Conference Championship Weekend Recap

In the AFC Championship, the New York Jets played the Indianapolis Colts, and were fighting for a chance to go to the Super Bowl.  The Jets started quickly in the game, forcing the Colts to stall on their first series and to punt.  The Jets then moved the ball down the field to allow for a 44 yard field goal that would take an early lead, but Jay Feely missed the field goal wide right.

The game was scoreless through the 1st quarter.  That would change quickly.  In the first 2 plays from scrimmage of the 2nd quarter, Matt Stover kicked a 25 yard field goal to give the Colts a 3-0 lead, and Braylon Edwards subsequently caught a 80 yard touchdown pass to put the Jets up 7-3.  After a Colts field goal on the next drive, the Jets employed some trickery by setting up in the wildcat formation with Brad Smith and then having him pass to Jericho Cotchery for a 45 yard gain and a huge momentum swing.  The Jets then finished the drive with a touchdown to increase the lead to 14-6.  After a Joseph Addai fumble on the next drive, the Jets settled for a field goal to take a 17-6 lead.  At this point all the momentum was with the Jets, and the Colts were having trouble finishing their drives.  In a typical Peyton Manning drive, the Colts mounted a 4 play 80 yard drive to end their half on offense and to get themselves right back into the game.  The halftime score was 17-13 Jets.

In the 2nd half, the Jets looked to retain and regain any momentum from the first half.  After receiving the ball to begin the 2nd half, the Jets moved 39 yards down the field to set up Jay Feely with a 52 yard field goal, which he missed brutally wide right. 

After the missed field goal, the Colts prompted embarked upon an 8 play, 57 yard drive to take a 20-17 lead.  The Colts would never surrender this lead.  The Colts would add a 4th quarter field goal and a late field goal, and would win the game 30-17.

The Colts were led by Peyton Manning, as always, but he had some unlikely targets to which he threw.  His prominent targets, Reggie Wayne and Dallas Clark, combined for only 9 catches and 90 yards, whereas lesser known receivers Pierre Garcon and Austin Collie combined for 18 catches and 274 yards.  The two receivers were two main pieces of the Colts comeback and subsequent win over the Jets. 

Now to address the Jets.  The Jets played extremely hard in this game and throughout the playoffs, and became the biggest upset story of the playoffs.  The defense did not play its best, but the team was still in the game until kicker Jay Feely essentially took his team out of the game with 2 missed field goals.  While it is true that Jay Feely may not have the strongest leg in the league, he missed two makeable field goals this game wide right, and quite possibly cost the Jets a trip to the Super Bowl.  If he made the two field goals that he missed,the Jets would have had a 23-13 lead in the 3rd quarter, and would have had much more momentum.  However, this is only one of many occasions in the 2009 playoffs where kickers took their teams out of the game.  Shane Graham missed 2 field goals against the Jets in Wild Card Weekend, Nate Kaeding missed 3 in the Divisional Round against the Jets, Neil Rackers almost cost the Cardinals a win in Wild Card weekend with a brutal wide left at the end of regulation against the Packers, and finally Jay Feely allowed the Colts to stay in the game today due to his 2 missed field goals.  The inadequancy of kickers in big situations is something that should be followed in the coming years to see if a trend is beginning in the NFL.

The Jets shortcomings should not take any credit from the Colts, who will play in Maimi in two weeks.  Peyton Manning will return to the location where he played his first Super Bowl and defeated the Bears.

In the NFC Championship, the New Orleans Saints hosted the Minnesota Vikings.  This game was expected to be a high scoring, offense based game, and at times the offenses looked unstoppable.  Each team scored touchdowns in 2 of their first 3 possessions, but then the defenses took over and the rest of the half remained scoreless.  In the 3rd quarter, both offenses scored touchdowns on their first possessions, and the defenses again took control and kept the rest of the 3rd quarter scoreless.  In the 4th, both teams scored 1 touchdown, and the game went to overtime tied 28-28.  To this point the Vikings had turned the ball over 5 times, including a Brett Favre interception in the final minute when the Vikings were on the edge of field goal range.

In overtime, the Saints won the toss and elected to receive.  After a few booth reviews, once over the spot of the ball and once over whether or not a catch was made, the Saints faced a 4th and 1 inside the Vikings’ 45 yard line.  In a gutsy move, head coach Sean Payton decided to hand the ball to Pierre Thomas who leapt for a 1st down.  After a pass interference call, the Saints were placed in field goal position, and after a few plays, Garrett Hartley kicked a 40 yard field straight down the middle (a nice change of pace from other kickers this postseason) to give the Saints the franchise’s first Super Bowl appearance.

A key player for the Saints was Drew Brees, who threw for 197 yards and, more importantly, 3 touchdowns.  Brees spread the ball among 8 receivers, with the leading receiver, Devery Henderson, only catching 4 balls for 39 yards.  In addition, running back Pierre Thomas had 14 rushes for 61 yards and 1 touchdown against the stout Vikings run defense.

For the Vikings, a big part of the loss came from the 5 team turnovers.  The team fumbled 6 times and lost the ball 3 times from these fumbles, with running back Adrain Peterson fumbling 2 times.  In addition, Brett Favre threw 2 interceptions, including 1 in the final minute with the Vikings on the verge of field goal range.  These turnovers, most of them very untimely in nature, in essence cost the Vikings a trip to the Super Bowl.

Again, the turnovers made by the Vikings should not take credit from the Saints.  The Saints were the best team all year in the NFC, and will meet the Colts, who were the best in the AFC this year, in Super Bowl XLIV.  The game will be played 2 weeks from now in Miami’s Landshark Stadium, which in the home of the Dolphins, Miami Hurricanes, and the Orange Bowl.