Stretching the Field: Divisional Playoffs
by Luke Paul Chandler
The Divisional Playoffs saw a Number One Seed fall, and perfection continue. Come check out who received the game balls.
In this weekend’s divisional round, the NFC saw its No. 1 seed fall in a nail biter. The Giants upset of the Cowboys, in Dallas, has set the tone for a highly interesting NFC Championship game next Sunday in Green Bay against the Packers. The Giants are continuing to prove the mantra that the hottest teams in the postseason are the most dangerous, and they very possibly will walk out of Green Bay the NFC Champions if everything keeps clicking.
In Foxborough, the Patriots did what was expected of them. They dispatched another highly ranked opponent in the Jacksonville Jaguars. The Patriots, who are basically impossible to beat at this point, may pull off perfection. Expect the AFC Championship game with the Chargers to be heated and tense. If a more mature Chargers team can rebound and continue their hot streak, it will make for a classic.
Game balls were easy to give this week. The stars are shining brighter as the playoffs get deeper. Some guys jump off the stat sheet, but some just toil in obscurity.
Packers 42 - Seahawks 20
Atari Bigby, SS, Packers: 7 tackles (4 solo), 1 FF - Bigby’s run defense has been clutch over the last month of the season. His ability to step up as an enforcer for the Packers defense on Sunday in the early going set the tone for a strong day defensively. Seattle’s wide receivers, who aren’t the most physical players, were not running with as much authority on Saturday near Bigby.
Bigby, named after the Japanese word for attack, not for the video game system, has been making a reputation as a tough in the box run defender. His presence helped keep the Seahawks honest, and limited their ability to convert tough yardage situations. He also caused a crucial fumble in the second quarter, causing Seahawks tight end Marcus Pollard to fumble on their own 20, which eventually turned into the go-ahead touchdown for the Packers.
He still needs fine tuning on his deep-ball coverage, but Bigby’s hard-hitting presence gives Green Bay the force it needs across the middle. Also, Bigby’s started to assimilate well into the quarters coverage of the Packers secondary, and has shown improved reaction time.
Patriots 31 - Jaguars 20
Dan Koppen, C, Patriots -On a highly dangerous offensive unit, and a banner day for quarterback Tom Brady, one would figure that a center getting any recognition is just silly. Koppen, though, stood out amongst a unit of stars for his great technical work. On his own his unit, Koppen is rarely recognized as the star, often deferring to left tackle Matt Light.
Koppen’s the key to the Patriots ground game, which flourished on Saturday to the tune of 5.0 yards per carry average. The Patriots run mostly out of zone scheme, focusing on stretch run plays. Koppen’s quickness off the snap helped utilize the tough run defense of the Jaguars. In particular, he did a good job of reaching the second level and middle linebacker Daryl Smith. Smith, who had been particularly hot coming into this game, did tally 14 tackles, but most of them were after gains of five-plus yards on the ground. Two of his stops for were for no gain, and none were for loss. Smith was making most of his plays in backside pursuit.
The Patriots, who almost exclusively run their offense out of the shotgun formation now, have to rely on Koppen to carry the ground game and eliminate the second-level threat quickly. Without the presence of a true blocking fullback on roster, Koppen’s importance to the ground game is elevated. His sound technique and awareness of the Patriots ground game is key to their continued run at perfection.
Chargers 28 - Colts 24
Antonio Cromartie, CB, Chargers: 6 tackles, 1 FF, 1 INT -Every hero has to have an enemy. Batman has the Joker, Superman has Lex Luthor and Peyton Manning has Antonio Cromartie. Manning, the most calm and collected quarterback of this generation of players, has been simply terrorized by the second-year veteran this year in two separate outings. Cromartie has rattled the cage of the House of Manning in a way no other defensive back has done in Peyton’s 11 years in the league. The second-year corner’s big three interception game earlier this season versus Manning on Sunday Night Football was the type of highlight reel game that makes YouTube’s top 10 list.
