Wild Card Saturday Recap

Where to begin??

Indianapolis 23, Kansas City 8 - It was assumed that the Chiefs would hand the ball to Larry Johnson 30-35 times, which against the Colts run defense would surely equate to 175 yards, and LJ and the Chiefs would keep Peyton Manning on the sidelines.

Yeah, that didn't happen. The Colts stuffed the box with 8 and 9 defenders, and held the Chiefs ground game to a measly 44 yards rushing, and 126 yards overall. Kansas City was held without a 1st down until midway through the 3rd quarter, but by that time, the Chiefs trailed the Colts 16-0.

Despite throwing three interceptions, Peyton Manning was accurate (30-38) and wisely hit the targets underneath the Chiefs defense. Tight end Dallas Clark and running back Joseph Addai combined for 16 of Manning's 30 completions for 129 yards. Addai, the only rookie RB to go over 1,000 yards in '06, added 122 yards and a touchdown on the ground as the Colts controlled the clock for nearly 40 minutes.

Defensively, the Colts stopped Johnson, and Dwight Freeney abused Jordan Black on several occasions, sacking Green twice and forcing a fumble. Once the Colts had a comfortable lead, and the Chiefs had to throw if they were to come back, Colts safeties Bob Sanders and Antoine Bethea both baited Green into throwing interceptions that sealed the Colts victory.

Seattle 21, Dallas 20 - Heading into last night's game without 3 of their top 4 cornerbacks, the Seahawks had a daunting task ahead of them. How do you stop Terrell Owens, Terry Glenn, Jason Witten and Pro Bowl QB Tony Romo with a rookie CB (Kelly Jennings), a undrafted converted safety playing CB (Jordan Babineaux), and two street free agents (Pete Hunter and Rich Gardner)?

A few days before his Cowboys left for Seattle, Terrell Owens was asked about the patchwork Seahawks secondary. His response? That Seattle would be better off if they had some of the assembled media covering him during the game.

Owens production on Saturday night: 2 receptions, 26 yards and a key drop on a 3rd down.

During last year's NFC Championship game, the talking heads questioned whether or not the Seahawks could stop the NFL's most dangerous wide receiver, Steve Smith. Seattle effectively shut him down and Seattle won thanks in large part to the absence of another weapon on Carolina's offense.

This time around, Seattle's defensive coordinator John Marshall needed to devise a similar plan, with inferior talent, against a more dynamic offense that has many weapons.

And the "Marshall Plan" worked. In the 1st half, Seattle was able to stop the run with just 7 guys in the box. Dallas never tried a deep pass, mainly because Seattle was committed to preventing it. Both of Seattle's sacks (both by Bryce Fisher) were coverage sacks, as Seattle dropped 8 guys into coverage on most downs.

In the end, Seattle needed a bit of luck to pull this one out. With 1:19 remaining, and Dallas lined up to kick the go-ahead field goal, Tony Romo bobbled the snap from LP Ladouceur. Romo still had an opportunity to pick up the 1st down, if not score a dagger-in-the-heart touchdown, but he was run down by Jordan "Big Play" Babineaux from behind, and Dallas turned the ball over on downs.

Mac's Game Balls (Part 1)

It's the playoffs, so I'm going to be extra generous with my game balls.

Offense: Joseph Addai, RB, Indianapolis Colts and Jerramy Stevens, TE, Seattle Seahawks - The rookie from LSU had 25 carries for 122 yards and a touchdown, but he also added 7 receptions for 26 yards in the passing game, many times bailing out Peyton Manning...Stevens, a much-maligned figure on Seattle's sports scene dating back to his days at U-Dub, had 5 receptions for 77 yards and a pair of 2nd half touchdowns to that gave the Seahawks a 21-20 win.

Defense: Jordan Babineaux, CB/S, Seattle Seahawks - He covered Terrell Owens for much of Saturday night's game, and Owens did nothing against him. Babineaux also tackled Tony Romo from behind, preserving the 21-20 Seahawks win.

Special Teams - Miles Austin, KR, Dallas Cowboys - After Seattle took a 13-10 lead, Austin responded by taking the ensuing kickoff 93 yards for a Cowboys touchdown.

Fact That Only Interests Me: With his pair of touchdowns last night, Jerramy Stevens is tied with Hall of Fame WR Steve Largent for 1st place in franchise history with 4 post-season touchdowns in his career.