[Chief Rum]

Wildcard Round

Baltimore at Oakland

The first quarter went exactly as the Ravens' planned it. Their bend, don't break defense held up and kept the Raiders to a field goal, and on the other isde of the ball, Jamal Lewis broke a few tackles on the way to a 25-yard scoring run and a 7-3 lead. But then in the second quarter, basically the Raiders opened up the proverbial can o' whoop ass on 'em. Rich Gannon led the Raiders on two dives that ended with short one-yard tosses for tocuhdowns, to Charlie Garner and Zack Crockett out of the backfield. Then with three minutes left int he half, Garner ran a third touchdown in from eight yards out. The Ravens trudged into the lockerrom down 24-7. They wouldn't quit easy, though. Kyle Boller hooked up with Todd Heap for a four-yard touchdown pass, and then the Ravns began the fourth quarter with a field goal to move within a touchdown of the Raiders, 24-17. They couldn't make any more headway after that, though. With seven minutes left, Gannon hooked up with his best receiver Jerry Porter for a scoring pass, Gannon's third of the game. A late field goal just added mustard to the win. Final score, 34-17, Raiders.

As you might expect with two defenses ranked in the 20s, there was a fair bit of offense, with both teams collecting over 400 yards in total offense in the game. They each had one turnover only, so it was probably a pretty exciting game to watch,w ithout the ugliness. Gannon (25-39, 326 yd, 3 td, 0 int) was terrific, spreading his touchdowns around to three diffferent receivers. Porter (7 rec, 143 yd, 1 td) was the main target. Garner (94 yd, 1 td, 8 rec, 56 rec yd, 1 rec td) was a huge factor for the Raiders. Boller (25-46, 294 yd, 1 td,1 int) didn't lose this one for the Ravens and is only going to get better, but this was too much for a rookie quarterback to handle. Lewis (75 yd, 1 td) was functionnaly good, but they needed him to be fantastic today.

Miami at Pittsburgh

As if the Steelers themselves weren't a big enough test, the Dolphins were greeted coming off their team bus in Pittsburgh by 24 degree weather and an icy white field. Yup, it was a snow game, an ice bowl, whatever you want to call it. Judging by the first half, this one is all about defense. Jeff Reed kicked a field goal in the first quarter to give the Steelers an early 3-0 lead, but that was all the scoring in the first quarter. Big booming kicker Olindo Mare evened up with a 52-yard field goal in the second quarter, but he was soon one-upped again when Reed got another field goal to move the score to 6-3. That's how it was at halftime, with the fans shivering in the icy stands. The Fins came out with renewed passion in the third. Mare kicked a field goal in the third quarter and then a go ahead kick with just nine minutes to go to take a 9-6 lead. The Steelers hadn't been able to do anything al day, so this was looking to be an insurmountable task. But that is forgetting that Tommy Maddox was the best quarterback in football this year. With four minutes left, Maddox threw the ball into Freddie Milons just right, and then watched as the athletic reserve receiver busted a 94-yard touchdown. An extra point later, and the Steelers had a 13-9 lead. They got the ball quick and tabbed on another field goal, to move up 16-9 with just over two minutes left. It was gut check time for the Dolphins. They hadn't scored a touchdown yet this game. In one swoop, Patrick Surtain took care of that. On the kickoff following Reed's third field goal, Surtain took the kick back 80 yards for an amazing final-minutes, game-tying score! This one headed to overtime. As you might expect considering regulation, this one was a bitter, brutal struggle on an icy battlefield. Both teams fought to get close enough to end it, and both failed repeatedly. Finally, the Steelers got close. Fins' punter Mark Royals got a bad punt off and Pittsburgh got to start from their own 39 yard line. It took two key passes, one a 20-yarder to Plaxico Burress, the other a 15-yarder to Jay Riemersma, and the Steelers had to overcome three penalties as well, but they finally got in range of a field goal with what would have been 21 seconds left ina regular overtime. Reed kicked a 36-yarder through for his fourth field goal of the game, and the Steelers barely escaped with their hides. 19-16 (OT), Steelers.

