Buffalo at Jacksonville, 1:05 p.m. EST. The Bills (9-7) are making their first playoff appearance since 1999, ending a 17-year absence that was the longest for any team in the four major North American sports leagues. The Jaguars (10-6) are in the postseason for the first time since the 2007 season, and won their first division title since 1999. They’re coached by Doug Marrone, who was Buffalo’s head coach from 2013-14.
—
Carolina at New Orleans, 4:40 p.m. EST. Two familiar foes cap wild-card weekend as Cam Newton’s Panthers (11-5) take on Drew Brees’ Saints (11-5) for the third time this season. New Orleans won the previous two meetings, with the victories bookending an 8-1 stretch for the Saints en route to the NFC South title. The Panthers will have tight end Greg Olsen, who missed the earlier matchups because of a foot injury.
—
STARS
Passing
– Marcus Mariota, Titans, led three second-half touchdown drives, incredibly throwing one of his TD passes to himself, and the Titans rallied from a 21-3 deficit to beat the Kansas City Chiefs 22-21 for their first playoff win in 14 years.
– Matt Ryan, Falcons, went 21 of 30 for 218 yards and a TD to lead Atlanta past the Los Angeles Rams 26-13.
—
Rushing
– Derrick Henry, Titans, had a career-high 156 yards rushing and scored a 35-yard touchdown run.
– Devonta Freeman, Falcons, ran for 66 yards and a TD on 18 carries.
—
Receiving
– Julio Jones, Falcons, had nine catches for 94 yards and a touchdown.
– Tyreek Hill, Chiefs, caught seven passes for a game-high 87 yards.
– Robert Woods, Rams, had 142 yards on nine receptions.
– Delanie Walker, Titans, had six receptions for 74 yards.
—
Special Teams
– Matt Bryant, Falcons, booted four field goals – from 29, 51, 25 and 54 yards.
– Ryan Succop, Titans, kicked a 49-yard field goal.
—
Defense
– Brian Orakpo, Titans, had 1 1/2 sacks.
– Deion Jones, Falcons had 10 overall tackles and a pass-defensed.
—
STREAKS & STATS
With a 22-21 loss to Tennessee http://www.coltsauthorizedshops.com/authentic-tyquan-lewis-jersey , the Kansas City Chiefs haven’t won a home playoff game since January 1994. … Atlanta’s 26-13 win over the Los Angeles Rams gave the Falcons playoff victories in consecutive seasons for the first time in franchise history. … Atlanta won a road playoff game for the first time in 5,481 days. The Falcons’ last postseason road victory came in the 2002 playoffs, when Michael Vick’s Falcons defeated Brett Favre’s Green Bay Packers. … Tennessee won a playoff game for the first time in 5,117 days, beating Kansas City 22-21. The Titans’ last playoff win came on Jan. 3, 2004, when Tennessee topped Baltimore.
—
MILESTONES
Los Angeles’ Cooper Kupp became the first Rams rookie to catch a touchdown pass in the playoffs since Torry Holt in the 2000 Super Bowl. … Derrick Henry became the third player in Titans history to have 100 or more yards rushing in a playoff game, joining Eddie George (twice) and Earl Campbell. … Alex Smith’s two TD passes against Tennessee put him past Len Dawson (seven) for the most in Chiefs playoff history with nine.
—
COMEBACK KIDS
Tennessee became the third road team to rally from at least 18 points down to win a playoff game in NFL history. The Titans trailed Kansas City 21-3 at halftime before storming back in the second half to win 22-21. Dallas came back from 21-3 in the first half to beat San Francisco 30-28 in December 1972, and Detroit came back from 27-7 in the second half to beat San Francisco in December 1957.
—
FROM ME TO … ME
Marcus Mariota capped a 91-yard TD drive to start the second half of Tennessee’s 22-21 win at Kansas City in bizarre fashion: He threw a TD pass to himself. His throw to the end zone was batted right back at him by Darrelle Revis, and Mariota hauled it in and dived for the goal line. It was the first time a player has thrown a TD pass to himself in the playoffs, and the first time in any game since the Vikings’ Brad Johnson during the 1997 season.
—
PARTY POOPERS
Atlanta’s 26-13 victory ruined a celebratory night for the Los Angeles Rams, who rebounded from a rough homecoming season in 2016 with an outstanding debut year under 31-year-old Sean McVay, the youngest head coach to reach the playoffs in NFL history. A raucous crowd of 74,300 packed the Coliseum on a crisp evening for the first NFL playoff game in the nation’s second-largest city since early 1994. Los Angeles went 21 years without pro football before the Rams returned last season, and the franchise emphatically ended a 13-year streak of non-winning seasons this fall with an inspiring run to the Rams’ first division title since 2003.
