Wild Card Weekend Thoughts

It ended up being a predictable weekend in Wild Card football. That is, as long as you were picking the home team.

By almost every other measure, there was one enormous upset (I don’t even need to say it, do I?) and three other plausible outcomes.

A couple of quick thoughts:

Mike Smith: is he the problem?

As my roommate was quick to point out, the Atlanta Falcons are more talented than their playoff record during the Matt Ryan era indicates.

Losing last year to the Packers was probably not the direct fault of Falcons coach Mike Smith, but this year begins to raise questions. The short yardage management was atrocious.

After Atlanta was stopped on their first fourth down attempt, why did they not go for it on their next fourth and short? The yardage was even shorter (if that’s even possible) and the Falcons were in a similar spot.

So was that an admission that Smith didn’t think his team could get it? Such an inconsistent policy only erodes confidence.

The second fourth down attempt was also a perplexing call. Where was Michael Turner? Why was he not even on the field? I get that they were trying to spread out the defense, but the Giants knew the quarterback sneak was the most likely choice.

These decisions, coupled with a some of the play-calling miscues, at least raise the question: despite a winning percentage of more than 60 percent, is Mike Smith doomed in Atlanta?

Winning teams do what it takes to block

Tactically, I thought the most interesting sub-plot of the weekend was watching different teams block the opposing team’s rush.

The Broncos and Giants used extra linemen often. John Fox’s strategy was that he wanted as many big bodies as possible in the game to block Steeler linemen as well as outside linebacking stars LaMarr Woodley and James Harrison.

As for the Giants, they had statistically the worst running game in the league this year, so jumpstarting that with some extra blockers certainly made sense.

The Saints have employed the most innovative strategy in terms of blocking. They deploy diminutive running  back Darren Sproles and hulking tight end Jimmy Graham to chip the defensive ends on both sides.

Their continuous usage of this may have delayed the routes of both Graham and Sproles, but considering each ranks one and two in receptions this season, it clearly hasn’t fettered their success.

And the Texans didn’t do anything that complicated, instead counting on physical talent Andre Johnson to block linebackers (which he did against Cincinnati’s Manny Lawson very well on one of Arian Foster’s touchdowns).

Tebow time: was it as predictable as you thought?

Obviously, Tim Tebow and the Broncos’ spectacular win against the heavily favored Steelers stole all the headlines. And given the electric nature of their overtime win, the attention is warranted (all Tebow analyzing aside, it was truly incredible).

Yet give some credit to the Broncos coaching staff for some clever manipulation.

I lost count of the number of times in the game that the Broncos used the dual tight end, shotgun set where they brought wide receiver Eddie Royal in motion. And in that formation, which they ran more than a dozen times, the result was a run every time.

Except the first play of overtime. On that play, they ran play-action. The rest, as they say, is history. It was a very gutsy and unpredictable call. And while it could have very easily backfired, give the Denver staff some credit for being, for once, aggressive.