After 17 weeks of regular season play, the NFL was able to sort out the best six AFC and six NFC teams in order to compete for a spot in Super Bowl XLVIII.
According to SB Nation the Wild Card started on Saturday, January 4 with an AFC game between the 5th seed Kansas City Chiefs and the 4th seed Indianapolis Colts at 4:30 p.m.
What started off as a game in Kansas City’s favor, as they led 38-10 in the third quarter, turned around rather quickly and ended in a 45-44 Indianapolis win.
The Chiefs gave up five touchdowns to the Colts, three of which came from quarterback Andrew Luck, in the second half of the game. Two of the most important and memorable touchdowns came in the fourth quarter when Luck recovered a fumble from running back Donald Brown and dived into the end zone for a five yard touchdown. The game winning touchdown was a pass to wide receiver T.Y. Hilton for a 64-yard run to the end zone. The Chiefs have now lost eight straight playoff games.
Math teacher Ryan Leiphart was surprised with the Colts win after the Chiefs’ huge lead.
“I think the Colts won because Andy Reid is their coach,” said Leiphart. “The Colts made better adjustments after the second half. I was not expecting the Colts to win, the Chiefs had a huge lead and blew it.”
The other game taking place on Saturday was the NFC game between the 6th seed New Orleans Saints and the 3rd seed Philadelphia Eagles at 8:10 p.m.
A close game, the ending score was 26-24, resulting in a Saints victory. According to ESPN, after the first half the Eagles hung on to a 7-6 lead until a 24-yard touchdown catch by wide receiver Lance Moore.
New Orleans quickly took control of the third quarter as they scored once again with a 4-yard touchdown run from Mark Ingram, bringing the score to 20-7. The Eagles then began to come back with a force after the Saints lost their corner Keenan Lewis due to injury. They were able to narrow the difference in the score to 3 points making the score 20-17 after three scoring drives in a row.
Senior Eagles fan Josh Gladfelter thought this was the most intense part of the game.
“It was intense when the score was really close so late in the game,” said Gladfelter. “It seemed like both teams had a good chance to win. The outcome was not what I was expecting, I honestly expected the Eagles to win.”
It was a close battle all the way to the end as the Saints put three points on the board from a field goal and as Philadelphia scored another touchdown with a pass to Zach Ertz resulting in a 24-23 Eagles lead. New Orleans’s kicker Shayne Graham made his fourth and final field goal of the game for a close win.
“As an Eagles fan having a 10-6 season after being 4-12 last season made me more then happy,” said Gladfelter. “I look forward to seeing them improve more in years to come.”
San Diego Chargers, seed 6, took their turn with 3rd seed Cincinnati on Sunday, January 5 at 1:05 p.m. in the last AFC Wildcard game.
Seeming to be another close game, the first half resulted in a score of 10-7 with a Bengals lead. According to NJ.com, the Chargers took advantage of Andy Dalton’s three turnovers in the second-half taking the lead. This is the third year that Dalton has fallen apart in the playoffs.
The Bengals were no match for San Diego’s defense who were dominating the game. Philip Rivers also contributed heavily to the Chargers win as he was able to throw accurate throws in the chilling January rain.
With the Chargers lead and the down-spiral of their quarterback, the Bengal’s return was a very unlikely one. The game ended in a 27-0 score, which was surprising since San Diego was the predicted underdog going into the game expected to lose by a touchdown.
The last two teams to compete in the Wildcard were from the NFC, the Green Bay Packers, seed 4, vs. San Francisco 49ers, seed 5, at 4:40 p.m.
Separated by only a field goal, the final score was a 23-20 with a 49ers win. According to SB Nation, San Francisco took the lead from the beginning of the game starting off the second quarter 6-0. The game started off slow, and the second quarter was a scoreless one for both teams.
After halftime, both teams came back determined to win. The 49ers remained in the lead with a score of 13-10 until the fourth quarter came and both teams were tied. The score was 20-20 when San Francisco’s kicker Phil Dawson kicked a 33-yard field goal just as time expired, securing their spot in the next round.
Quarterback Colin Kaepernick contributed heavily to the win with 98 rushing yards and 7 carries, including an 11-yard run on third down. Michael Crabtree also stood out with eight catches for 125 yards. Green Bay put up a good fight and was able to remain strong until the end.
Senior Tyler White was not surprised by the way this game played out.
“Being on the road for the game put a lot of pressure and caused strain on San Francisco that Green Bay didn’t have to worry about,” said White. “I think that San Francisco dealt with that very well, and that’s why they were able to win. The 49ers win was an expected one, they were favored by 2 ½ points.”
At the end of these four games it has been determined that the Indianapolis Colts, New Orleans Saints, San Diego Chargers, and San Francisco 49ers will be moving on to the next round in the playoffs. A full playoffs schedule as well as broadcasting network information is available at BleacherReport.com.
