Sunday Wildcard Numbers

The stat boxes from Sunday's Wildcard games...

BALTIMORE 30, KANSAS CITY 7
Total Yardage: Baltimore 390, Kansas City 161
Yards-Per-Play: Baltimore 5.0, Kansas City 4.0
Passing Lines: Baltimore 25-34-0-248, Kansas City 9-18-3-53
Turnovers: Baltimore 2, Kansas City 5
Sloppiness: Baltimore 19, Kansas City 34
Third Downs: Baltimore 52%, Kansas City 12%
Stat Score: Baltimore 24, Kansas City 12

What a squash! It wasn't quite this bad the whole game. Baltimore was moving well by throwing to Todd Heap (Kansas City seemed to have everything accounted for except Heap and Flacco running...so Baltimore was happy to throw to Heap and let Flacco scramble every so often)...but they weren't doing much scoreboard damage. KC led 7-3 late in the first half...and lost from that point forward 27-0.

KC's offense kept turning the ball over. KC's defense lost its spirit after a while...and you see the results.

Stat score made it Baltimore by 12. Plus three turnovers is 12 more points because turnovers are usually worth about four points each. That's Baltimore by 24, in a game they won by 23. Amazing how stat relationships stay so standard over time, even with evolutionary ticks in the game.

Baltimore plays Pittsburgh next week. Pittsburgh will probably have something planned for Heap and Flacco scrambles...meaning the Ravens wont' score more than 13 points unless they come up with something a bit more creative. Vanilla only works for so long.

GREEN BAY 21, PHILADELPHIA 16
Total Yardage: Green Bay 309, Philadelphia 352
Yards-Per-Play: Green Bay 5.1, Philadelphia 5.9
Passing Lines: Green Bay 18-27-0-171, Philadelphia 20-36-1-270
Turnovers: Green Bay 2, Philadelphia 1
Sloppiness: Green Bay 19, Philadelphia 21
Third Downs: Green Bay 61%, Philadelphia 38%
Stat Score: Green Bay 20, Philadelphia 19

The Packers almost let it get away. They were up 21-10, and had contained the Eagles for the most part. They were lucky that 21 turned out to be enough. Philly missed two field goals and threw an interception in the end zone in the final minute. Nice game from the Packers...but they can't just cross their fingers with a lead the next two weeks and hope they'll wind up in the Super Bowl. They got conservative two possessions too early...and it almost blew up in their face.

Philly won YPP, but the missed FG's negated that. Plus, passing yardage can have some air in it. Green Bay won stat score by one. Normally GB's -1 turnover differential would have flipped that to Philly by 3. But...the two missed FG's by the Eagles flipped it right back!

The NFC still feels like a "name out of a hat" year. Green Bay definitely still deserves to be in the hat. They visit Atlanta next week. Seattle doesn't, but is in there anyway as they head to frigid Chicago. Philadelphia has another playoff disappointment to ponder. And, they also have to wonder if Vick can ever stay healthy enough to string together wins in big games. He's going to keep running into injuries. Announcers didn't mention it I think...but after turning has ankle on the failed two-point try...that final doomed pass was underthrown...which happens on bum ankles. You commit to Vick...and you're basically committing to 4-5 really great performances...2-3 missed games (maybe more)...then hoping he doesn't sprain something in the playoffs. A bigger gamble than people realize I think.

Back very late Monday Night after Auburn-Oregon...