—
COOP’S WHOOPS
Pharoh Cooper is headed to the Pro Bowl after his outstanding regular season as a kick returner, but the second-year pro’s misadventures in his playoff debut cost the Los Angeles Rams dearly. He muffed a punt that bounced off teammate Blake Countess in the first quarter, and Matt Bryant subsequently hit the Falcons’ first field goal. After Bryant’s second field goal later in the quarter, Cooper got stripped by Damontae Kazee during a kickoff return at the Rams 32, and the Falcons drove for a TD.
—
SIDELINED
Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce sustained a concussion on a wick
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — Having already survived two win-or-go-home battles, the Tennessee Titans face their toughest test when they visit the defending champion New England Patriots in Saturday night’s AFC divisional round game.
The Titans pulled out a 15-10 home win over the Jacksonville Jaguars in their regular-season finale to earn a spot in the playoffs. They then went on the road and rallied from 21-3 down and stunned the Kansas City Chiefs 22-21 to advance for the second time.
Now, the Titans are two-touchdown underdogs as the Patriots are expected by most people to take the next step toward their sixth Super Bowl crown of the Bill Belichick/Tom Brady Era.
“It just shows that how tough of a team they are under the pressure,” New England’s Rob Gronkowski said earlier this week. “They’ve basically won two playoff games — one to get into the playoffs and a playoff game last week. It just shows how tough they are, how fundamental they are and that they’re ready to bring it in the clutch times.”
The Patriots have won the last six games between the teams and the Titans haven’t won in Foxborough since 1993, when they were the Houston Oilers.
While the Titans were pulling off their major comeback against the Chiefs, the Patriots were going through another bye week, but one that was filled with controversy. An ESPN report dealt with dissension among New England’s power trio of owner Robert Kraft, Bill Belichick and Tom Brady — much of it centering around the Pats’ trade of Jimmy Garoppolo to the San Francisco 49ers for just a second-round draft choice.
So, the Patriots have been dealing with questions all week — as the Titans just prepare.
“You know what, I’ll be honest with you, I don’t know anything about it,” Tennessee coach Mike Mularkey said on a conference call with the New England media, regarding the controversy. “I’m not a social media guy. I don’t know enough, I really don’t, to make any comment about something like that.”
“Throughout my years here I’ve seen a lot of negative, a lot of positive,” Gronkowski said Tuesday. “The reputation that Coach tries to get us to have is just ignore the noise — ignore the noise from the outside and I feel like that’s what myself and a lot of other players have been doing.
“You just gotta ignore the noise and just focus on what we’ve been doing all year and that’s preparing hard, studying our opponent, getting ready, mentally and physically for the big game, so what’s going on on the outside, as a team, as an organization, just gotta keep grinding, keep going, keep doing our job.”
The New England defense is spending the week preparing for mobile quarterback Marcus Mariota, a third-year pro who can make things happen with his legs. He ran 87 yards for a 2015 touchdown.
“He actually knows when to run and when to pass the ball when scrambling,” Patriots safety Duron Harmon said Wednesday. “It’s a very unique skill because a lot of guys once they get scrambling, they’re not even looking downfield anymore, they’re just looking to run. But he always has his eyes downfield — always knows when to run, when to throw the pass, I would say his touch on the ball, too, that gets people open when he’s scrambling.”
Mariota, who threw 13 touchdown passes and 15 interceptions during the regular season, had two touchdown passes and one pick in the playoff win. One of the touchdowns passes actually went to himself after Darrelle Revis batted down one of his passes before Mariota caught it and scored.
But Mariota was also sixth in the NFL (Brady was first) in third-down passer rating.
Wednesday, the Titans announced running back DeMarco Murray will miss his third straight game with a knee injury, while the Patriots could get both James White and Rex Burkhead back to further fortify a running game that has excelled even without them thanks to Dion Lewis.
Earlier this week, Titans’ All-Pro safety Kevin Byard said the goal of his defense is pretty simple — turn Brady into Blake Bortles.
“It’s a playoff game, so it’s not like it’s the preseason where I can go out there, ‘Oh, it’s Brady,’ and I’m chillin’,” Byard said Tuesday.
“This is a playoff game. So I don’t really care if it was Joe Montana. You know what I’m saying? I’m trying to go out there and win the game. I want to make him look like Blake Bortles if I can and try to catch a couple picks.
“Tom Brady is a great quarterback, but it’s a playoff game. I’m not really looking at it like that.”
Cornerback Logan Ryan, a former Patriots player now with the Titans, has been limited in practice with an ankle injury.
HTG ist geschlossen !
Thema drucken
03.12.2018 03:42
Antworten