A Burfict Ending

Wild Card weekend has ended, and, for the first time in NFL history, all four road teams have won their games against the four division champions with their home field advantages and their excited crowds at the start of each game not providing them with “enough” advantage to keep them from going home unhappy. This is a misnomer of sorts, though, as the two division champions in each conference with the home field advantage were actually the four weaker division champions, as the stronger teams with the better records received byes for this weekend.

Two of the games were thorough whippings, and two were really close games that hinged on some serious gaffes that will probably be remembered for about as long as sports fans have memories. The two close games will certainly be talked about a lot at the nation’s water coolers tomorrow. This year’s Wild Card weekend was pretty wild.

The Games

Kansas City at Houston

In the first game, the Kansas City Chiefs absolutely dismantled the Houston Texans 30 to 0. When you lose that badly, the score pretty much speaks for itself. Kansas City ran back the opening kickoff for a touchdown and Houston had no offense to speak of. When you talk about getting quality play from your quarterback, you are talking about throwing for a high completion percentage, throwing for a reasonable amount of yards per attempt, converting key third down plays, and in NOT turning the ball over. Houston quarterback Brian Hoyer fumbled the ball once and threw four interceptions. You don’t win football games with five turnovers. You win with quality play from your QB. Bye, bye Houston.

Pittsburgh at Cincinnati

In the second game, the Cincinnati Bengals blew a game they should never have lost and the Pittsburgh Steelers have advanced in the pkayoffs when they had no business moving on as the Steelers were the beneficiaries of a couple of the dumbest penalties committed in recent playoff football memory. The game was played in a driving, sloppy rain that definitely had an effect on the game. But not as much as an effect as the play of Bengal linebacker Vontaze Burfict.

Burfict is a fiery, physical player that sometimes plays out of control. In this game, Pittsburgh led 15 to nothing in the 3rd quarter. Bengal running back Giovanni Bernard got rocked with a helmet to the head type of hit that caused a fumble and was NOT called as a targeting penalty. The crowd booed. Burfict became enraged. He set out to hit every Steeler that moved. He fired up his team. One play, Steeler quarterback Ben Roethlisberger was back to pass on an ill-advised third and long deep in his own territory. Who does he run into but Burfict, who sacks him and slams him to the turf, shoulder first, and knocks him out of the game.

The Bengals score shortly thereafter. They score a field goal later and with just two or so minutes to play, they score the go ahead touchdown to put them ahead 16 to 15. Pittsburgh’s “last chance” possession with backup QB Landry Jones was halted in its tracks when his pass was intercepted by, you guessed it, Vontaze Burfict. All the Bengals had to do was run three running plays to use up Pittsburgh’s time outs and they could run out the clock and win the game. But this game was not to happen that way.

The Bengal’s “other” running back Jeremy Hill fumbled the ball in the sloppy conditions and gave the Steelers life. Who comes back in the game but Ben Roethlisberger with barely more than a minute to play. He moves the Steelers only slightly down the field to where they faced a 3rd and ten from near midfield. The pass to Antonio Brown was obviously too high. Burfict though, his anger still alive from earlier, smashed his shoulder into Brown’s head, a pretty obvious targeting penalty and 15 yards.

Arguing after the same play by PacMan Jones tacked on ANOTHER 15 yard penalty against the Bengals. The incompletion would have left the Steelers with a 4th and ten from their own 49 with only 18 seconds left and no time outs. Instead, they had the ball on the Bengal 21 with those same 18 seconds left. They immediately brought in their kicker for a 39 yard field goal that was calmly booted through the uprights to give the Steelers the win. Their fiery, sometimes out of control player had put his stamp on the game and capped off the Bengal season with a Burfict ending.

Seattle at Minnesota

The first of the Sunday Wild Card games had Seattle at Minnesota in an OUTDOOR stadium due to the construction being done on the Vikings’ new domed stadium. On this January 10, 2016, that meant the game would be played with the temperature at 0 degrees, with a wind chill factor making it seem like ten below, the third coldest playoff game in pro football history.  It was a defensive struggle played just the way the Vikings would have wanted it. The extreme cold would be a factor.

Three field goals by Viking kicker Blair Walsh put them in the lead 9 to nothing going into the 4th quarter. Russell Wilson of the Seahawks cranked up the offense just enough to lead Seattle to a touchdown and a late field goal to put them up 10 to 9, with just a few minutes left.

But Minnesota moved the ball up the field in the game’s final minutes to give the Vikings that opportunity EVERY team wants in a playoff game… a chip shot field goal to WIN the game. A 27 yard field goal. Now that an extra point is 33 or so yards, this would be a field goal that would be easier than an extra point, both of which get converted somewhere around 95 to 97 per cent of the time.

But, and there often times is a big BUT in the playoffs, there was the intense playoff pressure. And there was the cold. The ball was placed down on the ground for the “winning” kick and Walsh seemed to hurry into the kick. He hooked it wide left. The Vikings had lost a game 10 to 9 they should have won 12 to 10. They had done everything right. But they didn’t make that one play they had to make… a seemingly simple chip shot of a field goal that was shorter than an extra point. Winning teams make winning plays. Missing last second field goals LOSES you games. It’s a cruel game.

Green Bay at Washington

The Pack is Back. Or so it seemed Sunday in the last of the Wild Card games. The Packer team that was sluggish and unable to do much of anything in late season losses to the Cardinals and the Vikings, played like the Packer team that won its first six games of the season and seemed like a legitimate title threat. Aaron Rodgers played like Aaron Rodgers. They ran the ball for over a hundred yards. There defense had half a dozen sacks on Washington quarterback Kirk Cousins.

Here’s the thing. Even though Washington looked pretty good on offense and led twice by eleven points, Rodgers seemed to have the control of the offensive game that he has seemed to have over the past several years. The Packers, who trailed 11 to 0 early and on the road, came back and scored 35 the rest of the game and put away the Red Skins 35 to 18. With quarterback play such an important factor in NFL playoff games, the Packers with Rodgers still have a guy that can take them a long way. Next up, though, are the Arizona Cardinals, a team that stomped the Pack 38 to 8 just a few weeks ago.

So the Wild Card games are in the record books. When playoff games are so intense as it is, it’s kind of exciting to think that all four road teams could pull off wins. Of course, two of those games should have absolutely been won by the Bengals and the Vikings. But that’s the playoffs. They don’t always end up the way you think they will.