Tuesday, January 10, 2012

NFL Wildcard Pick Results

Winning team in bold.

Steelers (APR, SRS, Line) @ Broncos
The Steelers offense had their troubles in this game (5 sacks, 4 punts and a bad interception), but with their defense, 23 points should've been enough to beat the Broncos. But the Steelers defense suffered some critical injuries, and the rest looked (in the words of Warren Sapp), old and slow. The result was Tim Tebow having a career day passing (316 yards and 2 touchdowns). And now, for the Steelers, it is over.
Lions @ Saints (APR, SRS, Line)
The Lions made more of a game of this than I was expecting—leading at halftime, and only down 4 at the start of the 4th quarter. But their defense just couldn't stop the Saints. Other than two fumbles, every Saints drive (until the very end of the game) ended in a score, all touchdowns, except for one field goal.
Falcons (APR, SRS) @ Giants (Line)
Last spring, the Falcons decided they needed a big upgrade in their offense, so they traded up to get wide receiver Julio Jones. The results of this game are a strong indication that 1) the Falcons were right in concluding they needed to improve their offense, and 2) one wide recever was not enough. The Falcons only had 4 drives longer than 25 yards, and they all ended with a failed 4th-down conversion attempt.
Bengals @ Texans (APR, SRS, Line)
The Texans played perfectly to their strengths—ran a lot (35 carries for 188 yard), played outstanding defense (Dalton was sacked 4 times, intercepted 3 times, and the Bengals were held to just 10 points), and kept as much pressure off of T.J. Yates as possible. Yates only completed 11 passes for 159 yards, but that was more than enough.

Totals

 This
Week
This
Season
%
APR 2-22-250.0%
SRS 2-22-250.0%
Line3-13-175.0%