All good things must come to an end and so it was on Saturday night for the Patriots and Tom Brady. After 10 straight playoff wins, the Pats lost in Denver, 27-13. New England had made just six turnovers in its 10 postseason wins, posting a plus-21 ratio. However, in Saturday’s loss, the Pats had FIVE turnovers that led to 24 Denver points. In the NFC, Seattle, despite losing Shaun Alexander to a concussion in the first quarter, beat the Redskins 20-10. The win ended Seattle’s 21-year drought between playoff wins, the longest by any team in NFL history.
My bye on Sunday is Ohio St vs. Michigan St at 4:30 ET. Don’t miss my last LEGEND play in the NFL on Sunday, as my LEGEND plays have gone 14-2 in FB ’05, including EIGHT straight winners! Sunday’s BKB plays will be available at 9:00 ET.
The Washington/Seattle game wasn’t a classic as, for the second weekend in a row, the Redskins couldn’t do much offensively. Washington had ‘lived’ forcing turnovers on its six-game winning streak (it had forced 20!), but while the team had THREE takeaways against Seattle, it wasn’t enough to overcome another pathetic offensive performance.
Seattle became the second playoff team to lose a star player early in a game (Cincy lost Carson Palmer on his second offensive snap of the LW game), when Alexander left with just over four minutes remaining in the first quarter. Early in the quarter, Alexander (untouched!) had lost a fumble at the Washington 11-yard line.
Seattle had apparently finished the game after an FG made it 17-3 early in the fourth quarter. However, Washington rushed for 76 yards in just four plays to cut it to 17-10. When Seattle dropped the ensuing KO, Washington was back. However, Hall missed a 36-yard FG and Seattle capped a long drive with an FG. At 20-10, Brunell’s long fourth-down throw toward the end zone was knocked down with about 45 seconds remaining.
The win allows Seattle to advance to the franchise’s second conference championship game next Sunday (it lost the AFC title game to the LA Raiders in 1983). As for Washington, the Redskins were the No. 6 seed and the loss makes it 10 straight losses for the No. 6 seed in the divisional round of the playoffs. Note: Pittsburgh will try to break that 0-10 streak of the No. 6 seeds today at Indy.
Returning to New England, things quickly fell apart for the Pats on Saturday night. Leading 3-0 at the two-minute warning of the first half, the Pats looked poised to at least be in FG range before the half. However, Faulk fumbled and then a RIDICULOUS pass interference on the Pats, gave Denver a first down in New England. After Mike Anderson scored, New England’s Hobbs unleashed the KO with a punch from the Denver kicker! A 50-yard Elam FG put Denver up 10-3 at the half.
The Pats were ready to take control in the third quarter. After closing out 10-6 on a FG, New England had a first-and-goal at the Denver 10-yard line. On third-and-five plays, Brady was ‘picked up’ in the end zone by Champ Bailey. Bailey was hit just before scoring and fumbled at New England’s one-yard line or in the end zone. The play was revised, but it just wasn’t New England’s night, as the on-field ruling (Denver’s ball at one) stood.
A TD from Denver made it 17-6. Vinatieri, the greatest leadoff kicker in NFL playoff history, then missed a 42-yard pass and later, Troy Brown puntd at the New England 15-yard line. That led to a TD pass from Plummer and a 24-6 lead for Denver. Brady threw for 341 yards, while Plummer had just 197. The Pats gained 420 yards while the Broncos had 286. However, New England’s FIVE turnovers (Denver had just one!) made all the difference.
Both home teams won and covered Saturday, making the NFC home teams in this divisional round 28-3 SU and 23-6-2 ATS since 1990. The AFC home teams are 23-8 SU and 15- 15-1 ATS. Sunday’s games are Pittsburgh at Indianapolis (1:00 ET) and Carolina at Chicago (4:30 ET). The Colts are favored by 10 points with a total of 47 1/2, while the Bears are favored by three points with a total of 30 1/2.
college hoops
No. 1 Duke and No. 2 Florida won on Saturday, raising their records to 16-0. The Blue Devils won 87-77 at Clemson and the Gators won at home against Auburn, 69-57. The only other undefeated team in the nation, Pittsburgh (13-0), plays in Louisville 13-2 today (1:00 ET). The Panthers are three-point underdogs on the road.
Illinois and Gonzaga both won home games on Saturday, with Illinois beating Michigan 79-74 and Gonzaga beating Pepperdine, 102-73. Both schools now own 31-game home winning streaks, tying them with Southern Illinois for the current longest home streaks in college basketball.
The other day, I reported that Southern Illinois’ home game streak was only 30 games. I was never that good at math and I want to apologize to everyone in Carbondale, as well as Walt Frazier and ALL his descendants!