NFL Divisional Playoffs - What We Learned

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Round two of the NFL Playoffs managed to surprise all of us. Once again we found ourselves talking about a controversial call, one team awoke a sleeping giant and an upset came about that shocked so many. Each game had its own fascinating story, so let's get right down to it and take a look at the top stories and what we learned from the Divisional Playoffs. 

1. The New England Patriots unleashed their fury at last. It was a season where everyone has questioned the toughness of this squad, especially after an embarrassing loss to Kansas City in prime time. It was a question that arose once again when the Ravens traveled to Foxboro and quickly asserted themselves with some quick scores and quality defensive play.  But Tom Brady and company were having none of it, suddenly they came to life in an incredible shootout that lasted the whole game. The Patriots played with a fire I've not yet seen until now and that's a good thing for them, they sent the Ravens home and advanced to the AFC Championship and they did it with an impressive win.

2. The Panthers are simply not ready for the postseason.  The Panthers squeaked their way into the playoffs, and beat a team with a third string quarterback to get a chance to take on the Seahawks, and while for a better part of the game they kept it close and exciting it was only a matter of time before their glaring issues returned.  One of those issues was Cam Newton, who in his fourth year as a starting quarterback STILL stares down his receivers, did just that and handed the go ahead touchdown to the defense with a pick six, ending their season. There's a lot of off season work to be done here, especially with Cam to make sure the Panthers play some disciplined football if they want to not only return to the playoffs, but find themselves making it past one win. Let's see what they do in the off season to get there. 

3. Aaron Rodgers is basically a magical football wizard.  I don't care how silly that sounds, the man was uncomfortable for a better part of the game, doing his best to keep off that bad calf and not make any major mistakes. It was a close game until the second half when Rodgers suddenly flipped the switch and once again pulled off some incredible quarterback play to send the Cowboys home.  That's simply magical, people. It's a joy to watch him play when he does incredible things like this, and that's all he has been doing so far, making amazing plays.  Of course, there's once again debate that the officials control all things, and I'm tired of hearing it. Even Cowboys head coach Jason Garrett said that Dallas controlled their own destiny during the game, and no official changed the outcome here.  That's a fact, play your game, put up an insurmountable lead and shut your opponent down on defense and you'll walk away the winner.  Which is exactly what Green Bay did with Rodgers' super star play before letting the Packers D make sure the Cowboys didn't put any more points on the board.  

4. The Broncos once again left the playoffs early and in painful fashion. This was a stinging loss for the Broncos, and for once the Defense wasn't at fault. They actually played pretty phenomenal in fact, picking off Andrew Luck twice in the game. But none of that matters when the offense cannot get going. Granted C.J. Anderson was the only bright spot as he played his heart out on the ground, but Manning did not look like himself and well, as I started typing this, ESPN broke a report that Manning played the last month on a torn quadricep. That would explain a great many things when it comes to his rough play, but in the end that injury means nothing...the Broncos lost. They lost bad and everyone in Denver is left reeling, but credit needs to be given where its due, the Colts and Andrew Luck looked amazing, in fact Luck made some impossible throws and led his team to a big time win, one that leaves the Broncos wondering where they go from here. 

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