Monday, January 22, 2018

NFL Championship Game Wrap Up

NE vs JAX: The Jaguars had a real chance at this mega upset.  In the first half they domainated play, forcing 3 punts from the Pats and allowing just 30% of the potential yards on their frist 4 drives.  Then came an egregious Delay of Game penalty on Blake Bortles and a follow up sack that pushed the Jags out of field goal range.  The Pats then picked up 47 yards on penalties and brought the game to 14-10 instead of 17-3 in all likelihood.  The second half continued to see the Pats stymie the Jags rushing attack (Fournette averaged under 3 yards a carry), and they had just two drives that used more than two and a half minutes on the clock despite holding the lead.  I'm not a huge time of possession fan, but with a lead you have to average at least 3 minutes per drive, to limit the chances your opponent can come back and use another drive.  Jacksonville had the field position advantage basically all day, having no drives start withing their 20 in the first half, but in a pair of critical drives they started at their 16 and 10, and gained exactly 21 yards.  That second one was especially appalling because it allowed the Pats to start at the Jags 30, all but conceding a tying field goal and ended up being a game winning TD.

PHI vs MIN: This game swung so heavily on the Pick 6 in the first quarter, its amazing.  The Vikings defense looked confused and gassed all day, giving up short throws that ate them up.  Nick Foles missed just 3 short throws all game, and was never really harassed in the pocket.  Keenum, despite being sacked just once, was pressured all game long.  The Vikings had only four of their 9 drives gain at least 50% of the potential yards, and 3 of them ended up in turnovers (fumble, downs, interception).

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