NFL Wild Card weekend has come and gone. For anybody who missed the action here is the recaps. First we start with the Texans and the Bengals. The final was Houston Texans 31, Cincinnati Bengals 10. Houston's defense forced four sacks and intercepted three passes, while their offense racked up 188 rushing yards en route to the team's first playoff win since the team's founding in 2002. For the Bengals, it marked their fourth consecutive playoff loss since 1990 and extended their playoff win drought to 21 years, the longest streak among all NFL teams.
In the first quarter, a 52-yard pass interference penalty against Texans defensive back Glover Quin while trying to cover A. J. Green gave the Bengals a first down at the Houston 24-yard line. Then facing third down and seven, fullback Brian Leonard ran a screen pass 16 yards to the 1-yard line, where Cedric Benson ran the ball into the end zone on the next play, giving Cincinnati a 7–0 lead. Houston struck back with a 6-play, 80-yard scoring drive. The key player on the drive was running back Arian Foster, who rushed five times for 44 yards, the last carry an 8-yard touchdown run to tie the game.
In the second quarter, Cincinnati drove to the Texans 23-yard line. But on third down, quarterback Andy Dalton was sacked for a 9-yard loss by linebacker Brooks Reed, and then Mike Nugent missed a 50-yard field goal attempt. On the Bengals next drive, Dalton's 36-yard completion to reserve tight end Donald Lee and a 15-yard penalty against Houston at the end of the play set up Nugent's 37-yard field goal to make the score 10–7. Houston countered with T. J. Yates completing 4 passes for 38 yards on a 59-yard drive that ended with Neil Rackers' 39-yard field goal. Then with just 52 seconds left in the half, rookie defensive lineman J. J. Watt intercepted a pass from Dalton at the line of scrimmage and returned it 29 yards for a touchdown to give the Texans a 17–10 halftime lead.
In the second half, Houston completely took over the game. After the first three drives ended in punts, Yates completed two passes to Foster for 27 yards before tossing a 40-yard touchdown pass to Andre Johnson. On the Bengals next possession, they moved the ball to the Texans 47-yard line. But on fourth down and 3, Dalton's pass was intercepted by former Bengal Johnathan Joseph. Then in fourth quarter, Houston put the game completely out of reach with an interception by Danieal Manning that set up Foster's 42-yard touchdown run, increasing their lead to 31–10 with just over five minutes left in regulation.
Foster finished the game with 153 rushing yards, three receptions for 29 yards, and two touchdowns. He became the third undrafted player in NFL history ever to rush for over 100 yards in a playoff game, after Paul Lowe and Ryan Grant. The games scored a 79, on NFL.com's "Game Fan Rating," the highest in Houston Texans history, ever since the rating system was implemented in 2009. The attendance of 71,725 was a record crowd for Reliant Stadium.
Next up we take a look at the New Orleans Saints crushing the Detroit Lions 45-28. New Orleans never punted the ball, gained a postseason record 626 yards, converted three fourth downs, and scored 35 points in the second half to defeat the Lions.
Detroit quarterback Matthew Stafford completed 5 of 6 passes for 70 yards on the opening drive of the game, the last one a 10-yard touchdown pass to tight end Will Heller. Later on, a 31-yard burst by Saints running back Pierre Thomas set up Darren Sproles' 2-yard touchown run, tying the score at 7 early in the second quarter.
Detroit responded on their next drive, moving the ball 87 yards in nine plays and taking a 14–7 lead on Stafford's 13-yard touchdown pass to Calvin Johnson. With 21 seconds left in the half, New Orleans appeared to score the tying touchdown on a pass from Drew Brees to receiver Marques Colston, but the catch was overturned by official review, and the Saints ended up settling for a John Kasay field goal to cut the score to 14–10 at the end of the half.
The Saints dominated the second half, scoring touchdowns on five consecutive possessions before ending the game on their sixth. On the first play of the third quarter, Thomas rushed for 18 yards. Running back Chris Ivory then added a 19-yard run before Brees finished the drive with a 41-yard touchdown pass to Devery Henderson. Then after a Lions punt, New Orleans drove 92 yards, featuring a 40-yard completion from Brees to Henderson, and scored with his 3-yard touchdown pass to tight end Jimmy Graham.
This time Detroit stormed back, with Stafford completing two passes to Johnson for 63 yards before rushing the ball into the end zone himself on a 1-yard run, making the score 24–21. But their defense still could not stop Brees, who completed five passes for 52 yards on a 78-yard drive that ended with Sproles' second touchdown on a 17-yard run. Then on the first play of the Lions' next drive, Jabari Greer intercepted Stafford's pass at the New Orleans 39-yard line. Four plays later, Brees converted the turnover with a 56-yard touchdown pass to Robert Meachem. This time, Detroit managed to respond, with Johnson catching 3 passes for 38 yards on a 79-yard drive, the last one a 12-yard score. But New Orleans recovered Jason Hanson's onside kick attempt and stormed back for another touchdown, with Meachem's 41-yard reception setting it up for Thomas' 1-yard scoring run. Then the Saints sealed the victory with Greer's second interception from Stafford, enabling them to run out the rest of the clock.
Brees finished the game with 33 of 43 completions for a franchise postseason record 466 yards and three touchdowns. Meachem and Colston both recorded over 100 receiving yards each, while Thomas and Sproles combined for 264 all-purpose yards and three touchdowns between them.
