There is always an upset on wildcard weekend, but nobody saw this coming. I thought it would be the Bengals because mainly because of me being 50-50 on the game and wanting the Bengals to win so the Patriots didn’t have to play the Steelers. Many people believe the upset of the week was going to be Falcons over the Giants. Some people believed that the Lions could beat the Saints. Barely anyone thought the Broncos were going to win. Tim Tebow’s magic that seemed gone after a New England Patriots slaughtered them, but under the most pressure he’s been under all season long, he came up and delivered beyond anyone thought.
We’ll get to the Broncos-Steelers breakdown later, but before that, I’d like to talk about the other winning teams.
The Houston Texans proved that even in this league you can win with a ground game and a defense. Adrian Foster had an incredible game as he ran up and down on the Bengals and their defense not only let up virtually nothing, but they also scored and put their offense in good positions to score. For about a quarter, the Bengals were out-playing the Texans and seemed as if they were going to win easily. TJ Yates moved the Texans down the field to try for a short ranged FG, which it looked like they missed but the referees said it was good. At a score of 10-10, JJ Watt made a primetime playing as he perfectly read a slant play, caught it, and ran it in for a TD. That was the momentum swinger and the Texans built off of it for the entire 2nd half.
The Saints started off sloppy – turning the ball over twice -and their defense was playing plain coverages and just simply getting out-beat, but the proper adjustments were made enough. Their offense looks unstoppable – that is when they’re on turf. We’ll see how great they are on grass. It’s hard to believe grass can slow this team down that much, though.
The Giants proved that their 2007-like season is officially on. Many people believed the Falcons were going to win this game, but they didn’t even come close. They were out-played on both sides of the ball and out-coached in all phases of the game. It was a pathetic performance. Watch out Packers, though. This team will be tough.
All those games were memorable, but none of them can compare to Steelers-Broncos.
Why the Broncos won:
The Broncos won that game for a lot of reason. The most important reason was because they didn’t turn the ball over a lot and won the turnover battle. Another very important reason they won was because their offensive line was incredible. They gave Tim Tebow so much time in the pocket and also blocked well enough that he had a chance to run if nobody was open. The threat of the run by Tebow and Broncos running backs also kept the Steelers honest and confused them all day long. Lastly, Tim Tebow made great decisions and made passes nobody thought he could ever make.
Why the Steelers lost:
The main reason the Steelers lost this game was because they weren’t the Steelers. They were very banged up in this game. Big Ben didn’t look like he usually does and couldn’t extend plays by making people miss. As a result, Steelers sub-par offensive line were exposed by a good pash rush team. The mistakes- drop passes, turnovers, and snaps going over the QB – were also a dagger in Steeler’s hearts.Their defense, mainly secondary, didn’t come to play. Everyone believed all Big Ben needed were two TDS to win this game, but Big Ben – on virtually one leg – put up 23 points and that wasn’t even enough to win this game. Broncos no-named WRS simply beat Steelers lights-out secondary. It was embarrassing to see such a greatly put-together and coached defense just fail to do anything right. Broncos’ WRS were wide open almost every play. And there was no pressure on Tim Tebow the entire game. He could’ve made a sandwich and ate him while in the pocket.
Kudos to the Broncos for winning a game not many thought they could, but let’s not let Steelers off the hook. They played awful and they were hurt, but injuries are part of the game and great teams overcome them. At least tonight, Steelers weren’t a great team.
