[Chief Rum]

Division Round

Oakland at Tennessee

I got the sense this would be a close one, and the two teams didn't seem to want to disappoint me. The Raiders got the first score, on an 8-yard pass to Jerry Porter. The Titans were quick to respond, though. Steve McNair showed off his foot skills by running in the Titans' equalizing score in the first quarter. Just a couple minutes later, Rich Gannon made an ill-advised throw, and Keith Bulluck returned an interception 57 yards for the 14-7 Titan lead. Gannon got the Raiders back, though, with a four-yard scoring pass to Tim Brown in the second quarter. The seesaw continues. Gary Anderson got a field goal for the Titans before halftime, but the resulting 17-14 score stood in place for quite a while. In the very first seconds of the fourth quarter, Sebastian janikowski tied the game up again (third time already) with a matching field goal. The Titans drove back down the field and punched across a one-yard run up the gut by Robert Holcombe to take a 24-17 lead with nine minutes left. The Raiders then drove down again and got another comeback score when gannon hit Doug Jolley for a 14-yard touchdown pass. It's beginning to look like the last team to end up witht he ball will take this one. Well, that's what it did look like. As it turns out, neither team would score again in regulation, and we had another overtime game on our hands. As with Pittsburgh-Miami, this one was rather silent for much of the overtime, as neither team managed to get close enough to get a score. Finally, the Raiders put together a tough drive and got down into the red zone. At 6:08, Charlie Garner danced his way through 3 yards for the clinching score, and the Raiders are going on to the AFC Championship Game. 30-24 (OT), Raiders.

The Raiders had a distinct advantage in yardage, 464-349, but they were hurt by two turnovers, including the Gannon pick which was returned for a touchdown. They were fortunate to pull it out. Aside from the pic, Gannon (24-33, 338 yd, 3 td) played very well, leading his team when they needed it. Garner (125 yd, 1 td, 4 rec, 76 rec yd) was again a big factor for the Raiders, including scoring the winning run. Brown (7 rec, 111 yd, 1 td) played a bit like his old self for once, which was nice to see. The three-headed rushing monster was dangerous, as expected. Chris Brown (81 yd) led the way, but they also got good runs from Eddie George (29 yd) and McNair (29 yd, 1 td). In the passing game, McNair (25-35, 195 yd, 0 td, 0 int) was fairly accurate, but he didn't produce the big plays the Titans needed in this one.

Pittsburgh at Buffalo

It was 43 degrees and rainy in Buffalo for this one, so, oddly enough, the Steelers should feel they were playing in some warm weather after last week's Snow Bowl overtime thriller with the Dolphins. Will they have enough energy to take the Bills at their place, though? The early indications said yes. The Steelers defense locked down on the Bills and shut them out in the first half. Meanwhile, the Steelers got a score in each of the first two quarters. Tommy Maddox hit Hines Ward for a 4-yard scoring pass in the last minutes of the first quarter, and then Jerome Bettis got into the end zone int he second quarter off of a Maddox screen pass. With the way the Steelers' defense was playing, 14-0 was a pretty good lead for the Steelers. The Bills got a little bit back when they shut out the Steelers in the third quaretr and got their first score, a 22-yard Rian Lindell field goal, but they were still down 14-3 going into the final quarter. The Steelers soon got that field goal back with one of their own early in the fourth quarter. They continued to toughen up on the Bills after that. The Bills did get a touchdown finally, but it was a last minute score when the game was already pretty much decided. 17-10, Steelers.

The Steelers spent a lot of time in the Bills' backfield, with 6 sacks, although the Bills ended up winning the yardage battle, 363-307. Yardage doesn't help much if you don't push it across the goal line, though. Maddox (17-20, 180 yd, 2 td, 0 int) continues to play like a player of the year. Bettis (90 yd, 4 rec, 23 rec yd, 1 rec td) was a threat in both phases of the offense. And Hines Ward (7 rec, 99 yd, 1 td) stood out over Plaxico Burress for once. Kimo Von Oelhoffen had another 2.5 sacks, bringing his two-game playoff total to 6.5 sacks so far. Eric Moulds (7 rec, 136 yd) was indeed the star for the Bills, but he couldn't overcome lackluster days by Drew Bledsoe (17-34, 283 yd, 1 td,1 int) and Travis Henry (49 yd).

NY Giants at St. Louis

Playoffs tend to tense up teams, and that's what seemed to be the result early on in this one, as neither offense started off too well. The Giants failed to reach the end zone in the first three quarters of the gamne, but they built up a 9-7 lead on three Matt Bryant field goals, one in each quarter. The high-octane Rams' offense was anything but, with their lone score coming on an 8-yard scoring pass to reserve receiver Mike Furrey. The Rams seemed to turn it around a little in the fourth, getting a field goal with eleven minutes left tot ake a 10-9 lead, and then stopping the Giants on their next possession. But everything changed with one throw. Omar Stoutmire stepped in front of a Kurt Warner pass and returned it 41 yards for a score and the lead. Despite the fact the conversion failed, the Giants were holding onto a 15-10 lead in a tough defensive game. They almost made it stand up, too, as the Rams struggled to geta nything going. Finally, with just 1:12 left, the Rams ended a last ditch drive with a 12-yard scoring pass to, again, surprise hero Furrey. They also got the conversion, and moved up to 18-15. The nail in the proverbial coffin came just a few seconds later, when Amani Toomer fumbled away the ball and any chane of a Giant comeback on the ensuing kickoff return. The Rams kicked a field goal to get to the final score. Final, 21-15, Rams.

The Rams had to overcome two interceptions by Warner, but otherwise, their star passer did just fine (21-32, 266 yd, 2 td). Furrey (4 rec, 49 yd, 2 td) was an unlikely hero in this one, although Isaac Bruce (4 rec, 91 yd) was the Rams leading receiver. The only problem for Kerry Collins (23-40, 244 yd, 0 td, 0 int) was that he couldn't force his way into the end zone. Aside from his ill-timed fumble, Toomer (9 rec, 109 yd) also had a good day.

Seattle at Tampa Bay

The defenses stood out over the offenses early on, as Seattle had just 1 6-3 lead a few minutes into the second quarter. The Buccs finally broke out of their reut late in the second, though, as Brad Johnson hooked up with both Keenan McCardell and Todd Yoder for touchdown passes in the final minutes of the first half. The Buccs had a 17-9 lead at halftime. Another field goal in the thrid quarter moved the Saehawks to within five, 17-12, going into the fourth quarter. The Buccs wouldn't take the Seahawks inching up on them, though. With nine minutes left, Brad Johnson threw his third touchdown pass of the day with a short toss to Karl Williams when the Buccs were just one yard out. That proved to be a critical score as the Seahwks took the ball back next drive and drove it down for their own score, with Trent Dilfer hitting tight end Itulu Mili. The Seahawks were still short, 24-19, but they still had some time left. Unfortunately, they couldn't make it work. The Buccs added another field goal to finish them off. 27-19, Buccs.

Seattle once again proved that yardage only matters so much, as they outgained the Buccs, 353-277. What really hurt them was 16 penalties for 93 yards. The Buccs only had 6 penalties for 45 yards. Johnson (18-31, 209 yd, 3 td, 1 int) proved to be the better of the two efficient passers in this game, at least for today. Dilfer (22-39, 246 yd, 1 td, 1 int) wasn't bad, but he wasn't good enough in this one. McCardell (6 rec, 82 yd, 1 td) was the best receiver for Tampa Bay, while Seattle watsed a good performance from Koren Robinson (7 rec, 116 yd).

CR