The Chalk Holds for The NFC in the Division Round
The Chalk Holds for The NFC in the Division Round
Unlike the Wild Card weekend for the NFC, where we saw both the five and six seeds win on the road, the Divisional Round had both home teams come out on top for victories. Let’s look at how these games played out.
Minnesota’s Magic Runs Out, Niners Dominate
While Kirk Cousins rose above the criticism and stunned the NFL with an overtime win over the New Orleans Saints in the first round, the magic had run out in the next. The San Francisco 49ers defended their home turf in a convincing 27-10 victory. Throughout the season, San Francisco has relied on its defense to make big plays and dominate the line of scrimmage and this continued against the talented Vikings offense, especially against the run. Dalvin Cook, who has been one of the league’s top runners all year, was held to 9 carries for 18 yards. As a team, Minnesota only had 21 yards on the ground. The passing game was not much better. Besides a long touchdown early, Kirk Cousins and his receivers did next to nothing, as they totaled 172 yards in the air. Their leading receiver in catches was Dalvin Cook, who only had 8 yards to show for it. While not good stats, the 49ers deserve all the credit for the defensive performance they put up. The stout defense with big names like Richard Sherman, Arik Armstead, and Nick Bosa showed up in a big way, putting pressure on Kirk Cousins from start to finish. On the day Cousins was sacked 6 times, Bosa having two of those sacks. If the Niners defense keeps this up, it is going to be extremely tough to get any sort of rhythm against them.
As for the offensive side of the ball, San Francisco continues their impressive rushing attack featuring Raheem Mostert, Matt Breida, and Tevin Coleman. As a team, they rushed 47 times for 186 yards and two touchdowns. Coleman led the way with 22 attempts for 105 yards and scored both touchdowns. While the rushing attack was consistent again, the passing attack was extremely lackluster and is going to be a huge question mark going into the NFC Championship game. Quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo finished the day 11/19 for 131 yards and 1 TD and 1 INT. While not awful, Jimmy G did nothing more than manage this game and when he did throw the ball most of his attempts were off target. If Jimmy G puts in a performance like this, the rushing attack must dominate the way it did against Minnesota.
Green Bay Holds Off Seattle, Adams Goes Off
Going into Sunday night, many people believed the Packers had the edge over the Seahawks, especially without Seattle’s running game being healthy. Early on, it looked like Green Bay was poised to pull away in blowout fashion. At two points in this game, Green Bay had stretched the lead to 21-3 and 28-10, but Seattle never went away. Hall of Fame quarterback Russell Wilson willed his team back in this game, throwing for 277 yards and leading the team in rushing with 64 yards. After a 1-yard touchdown by Marshawn Lynch cut it to 28-23, Seattle looked poised to take the lead, especially after holding Green Bay to a punt on their next drive. With five minutes left, Seattle got the ball back, but Green Bay’s defense stood tall. Wilson was sacked by Preston Smith on third down and Seattle was forced to punt. With 2:32 left on the clock, Green Bay was looking to end the game with the ball and not give Seattle another chance. Even after a third-down conversion on a 32-yard catch by Davante Adams, Seattle still had hope. On third and nine with two minutes left, Rodgers completed a pass to Jimmy Graham as he just barely got the first down. Barely meaning an inch at most. After review, the ruling stood as called, and Green Bay will now be moving on to the NFC Championship game.
This game was a very clean played game. There were no turnovers and only 10 penalties in total. For Green Bay, it took a full team effort to win this game, but the standout performance was wide receiver, Davante Adams. The young wide receiver finished the game with 8 catches for 160 yards and 2 touchdowns. Aaron Rodgers did not do much, but he did what he needed to do to win this game, going 16/27, throwing for 243 yards and 2 TD. As for the running game, yards were hard to come by, but Aaron Jones was still able to find the endzone twice in the victory. Blake Martinez and Jaire Alexander led the team with 7 tackles each. The Smith duo continued to dominate as they both collected two sacks. Kenny Clark chipped in one as well. As for Seattle, the rushing attack was like the Packers. Yards were few and far to come by, but Marshawn Lynch was still able to find the endzone twice. As for the air attack, Tyler Lockett led the way with 9 catches for 136 yards and a touchdown. DK Metcalf chipped in 59 yards, and Jacob Hollister totaled 47. As for the defensive side of the ball, Seattle was only able to sack Rodgers twice. One from Shaquem Griffin, and the other from K.J. Wright and Jadeveon Clowney.
Green Bay will travel to Santa Clara to take on a very defensively dominant San Francisco 49ers team, who will look to get after Aaron Rodgers. In 2019, both teams failed to post winning records. Now, one of these teams will have the opportunity to play in the Super Bowl.
-By: Richie Dordas
Writer