Cromartie excelled early in this game, forcing a fumble on wide receiver Marvin Harrison in San Diego territory, that the Chargers recovered. Cromartie, often looked like a finesse player because of his ball skills, wrapped up Harrison and jarred the ball loose. Then, in the second quarter Cromartie was able to haul in a deep ball intended for Wayne, and returned it 89 yards for a touchdown, that was reversed by questionable holding call.
Overall, Cromartie’s ball skills in mid air are the best of any back in the league, and he has started to show uncanny ability to jump routes. He has progressed rapidly this season, and there are some scouts who feel that Cromartie’s become in a quick amount of time a premier defender. His run support skills are still needing work, but his impact in the passing game is so dynamic that the Chargers may be able to stomach that problem.
Giants 21 - Cowboys 17
Jeff Feagles, P, Giants: 5 punts, 214 yards, 42.8 avg - Feagles was able to give the Giants defense some breathing room in the close game versus the Cowboys. He dropped two punts inside the Giants 20-yard line, with one landing on the Giants 4-yard line early on in the game. Feagles gave the defense some breathing room early.
The veteran punter of 20 years showed on Sunday why he’s still in the game. Feagles is able to drop punts with amazing accuracy, and has a great presence on the field. With such an aggressive defense who are prone to the big pass play, it helps them out greatly to have such a solid punter.
Quick Hits
Expect more teams to start running quarters coverage in 2008. In the playoffs so far, the Titans, Chargers and Packers all run it as their primary pass coverage, and the Cowboys and Jaguars also run it in some packages. The scheme, which splits the fields into fourths where the two outside corners and two safeties have a quarter of the field each, has slowly started to seep into the mainstream NFL. Combining principles of both man and zone coverage, it helps protect against big plays deep. If you have defensive backs smart enough to handle the responsibility of playing both in front and back of themselves, it’s a highly effective coverage scheme. It will be similar to how the league was taken over by the cover-2 after the Buccaneers’ victory in Super Bowl XXXVIII.
Is running back Shaun Alexander done in Seattle? Critics will point to his lack of good line play, but his performances by season’s end and in the playoffs lacked any fire or spirit. Alexander averaged more than four yards a carry only twice all season, and under three yards per carry on four occasions, including this week’s playoff game against Green Bay. Alexander rarely hit the hole hard against Green Bay, and has hardly played with passion this season. With a potential feature back in Maurice Morris on the pine, do the Seahawks want to continue to overpay for Alexander, who is now officially over the hill?
The NFL’s tight end explosion of the past few years has mostly been centered around athletic players like Dallas Clark, Antonio Gates and Kellen Winslow II, who are more wide receiver than tight end. These guys are actually glorified slot receivers, and while their impact is huge, they are hardly the tight ends of days past. If looking for a throwback tight end, look no further than Dallas Cowboy Jason Witten. Witten’s really a bull of a blocker with soft hands. Witten lines up on the line more than most tight ends, and like the throwbacks, is often the front-side blocker for running plays. His counterparts in the league often draw back-side blocking assignments, and rarely finish as well as Witten does.
Closing Thought
Once it was thought that the inevitable departure of Cowboys running back Julius Jones would land him a nice starting job and a hefty pay increase in a new city. It looks like once again wherever Jones plays in 2008, he will be splitting carries again in a near 50-50 platoon. The 2008 class of running backs has grown greatly in the past week with the additions of juniors James Davis (Clemson), Rashard Mendenhall (Illinois), Steve Slaton (West Virginia), Kevin Smith (UCF) and Jonathan Stewart (Oregon). All are likely to be drafted on the first day of the draft, and that is on top of the inevitability of Arkansas’ Darren McFadden declaring and going in the top five picks. Jones is hardly better than most of those backs listed, and less durable. Don’t expect Jones to break the bank in free agency when teams will be able to get similar production cheaper.
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