Sky Sports' Neil Reynolds has the final word on the divisional round of the NFL playoffs, picking out his five major takeaways, his player of the week, and what is on his radar...
Tuesday 19 January 2021 13:49, UK
After four more compelling NFL playoff games over the weekend we are left with just a quartet of teams on the road to Super Bowl LV, which will be played in Tampa Bay on Sunday, February 7.
This past weekend's games served up the usual array of superstar headline-makers, but also some unlikely heroes, who had been waiting in the shadows for their moment to shine. That is where this humble column will begin...
After spells as a starter with the Miami Dolphins and Jacksonville Jaguars in his first 10 NFL seasons, Chad Henne has been in a semi-retirement of sorts for the last three years with one of the best backup quarterback gigs in the NFL… playing second fiddle to the amazing and seemingly-always-available Patrick Mahomes.
I have spent a couple of decent chunks of time with Henne, filming an educational piece for the NFL in 2008 and hosting a fan event with him around a London game in 2013. We are not about to go fishing together, but we know each other. So, when he came up to me at the opening night event at last year's Super Bowl in Miami, we chatted and for the first half a second or so, I thought he was there working in the media. He had been out of the spotlight for that long.
Then, he was thrust into action on Sunday presented with the task of saving the season of the Super Bowl favourites. With Mahomes in the locker room with a concussion, Henne endured a couple of bumps in the road before preserving and securing a 22-17 victory for the Kansas City Chiefs over the Cleveland Browns with a big 13-yard run on third down and a gutsy game-sealing completion to Tyreek Hill on fourth down.
Henne showed exactly how a backup quarterback has to live his life - in the shadows until needed. When needed, you have to be ready and capable of delivering.
Now the clock is ticking with Mahomes in concussion protocol. This is not going to be like a player overcoming a sprained ankle and saying, "I'll give it a go." Mahomes and the Chiefs have no say in the matter. The superstar quarterback must be cleared by an independent neurologist before he can participate in Sunday's AFC Championship Game against the Buffalo Bills.
There is some speculation Mahomes suffered more of a nerve injury in his neck than a concussion when hit by Browns linebacker Mack Wilson in the third quarter on Sunday. It certainly did appear as if Mahomes took most of the blow to his neck, but he clearly had a concussion.
When you see a young man like Mahomes get up on such rubbery legs, wins and losses go out of the window. You just want to see him protected and looked after. That is why he cannot be rushed back into action this weekend - there is much more to this young man's life than this upcoming Super Bowl semi-final. Or, at least, there should be.
Even though the Tampa Bay Buccaneers had not won a playoff game since the end of the 2002 season, we should have known they were at least going to the NFC Championship Game this year once they got Tom Brady on board at quarterback.
There are major stars and winners across the NFL, and then there is Tom Brady! He did not play that much in his rookie season of 2000 (he threw just three passes) and he did not last past week one in 2008 due to torn knee ligaments. So, if we take out those two lost campaigns it leaves us with 19 seasons as a body of work.
In those 19 seasons, Brady has now reached the Championship Game on 14 occasions! That is a success rate of 73.7 per cent. There are so many incredible statistics and achievements that can be attributed to Brady, but that has to be the most amazing one out there.
With six Super Bowl rings already locked away in one of his houses or ski lodges, Brady is 60 minutes away from competing for a seventh at the age of 43. Incredible.
As the Bills kicked off their contest with the Baltimore Ravens on Saturday night, I was excited to see Josh Allen go head to head with Lamar Jackson. A battle of two exciting, young quarterbacks who can put extreme stress on a defence.
But, in the back of my mind, I had a nagging doubt about how Buffalo were going to contain Jackson, who was coming off a second-straight 1,000-yard rushing season and a 136-yard day on the ground in the Wild Card round against the Tennessee Titans. Buffalo had been exposed on outside runs the previous week, so there was a concern there.
