Tebow Preys on the Steelers Defense – 5 Things About Wild Card Weekend
Here goes the run down for Wild Card Weekend:
- Tim Tebow is real.
- I won’t say that I picked the Bronco’s to pull the upset although, I did acknowledge it was possible last week. With that being said Tim Tebow is at a point where few athletes have ever been. He’s able to lift his team somehow to perform in instances where it seems like they’re out manned and seemingly out classed. Denver’s defense deserves a lot of credit also as they harassed Big Ben and forced him into several bad throws including an interception in the first half. And who can forget Demaryius Thomas, who had over 200 yards receiving including the 80 yard touchdown to win in OT. Heading into their divisional match up it seems like the Patriots should win on paper, but how can you keep betting against the Broncos and Tim Tebow?
- That’s Mr. Jacobs to you, sir.
- Brandon Jacobs put on his big boy pads for the first time this season and the Falcons were the unfortunate victims. Jacobs ran for 92 yards on 14 carries, but more importantly turned the tide in the Giants favor when the Falcons were leading 2 – 0. Certainly Jacobs hasn’t been the bruising back the Giants have expected him to be for much of the season but heading into Green Bay he appears to be hitting his stride. That’s great news for the Giants going forward.
- Fostering a positive environment.
- Arian Foster rushed for over 100 yards and found a way to keep the Texans playoff dream rolling despite a pretty pedestrian outing from rookie T.J. Yates. It’ll be much tougher sledding for Foster as the Texans face the Ravens in Baltimore, but the Texans have been a resilient team all season and they haven’t used injuries as an excuse not to perform. If the Texans offensive line can open holes for Foster and Tate against the Ravens it could be quite a game.
- Bay Area Saints.
- The Saints meet up with an old NFC West Rival (I’m dating myself with that reference) in the 49ers on Saturday. The Saints were magnificent as they put up 35 of their 45 points against the Lions in the second half of their 45 – 28 victory. It’s hard to imagine the 49ers being able to slow down Brees and the Saints prolific offense, but I think San Francisco is up to the task. It’ll be interesting to see how well Alex Smith plays against an aggressive Saints defense that is willing to take chances to create turnovers.
- No place like home.
- For the first time since 2006 all four home teams won during Wild Card Weekend. I think that’s worth noting as we look towards the divisional round. The four home teams (Packers, 49ers, Ravens, Patriots) could certainly prevail again this weekend. Road upsets are a lot harder to come by in the divisional round simply because a big advantage goes to the rested home teams. Of course, if we’ve learned anything this season it’s that things will not go according to plan. In the end, that’s why we watch and love this game.
