Random thoughts from watching recent playoff round

[Bryan]

*I thought all the games had entertainment value. I think having good teams playing good teams with decent officiating crews really helps the product. I wasn't a fan of the regular season games, but this postseason round was one of the best that I can remember.

*I was surprised at how dismissive the media was toward the Giants. Everyone kind of wrote them out of the playoffs, and they were only facing the Vikings. Barkley looked really good and Daniel Jones took advantage of a poor defense. I think the Giants and Niners proved that you can still win by running the football and controlling the clock.

*Speaking of clock, one thing that stood out to me was the usual 'clock management' issues. The Chargers and Dolphins made some questionable decisions, but I can't believe that John Harbaugh isn't getting raked over the coals for whatever took place on their last drive in the Ravens-Bengals game. It was completely bizarre. I've never seen a team trailing by 7 on their last drive, and still have two timeouts in their pocket at the conclusion of the game. The Ravens got the ball on the Cincy side of midfield with 3:14 left and down 7 with 2 time outs...in 3+ minutes of possession, the Ravens moved 19 yards. Harbaugh had the Ravens go full-huddle TWICE inside two minutes...effectively taking 70 seconds off the clock. Harbaugh's explanation after the game was that he didn't want to leave any time for the Bengals to possibly score themselves. What?

*Chargers removing Joey Bosa from the game on Jacksonville's last drive was almost equally idiotic. Not sure the reasoning behind that one.

*I've never been a fan of offensive players 'reaching' the ball toward the goal-line in an effort to score. It goes wrong too many times. Lawrence got lucky that the Chargers didn't smack him a second sooner. Huntley wasn't so lucky for the Ravens, as that probably ended up being the top play of the playoff round. I thought it was funny that after he fumbled, Huntley signaled to the refs that he had scored....he wasn't even past the LOS when he fumbled.

[Brian wolf]

Youre right Bryan, the Ravens were really bad that final drive. I guess Harbaugh just assumed they would get the TD but did people really think that Huntley was going to take on the Bills next week rather than Burrow and the Bengals? The NFL is so arrogant that they announced advance ticket sales for the game in ATLANTA. Maybe they know something the fans of Jax and Cincy dont?

I disagree on the Giants, it seemed like the media from what I read along with different people believed they would pull off the upset. Even with 12 wins nobody truly believes the Vikings with Cousins can win when it counts. Where were the open receivers on 4th and 8? Did Cousins panic or was the rush that close?

For a guy that dominated the first half against the Jags, Asante Samuel seemed to have left his head in the locker room. He along with his teammates just checked out in the second half. Same with the Seahawks defense; after letting the Niners drive for a TD after the Smith fumble, it seemed that when Smith and the offense couldnt counter on their next drive and punted, they mentally checked out the rest of the game ...

[racepug]

Same with the Seahawks defense; after letting the Niners drive for a TD after the Smith fumble, it seemed that when Smith and the offense couldnt counter on their next drive and punted, they mentally checked out the rest of the game ...

A mere two seasons ago the Seahawks wouldn't have even been in the playoffs. 9 - 8 teams don't deserve playoff spots, in my opinion. SEA vs. SFO was like the USMNST vs. the Dutch in the recently completed W.C. - they pretty much had to play a perfect game to stand any sort of chance. Clearly they weren't up to the task.

[Brian wolf]

Being a Seahawks observer--and we were both wrong on Geno Smith this year-- do you see them re-signing him racepug, or letting him hit the open market? They could sign him to a team friendly contract while going for another QB in the draft to develop but this team still needs more pieces on defense. I feel bad for the rookie Walker, who ran well in the game before the defense gave up. The Hawks could have stayed with this team, had they gotten more stops ...