Stafford threw for 380 yards and three touchdowns, with 2 interceptions, while Johnson set franchise playoff records with 12 receptions for 211 yards and two scores.
Now moving on to sunday's action we saw the Giants spank the Falcons 24-2. New York shut out Atlanta's offense, outgaining them in total yards 442-247, while also limiting them to 4/14 third down conversion and 0/3 on fourth down attempts in a dominating win.
Both teams combined for just one first down over their first five possessions. Eventually, Atlanta managed to sustain a drive, but on the first play of the second quarter, quarterback Matt Ryan was stuffed for no gain on fourth down and one on the Giants 24-yard line. Two plays later, New York QB Eli Manning gave Atlanta the first points of the game by committing intentional grounding in the end zone, resulting in a safety that made the score 2-0. After forcing a punt, New York earned their first score with an 85-yard drive, featuring a 34-yard run by Brandon Jacobs, that ended with Manning's 4-yard touchdown pass to Hakeem Nicks, giving them a 7-2 lead.
In the second half, a 30-yard run by Giants running back Ahmad Bradshaw set up a field goal by Lawrence Tynes. Atlanta responded with a drive to the New York 21-yard line, but once again they came up empty when Ryan was tackled for no gain on fourth and one for a second time. A few plays later, New York increased their lead to 17-2 with Manning's 72-yard touchdown completion to Nicks. In the fourth quarter, Manning threw his third touchdown pass, a 29-yarder to Mario Manningham. Meanwhile, all that lay in store for Atlanta were more punts and their third failed fourth down conversion attempt of the day.
Manning threw for 277 yards and 3 touchdowns with no interceptions, while Jacobs added 100 all-purpose yards. Nicks caught 6 passes for 115 yards and two scores.
And finally we saw Denver knock off Pittsburgh 29-23 in Overtime. This game ended up being the first one ever played under the league's new overtime rules, in which winning would be more difficult for the team that won the coin toss because the game would not end on an opening field goal. It did not matter, as it took Denver just one play to win with Tim Tebow's 80-yard touchdown pass to Demaryius Thomas.
Pittsburgh scored on their opening drive, with Ben Roethlisberger's 33-yard completion to tight end Heath Miller setting up a 45-yard field goal by Shaun Suisham. Later in the quarter, Steelers running back Isaac Redman rushed five times for 33 yards on a 47-yard drive that ended with Suisham's 38-yard field goal, increasing the score to 6-0.
But Denver, which gained just 8 yards in the first quarter, suddenly exploded with offensive production in the second. On their first drive of the quarter, Tebow completed a 51-yard strike to Thomas. Then he followed it up with a 30-yard touchdown pass to Eddie Royal. Following a Pittsburgh punt, Tebow's 58-yard completion to Thomas set up his own touchdown on an 8-yard run, giving the Broncos a 14-6 lead. An interception by Denver defensive back Quinton Carter quickly led to a 20-yard field goal from Matt Prater, and before the end of the half, Prater added one more, the second set up by Tebow's 41-yard completion to tight end Daniel Fells. With time running out in the quarter, Roetherlisberger completed a 25-yard pass to Antonio Brown and an 18-yarder to Sanders on a drive that advanced to the Broncos 32-yard line. But on third down, a fumbled snap resulted in a 23-yard loss, pushing the team out of field goal range.
Pittsburgh regrouped in the second half. After forcing a punt, Roethlisberger completed an 18-yard pass to Emmanuel Sanders and Redman broke off a 32-yard run on the way to a 1-yard touchdown run by receiver Mike Wallace on an end-around play, cutting the score to 20-13. Denver struck back with their third field goal from Prater, aided by a 32-yard pass interference penalty on Steelers defensive back Ike Taylor, but Pittsburg responded with their own field goal-drive, featuring a 28-yard run by Redman, making it a one-score game at 23-16.
With 7:35 left in regulation, Denver running back Willis McGahee lost a fumble while being tackled by Ryan Mundy and linebacker LaMarr Woodley recovered it at the Steelers 45-yard line. Though Roethlisberger was sacked on the first play, he recovered with a 15-yard completion to Sanders and a 6-yard run before tying the game with a 31-yard touchdown completion to Jerricho Cotchery. Both teams had one more drive to attempt a winning score, but Denver could go no further then their own 35-yard line, while Roethlisberger was sacked twice on his drive as time expired in the fourth quarter.
Following a touchback on the opening kickoff, Tebow hit Thomas in stride on a slant pattern across the middle of the field, and he took the ball 80 yards to the end zone for the game-winning score.
Tebow completed only 10 of 21 passes, but threw for 316 yards and 2 touchdowns without any interceptions, and added 50 yards and a touchdown on the ground. Thomas had 204 yards and a touchdown on just four receptions, an average of 51 yards per catch. Defensive end Robert Ayers had two sacks. For the Steelers, Redman finished with a career high 121 rushing yards.
Many observers have pointed out the symbolism of Tebow's (who is known for his strong religious beliefs) 316 passing yards in comparison to the Biblical passage of John 3:16. Tebow had the number in black under his eyes when he led the Florida Gators to a National Championship in 2009, which was played exactly three years to the day before this playoff game. Additionally, he set a playoff record by averaging 31.6 yards per completion.
Now that we know what happened in Wild Card Weekend, next up will be previews of the Divisional Round
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