

 

12-0... still anyone's game.