I need not have worried for the Bills. In one of the more stunning developments of this weekend, Buffalo sacked Jackson three times, held him to 34 rushing yards on nine attempts, scored on a 101-yard interception return by Taron Johnson and sent the Ravens quarterback to the locker room with a concussion. The defence was the driving force in Buffalo's 17-3 win.
The Green Bay Packers are humming like a well-oiled machine as they hunt down a first Super Bowl appearance in 10 years. Their 32-18 victory over the Los Angeles Rams on Saturday night showed me they are the complete team and will be a tough out at home in the NFC Championship Game against Tampa Bay.
The Packers racked up 484 yards of offence against the top-ranked Rams defence. It was the most yardage compiled in a playoff game against a No 1 defence since the 1970 AFL-NFL merger. The Packers were extremely patient, working away with a running game that amassed 188 yards and then firing a game-clinching 58-yard touchdown strike over the top to Allen Lazard.
Aaron Rodgers had a masterful control of this game from the quarterback position, but the Packers also flexed some defensive muscle as they held the Rams to 244 total yards and sacked Jared Goff four times. With concerns over Mahomes' health, I feel the Packers are the best team remaining in the playoff field, although any of the final four would be deserving winners of the Vince Lombardi Trophy.
Barrelling down on just the second Super Bowl appearance of his illustrious career, Rodgers looks to be in the form of his life. He is just so calm and assured in the pressure situations, as evidenced by the fact he was smiling away at the line of scrimmage just before taking a snap on Saturday night… just chilling and having fun in the middle of a playoff game!
Rodgers shredded the No 1 defence in the NFL to the tune of 296 passing yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions. For the season, including the playoffs, Rodgers has now thrown 50 scoring strikes and just five picks. That is Super Bowl-winning production right there.
It has to be Henne's short completion to Tyreek Hill on fourth down from his own 48-yard line to secure victory over Cleveland.
The genius of the play began in the coaching that came from Andy Reid on the sidelines. The message must have come in to make the Browns believe they were being coaxed into being drawn offside, that the ball was never going to be snapped. Quarterback Chad Henne barked out the signals to try to get the Browns to jump and the play clock wound all the way down to five seconds before Kansas City did actually put the ball in play.
That was smart because I think KC caught the Browns cold and they had no answer for Hill's speed off the edge. Then it was up to Henne to remain poised and hit the receiver in stride. Failure would result in excellent field position for the Browns and a chance to win the game. Henne did not miss and the Chiefs moved on to the next round.
A former Super Bowl-winning defender with the Chicago Bears and a former head coach with the Minnesota Vikings, Leslie Frazier is exactly the kind of man who should be helping to increase the number of black head coaches in the NFL, which currently stands at two.
Frazier is surely deserving of another look after his dismantling of Jackson and the Ravens on Saturday. It was a masterful game plan as Frazier played safeties Jordan Poyer and Micah Hyde close to the line of scrimmage to shut down the run. He basically dared Jackson to beat him through the air and the quarterback was not up to the task in the face of a very strong pass rush.
Jackson's performance in Buffalo and his inability to move past the divisional round in three career visits to the playoffs is most definitely on my radar. He is 30-7 as a starting quarterback in the regular season but dropped to 1-3 in the postseason.
Jackson was intent on ending that narrative about his playoff showings and has, ultimately, failed to do that. He heads into the offseason with words from his own receiver Willie Snead ringing in his ears he must improve as a passer.
There are even bigger concerns surrounding Rams quarterback Goff. His head coach, Sean McVay, hardly offered up words of comfort and support after the loss to Green Bay, stating Goff is his quarterback "for right now."
When asked a follow up a day later, McVay stopped short of guaranteeing Goff a roster spot in LA for 2021. There could be another fascinating quarterback carousel spinning this coming offseason.
Sky Sports NFL is your dedicated channel for NFL coverage through the season - featuring a host of NFL Network programming. Don't forget to follow us on skysports.com/nfl, our Twitter account @SkySportsNFL & Sky Sports - on the go!
