What a wild night it was across the four games in HFFL's Wild Card Weekend. (Shoutout to the league for getting all four games done in one night) The Saints, Bills, Rams and Browns will all be moving on to the Divisional Round and here is your recap of how it went down:
Saints 20 @ Cowboys 10
In Dallas, a true defensive struggle led to a closer game than many predicted. The Cowboys did not get off to the start they were hoping for as Saints CB Xavien Howard forced a fumble with a big hit that was recovered by the Saints and returned for a touchdown. A quick response TD drive, highlighted by a 53-yard catch by Devante Parker on third-down, briefly tied the game, but the Saints scored a TD on their first offensive drive and never looked back en route to a 20-10 road win.
Saints QB Dak Prescott was effective on the ground for his team, rushing for 58 yards on 6 carries, including numerous third-down conversions. Cowboys QB Paxton Lynch was effective at times but generally struggled, completing just 7 passes for 133 yards and 3 interceptions. Star WR Martavius Bryant was held catch-less as the Cowboys defense clamped down on the Saints passing game.
Up next, for New Orleans, is a trip to the new Mercedes-Benz Stadium for a storied El Clasico matchup with longtime rival Jenk & his Atlanta Falcons. The two split the season series, so this truly is anyone's game in HFFL's longest and most competitive rivalry.
Browns 41 @ Jaguars 21
Legendary QB Drew Brees was surgical for the Browns to the tune of 13/15 202 yards and 2 TDs as the Browns took down the hosting Jaguars. Rookie QB Davis Webb showed nerves in his first career playoff appearance, throwing 5 interceptions, including his first two passing attempts of the game. Neither team was able to establish the run much since neither team currently owns Latavius Murray.
Jaguars coach Swaneeman87 was very complimentary of his opponent, TGI, and voiced his opinions on why things went wrong:
My hat goes off to him. TGI is a tough competitior and the better madden player.
Ultimately I threw 5 picks and lost a fumble with Webb and couldn’t get the run game going. I couldn’t compete with how well he users linebackers.
Game MVP, Eric Kendricks, led the Browns defense with 3 Interceptions, 1 sack and 3 tackles.
In the divisional round, the Browns will now head to Mile High Stadium and face the 15-1 Denver Broncos. The two did not meet in the regular season, so the unfamiliarity should lead to a great game.
Browns coach TGI Tuesdays had this explosive comment to say about his next opponent, Denver:
That team can't do anything but run the ball and we don't let teams run the ball. Our plan is to force Flacco to throw us the ball 3 or 4 times so we're able to give our backups some valuable experience this week.
Steelers 13 @ Bills 15
The matchup most anticipated, mostly bred by a late question on the eligibility of Bills in the playoffs, led to a fantastic game that saw the Buffalo Bills circle the wagons on the Steelers for a mild upset.
The greatest and most-innocent HB in the world, Ezekiel Elliott, was unable to get much traction to match his Pittsburgh counterpart, Jerick McKinnon, however, Bills kicker Ryan Succop came to play and kicked 5 field goals, including the game-winner with 10 seconds remaining. The Bills vaunted defense sacked Pittsburgh ginger QB Andy Dalton 5 times en route to a dominating performance.
The Steel Curtain Steelers defense was extremely effective in the red zone, otherwise, this game could've been a blowout. Steelers coach MorrellMan commented on the game:
"Our offensive struggles kept the bills in the game this week, as after our the first drive, we couldn't finish them. Our defense on the other hand held the bills offense to field goals on 4 separate occasions on our own 1, but didn't preform well between the 20's. There were a few opportunities that we came up short on.. a missed field goal that would have put us up 13-0 early, Dalton's throw coming up short on a jump ball to Odell as time expired that he recovered on the 1 yard line before half, J.P.P making a great defensive play and getting the sack when Odell was open over the top. All of these plays could have been gamechangers, but the football gods were in the favor of the bills tonight. Overall a hard fought game and we look forward to meeting again with the bills in the future."
We eagerly anticipate the rematch in HFFL's 2018 season.
The Bills now head to Baltimore for a matchup with Flems' Ravens. Brandin Cooks vs the stingy Bills secondary will be an interesting battle, as the two-time champion will surley look to get his speedster involved early and often.
Rams 27 @ Lions 17
In, by far, the sloppiest game of the round, Tip's Detroit Lions fell at home to the Rams of St Louis Los Angeles 27-17. No team was really able to establish much offensive momentum and both gave the ball away 3 times.
Tip's vaunted Cover 4 Drop Show 2 gave CupChamps fits all night, but the NFC West runner-up was able to make life easier for himself with short fields and efficiency in the red zone. Lions QB Marcus Mariota was effective on the ground, for 92 yards, but was held to a paltry 105 passing yards on 19 attempts. Tip was not available for comment, as he was seen storming out of Ford Field holding an empty .750 of Fireball in one hand, and typing up a storm on his phone in the other.
Doug Baldwin had a very nice day for the Rams with 69 receiving yards on 3 receptions, and teammate Tyler Lockett had a 41 yard bomb en route to 83 receiving yards himself.
One shocking thing, from this analyst's perspective, was the total disregard for the QB Slide feature! Both Russell Wilson and Marcus Mariota were pounded multiple times and coughed up the football when they did not slide and avoid contact. It'll be interesting to see if CupChamps learned his lesson in his next matchup vs division rival San Francisco. The two split their season series, with Rams winning the most recent tilt 24-22, so we can't wait for the rubber match in Santa Clara.
4-0 is just the start that Dak Prescott and the New Orleans Saints were looking for before the season started, and that's exactly what they have heading into their bye-week.
Coming off a dominating 48-14 win over the previously undefeated Miami Dolphins, Saints fans are partying hard in the French Quarter. The defense, performing more dominantly than originally thought, forced 7 turnovers in the win vs the Dolphins and has a league-high +18 turnover differential.
Although an undefeated start is on the right track, team owner Sean O'Connor knows that true success will mean being successful against two stalwarts in the division: Atlanta and Tampa Bay.
"Well, pardon my french, but i'll be damned if we arent off to a hot start. The defense has stepped up and the O has been solid."
The owner, also announcing a new stadium for the 2018 season, knows they'll face a tough test in Week 6 against the Detroit Lions, but he doesn't seem too concerned...:
"Tip sucks. Did you see how many yards Jenk ran for against him? I think we'll start my 74-year old wife and her two artificial hips at tailback and still get a buck fifty on the ground agaisnt that poop show of a defense. "
Strong words from the boisterous owner. Time will tell if his bulletin board material negatively impacts his team. Probably not.