The Dolphins didn't have nearly the offense the Steelers had, and it showed in the numbers. Yardage-wise, Pittsburgh dominated the game, 434-224. They weren't helped, though, by two Maddox interceptions, especially since the Dolphins made no such miscues whatsoever. Jerome Bettis (57 yd) had a rough game against a very good defense, so this one had to hinge on Maddox's performance. He gets a passing grade (27-45, 334 yd, 1 td, 2 int, 43 rush yd), but just barely. He came through when they needed it. Von Oelhoffen terrorized Jay Fielder (24-50, 171 yd, 0 td, 0 int) and his protection, guard Todd Perry, for 4 sacks. Ricky Williams (25 yd) did even worse than Bettis, and the Steelers' run defense isn't bnearly as good.

NY Giants at Dallas

This one looke close early on. Both defenses locked down tight, and the game went scoreless for almost the entire first half. Finally, with just under four minutes to go until halftime, Kerry Collins connected with Amani Toomer on a 31-yard touchdown pass, to give the Giants a 7-0 lead. The Cowboys would cut the lead to four with a field goal in the dwindling seconds of the half. The Giants picked up where they left off in the thrid quarter. Jeremy Shockey didn't have a great year this year for the Giants,b ut he came through in the third quarter. Collins hit him with a 12-yard strike just a couple minutes into the second half. Collins brought out the big gun next, hurling a 52-yard bomb to Ike Hilliard for another score with seven minutes left in the third quarter. All of a sudden a tight defensive game turned into a 20-3 New York advantage. The Cowboys kept trying to get back into this one, but the Giants weren't having none of it. Collins got his fourth touchdown of the day when he finished off Dallas with a six-yard pass to Toomer. The Giants win this in a blowout. 27-3, Giants.

The yards difference matched the score, with the Giants outgaining Dallas 415-258. Collins (25-32, 318 yd, 4 td, 1 int)--not traditionally a big game quarterback--came through big time to lead the Giants to an impressive victory. Toomer (11 rec, 154 yd, 2 td) was his usual incrddible self, but this time he got help from Hilliard (6 rec, 101 yd, 1 td). Tiki Barber hurt himself and didn't play much, but the Giants didn't miss him much behind the running of backup back Ron Dayne (78 yd). Hamkbrick (82 yd) and Carter (29 yd) did some damage in the running game, but it was in a conservative and inconsistent passing game that the Cowboys lost this one. Carter (13-25, 132 yd, 0 td, 0 int) showed that he still has quite a ways to go, although the fact he didn't throw any picks is encouraging.

Seattle at Minnesota

Daunte Culpepper quickly showed the kind of talent that opponents find so scary, leading the Vikings to a quick score in the first quarter that ended with him running in a 10-yard bootleg. The Vikings' defense then toughened up and kept the Seahwaks out of the zone for a while. Fortunately for Seattle, kicker Josh Brown came to play, as he kicked a 49-yarder and then an amazing 56-yard field goal in the first quarter to whittle away at the Vikings lead. The Vikings defense finally gave out in the second quarter, yielding two quick scoring strikes from Trent Dilfer. With the help of a run for conversion, the Seahawks were up 21-10 at halftime. The Seahawks put the clamps down on the Vikings and held them scoreless in the third quarter. Brown's third field goal of the game pushed the Seahawks to 24-10 as the fourth quarter neared. Time was running out for the Vikings. The Seahawks kept it up and showed why they were a last-second loss to San Francisco away from home field advantage in the playoffs. They finished off the Vikings with two more fourth quarter scores. Final, 37-10, Seahawks.

Interceptions wre a key to this game, although Culpepper (16-27, 175 yd, 0 td, 2 int, 34 rush yd, 1 rush td) wasn't nearly as bad as he has shown himself to be at times. Probably the worst part of the offense for the Vikings was their anemic running attack. The Seahawks stifled the running game, limiting Onterrio Smith to just one total yard on 11 carries. The Vikings got 41 total rushing yards, and most of that was courtesy of Culpepper running from a collapsing pocket. Dilfer (18-23, 211 yd, 2 td , 0 int) was typcially steady and amazing at the same time. Shaun Alexander (117 yd, 1 td, 4 rec, 38 rec yd) was the Hawks' best weapon. The great Randy Moss (6 rec, 51 yd, 0 td) was entirely too ordinary today.

CR