NFL 2016-17 playoffs running thread

I doubt it, but it would have been a game.

 

Which was the stronger conference this year, AFC or NFC?

 

Rickey was stronger than both, combined.

 

Shaughnessy:

New England’s ticket was punched Sunday night at Gillette Stadium when the Patriots (16-2) overwhelmed the estimable Steelers on a rainy, 40-degree night in front of 66,829 (1 million, according to the White House).

Dan Shaughnessy: This Super Bowl will be a showdown with Roger Goodell - The Boston Globe

 

Malcolm Butler was all over Brown, supposedly the best player in football.

 

Too bad all of that bluster will be negated when Matt Ryan delivers a hammer punch. For months, the Patriots fans will be haunted by the image of a falcon swooping down from the sky.

 

When did anybody claim Brown was the best player in football? He was the best receiver in the game last year, but took a step back this year. Defenses don't have to respect any other receiver on that team, so it is far too easy to double-team Brown. It became even easier for the Patriots once Bell got hurt.

 

I have seen that comment made more than once.
New England took Brown out of the game and forced Roethlisberger to go to less dangerous options.
The Steelers looked like they had to labor just to make first downs tonight.
It shouldn't be that easy to just delete a supposedly great player.

 

Losing Bell helped them limit Brown also. Bell ran all over Miami and KC.

 

When was the last time a ticket was "punched" or for that matter, even torn, in an NFL stadium? I hate that phrase.

To speak to the earlier-presented fatigue question, I think it's a factor, though in the case of Falcons-Packers, Green Bay's secondary was in such bad shape by the end of the regular season that I think it reflects worse on the Giants and Cowboys, both of whom have A-list receivers of their own, that they failed to take advantage. This GB team was a spent force when they landed in Atlanta and probably overachieved to get as far as it did. Reminded me of when the 2011 Tigers made it to the ALCS, pushed the series to Game 6 and then gave up a 9-spot in the third. I'm more angry that they got embarrassed than I am that they lost. This'll give all the Lions and Vikings fans I know a week's worth of joy and I wish they hadn't gotten a three-hour head start.

So it looks like it's the team everyone hates (though I don't mind the Pats, I have relatives in Maine and find Belichick fascinating in an odd way) vs. the team no one cares about (I don't think I know a single Atlanta Falcons fan) in Houston. Not the best matchup in the world, but the last time we had this game in Houston, the world got to see Janet Jackson's boob, so I suppose there's hope?

 

The Cowboys didn't take advantage of GB's secondary?

 

Not enough to win, though you make a valid point.

That said, if Rodgers had pulled out the same game he did vs. Dallas, GB would have probably lost 56-35, such was the condition of their secondary today.