Ravens, Packers win

I had to make a choice this weekend. I had to be out of the house for a couple hours during one of the wild card games. The Seahawks Saints game wasn't an option for me, and I pretty quickly settled on Ravens-Chiefs. I chose wisely.

I didn't expect Kansas City to implode, however. 5 turnovers? In a game where they had 5.7 yards per rush? Not impressive.

Even though I expected the Ravens to win this one rather easily, I have very little faith in their ability to knock off the Steelers next weekend. The Ravens are a good team, and they will bend flawed teams to their will (except for the Bengals, for some reason). But, when they go up against a team that takes care of business (like the Patriots or Steelers), they will keep it close but not make enough plays to actually pull out a win. Whether it's turtling on offense with a late lead (see Patriots game this year), some questionable play calling and execution down the stretch (see 2nd Steelers game this season), or taking too many penalties (last couple of playoff seasons), something always comes up that makes the mountain too high for the Ravens to climb.

Packers-Eagles was less of a shootout than I expected. Philly's flaws ultimately proved too damaging.
1) Poor red zone defense: Green Bay was 3/3 in turning red zone opportunities into touchdowns
2) Over-reliance on the big play: Especially with DeSean Jackson hurting, these were in too short a supply.
3) Vick's not on the same level as the top QBs in terms of reading a defense: He has made great strides in his maturation as a quarterback, but he's still very reliant on his athleticism. To truly leap into the upper echelon of signal-callers, he needs to put the same amount of work into reading defenses as he has to improving his mechanics and accuracy.

The Packers have a running game? Maybe not trading for Marshawn Lynch wasn't the criminal negligence I thought it was.

First thought on each game next weekend:
Ravens-Steelers: Close game, Baltimore won't do enough to get over the hump.
Packers-Falcons: Green Bay needs to be much crisper, Michael Turner and their pass rush need to lead the Falcons.
Seahawks-Bears: Seahawks haven't won a road playoff game since 1983. Can Carroll do what Holmgren couldn't?
Jets-Patriots: Sanchez vs a Belichick defense. Hard to bet on Sanchez.