Tuesday 10 January 2017 08:26, UK
After a regular season of high drama, the opening weekend of the NFL playoffs was relatively routine in comparison. There were still some very memorable moments, but we did not witness a game that went right down to the wire.
That said, the wild card round did offer up some intriguing story lines and some performances that suggest the teams who advanced could make some noise during the divisional playoffs. Here are six stories that caught my eye during the course of 15 hours of live television over the weekend.
There is not a quarterback in the game playing as well as Aaron Rodgers right now and he looks historically great as the Green Bay Packers continue their remarkable turnaround. The highest rated quarterback in NFL history struggled early against the New York Giants and his team had -8 total yards early in the second quarter.
By the end of a night in which it was proven impossible to keep such a good man down, Rodgers had thrown for 362 yards and four touchdowns, including his trademark speciality at the end of the first half - a Hail Mary heave and hope into the end zone that was caught by a fit-again Randall Cobb.
With the 38-13 win over New York, the Packers have now won seven in a row and head to Dallas in a buoyant mood. Mike McCarthy's men are far from perfect but Rodgers always gives them confidence and they scored the final 24 points after New York had closed to 14-13 on the scoreboard in the second half. With Rodgers at the helm, there is no Super Bowl dream to outlandish for this team.
It's all about the B's in Pittsburgh as they advanced to the next round of the playoffs with a 30-12 demolition of the Miami Dolphins that was led by their biggest offensive stars - quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, running back Le'Veon Bell and wide receiver Antonio Brown.
All three had big days as Miami were out-classed from start to finish. Brown started the rout with touchdown receptions covering 50 and 62 yards on strikes delivered by Big Ben. And then Bell turned the screw on the Dolphins, carrying the ball 29 times for a club playoff record 167 yards and a touchdown.
With these three in the line-up and in a league where scoring points is important, the Steelers have a genuine Super Bowl chance. Having said that, they must improve their away form in time for Sunday's visit to Arrowhead Stadium, where they will face the Kansas City Chiefs.
I do think there is some criticism that can be levelled at Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin, even though his team romped to an impressive first-round win on Sunday night. Why on earth did he risk injuring his three key superstars by having them play so deep into a game that was won and over early in the second half?
The Steelers had Antonio Brown returning punts, recovering onside kicks and running downfield on passing plays deep into the fourth quarter. Roethlisberger was needlessly in the game late and got hit and hurt on an interception - he left Heinz Field on Sunday night with his foot in a walking boot.
That was foolish and unnecessary and it cannot be undone once the player gets hurt. American football can be a violent and punishing sport and when you have a game won in such convincing fashion, there is no need to risk putting your stars out there.
The Oakland Raiders would have been watching with interest as Pittsburgh rolled the dice with their offensive stars. The Silver and Black were in a similarly comfortable position in Week 16 as they were in control against the Indianapolis Colts when star quarterback Derek Carr broke his leg and was done for the season.
And with Carr went Oakland's Super Bowl chances. The inevitable took place on Saturday night as the Raiders - led by struggling third-string quarterback Connor Cook - were kicked out of the playoffs by the Houston Texans.
The Raiders struggled from start to finish in a 27-14 loss and while we should credit Houston for playing a clean game and dominant defence, the Carr injury and subsequent fall-out is a reminder that even the best of seasons can go south in a hurry with some ill-timed misfortune.
Houston Texans quarterback Brock Osweiler has endured something of a nightmare first season in Texas after inking a four-year, $72 million deal last spring. He has been too much of a turnover machine and got benched in Week 15 after another mistake-filled display against Jacksonville.
But since replacing the injured Tom Savage in Week 17, Osweiler has cleaned up his act and has not turned the ball over in two games. He doesn't need to be a superstar at this stage of his career - the Texans only got 22 yards of passing out of him in the second half on Saturday - but he must avoid the big mistakes that hurt this team all too often in 2016.
Osweiler must play another clean game for Houston to have any shot this coming weekend as they are already been tabbed as 16 ½ point underdogs against the New England Patriots.
Okay, it was not that long ago that the Seattle Seahawks were winning by running the football and playing strong defence. But it feels a while ago for a team that is ranked 25th in the NFL in rushing this season - an unheard-of low for Pete Carroll's squad.
That lack of a running game has been a year-long problem for the Seahawks, who have fielded their worst attack since Russell Wilson became their quarterback in 2012. But the Seahawks looked more like their old selves with Saturday's 26-6 win over the Detroit Lions.
Thomas Rawls looked like a human pinball machine as he bounced off tacklers all night long to the tune of a club playoff record 161 rushing yards. That kind of balance is what the Seahawks need for the remainder of their post-season run, particularly on Saturday night as they take on the free-scoring Atlanta Falcons.
Every time-consuming Seattle run and drive is another few minutes when Falcons offensive stars such as quarterback Matt Ryan and wide receiver Julio Jones are sat on the bench, itching to get involved in the action.
Sky Sports is your home of NFL. Join Dara, Neil, and Jeff for Divisional Weekend, which begins on Saturday January 14 from 9pm.
