Defenses dominate Divisionals; Jets upset Chargers

Winners’ defenses dominated the Divisional Playoffs Saturday and Sunday, as the NFL’s game of postseason musical chairs paired down to the final four teams. With only San Diego needing a victory to set up identical No. 1- vs. No. 2-seed pairings in next weekend’s conference championship games, an interloper from New York with title-game designs of its own stepped onto the turf at Qualcomm Stadium and short-circuited the Chargers’ 2009 season.

A blitzing Jets defense and solid running game, coupled with three Nate Kaeding field goal misses, sent the Cinderella Jets to Indianapolis for next week’s AFC Championship Game. Cool rookie quarterback Mark Sanchez superbly managed the New York offense, mixing just enough passes with the bread-and-butter ground game to knock off the Chargers, 17‒14, in by far and away the weekend’s most exciting game. Defensively the Jets kept San Diego’s Philip Rivers off-balance, and more importantly, out of the end zone when it mattered. Kaeding must have felt like it was déjà vu all over again, having missed the game-winning field goal in the 2004 Wild Card game that would have beaten these same New York Jets.

Dallas looked like it might blow Minnesota off its own field at The Metrodome, but negative plays continually kept the Cowboys from the end zone. Eventually Minnesota caught its breath, dominated the line of scrimmage on defense, and waited for periodic magic from Brett Favre (which came in the form of three touchdown passes to Sidney Rice) to seal the 34‒3 win.

Indianapolis’ well-rested veterans showed no rust in returning to form, having their way with Baltimore, whose famed Ray Lewis-led defense was compromised by Colts quarterback Peyton Manning’s 68 percent completion rate and two touchdown passes. Fortunately, the one-dimensional Colts offense could count on its ball-hawking brothers on the other side of the ball, whose stout defense smothered the vaunted Ravens ground game. Baltimore made big plays throughout, but invariably wound up shooting itself in the foot via turnovers or penalties. All-Pro Ravens safety Ed Reed fumbled following a 38-yard return of an interception in the third quarter. Five plays later, Reed duplicated his feat with a 54-yard INT return but this time the play was nullified by a holding penalty. Then running back Ray Rice coughed it up after a 20-yard run in the fourth quarter. Without a running game, the Colts took out one of the AFC’s tougher teams. Now a most unexpected New York-Indianapolis conference title showdown looms.

It mimicked the start of the Baltimore-New England romp the weekend before—a stunning 70-yard touchdown run on the game’s first play—but ended with a Mike Tyson-esque K.O. of quarterback Kurt Warner in the second quarter. Arizona’s attempt to repeat last year’s Super Bowl appearance was over. New Orleans’ Saints did indeed come marching in—over the mostly unresponsive bodies of the Cardinals’ lame defense—to catapult into the NFC Championship Game against Minnesota. As with the Colts, an anticipated New Orleans’ lull coming off a decline at the end of the regular season never materialized, as Drew Brees’ pinpoint passing and running back Reggie Bush’s superb athleticism made for a 45‒14 rout.

ANGLING FOR THE CORNER: With the quick start the Cardinals enjoyed right out of the box on Tim Hightower’s 70-yard TD run, I couldn’t help but wonder—momentum being the fickle agent that it is—that if Cardinals receiver Jerheme Urban hadn’t fumbled the ball away after completing a 28-yard reception from Kurt Warner to open Arizona’s second possession, would the end result have been different, say, if the Cardinals had gone on to score to lead it at 14‒7? Likely not, given the performance of the Saints defense and Reggie Bush’s sublime effort. The great Sammy Baugh was once asked a similar question regarding a play following the 1940 NFL Championship Game, which the Redskins had just lost 73‒0. Baugh thought about the play in question and answered, “Yeah, it sure would’ve made a difference. We’d have only lost by 73‒7!”

Alan Ross is the author of 32 books, including Away from the Ball: The NFL’s Off-the-Field Heroes. E-mail him at: alanross_sports@yahoo.com
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