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The insider

The insider

By Thurman Thomas

Questions or comments for Thurman? Send him a note at Thurman@nflcanada.com

Some great playoff football was played this weekend, and conversely some not so great football. Lets take a look at each game;

1. Jacksonville at New England. With the Patriots, it’s pretty obvious, they have a devastating offense, they’re quarterback, if not the best of all time, is at the very least, playing the position right now better than anyone has ever played it before. Aside from Brady’s numbers, which were historically good, the most impressive thing is his willingness to take what the defense offers him, case in point. The Jag’s played a two deep zone much of the game and never sent more than four pass rushers (more on that later), choosing instead to have max coverage in the secondary. So Brady took the underneath stuff, ran screens and went to his tight end. Randy Moss only caught one pass for 14 yards, yet the Patriots walked away with the game in the second half. On the Jacksonville side, they ran the ball with little effectiveness. They did have a couple of long-clock eating scoring drives and Garrard was impressive. On the defensive side of the ball, I have a big problem with what they did in the second half or more precisely, what they didn’t do. After Brady went 16 for 16 in the first half against a four-man rush, the Jags should have changed their strategy in the second half. They absolutely should have blitzed some in the second half, mixed in some zone blitzes along with some other exotic blitzes. Brady could have beaten those also, but he ended up 26 of 28, how much worse could it have been. By not blitzing at all, you are playing way to timid. By the third quarter, Brady new he wasn’t going to be touched in the pocket and played like it.

2. Seattle at Green Bay. The Packers offense was pretty successful before Ryan Grant emerged as their starting tail back, but with the tremendous numbers he’s been putting up, it has taken their offense and Favre’s efficiency to another level. Add that to the stability to the offensive line and you have the formula for Green Bay’s success. They ran the ball extremely well on Saturday and Brett was great in the snowy weather. On Seattle’s side, they got off to a great start but then their inability to run the ball doomed them along with poor tackling. One of the keys to winning in the playoffs is to have consistency and being able to overcome slow starts or in Seattle’s case maintaining fast starts and being grounded for the opponents inevitable fight back. It looks as though the Seahawks are moving away from Sean Alexander.

3. San Diego at Indianapolis. Definitely the most surprising game of the weekend. Indy’s major flaw in my opinion was simple, no running game or more to the point, they didn’t even try to run, 18 attempts is to low for that team. San Diego’s defense was teeing off on Manning in the second half, they had absolutely no respect for Indy’s running game, A fatal mistake from the colts. The Colt’s could have won that game in the first half, but they let the Chargers hang around and gain some confidence. That confidence and good depth is what allowed the Chargers to win despite losing L.T. and Phillip Rivers to injuries.

4. N.Y. Giants at Dallas. Way to many penalties by Dallas. That was the most disappointing part of their game. I didn’t really see many tactical errors on the Dallas side, it was a fiercely fought contest. I really believe in this case the bye hurt Dallas. The Giants were really energized by their near win against New England at the end of the regular season. As a player, when you are coming off successful and inspiring games, it is hard to overstate how much that does for your level of play going forward. It’s been fun, can’t wait for this week!

Thurman Thomas

Buffalo Bills legend Thurman Thomas rushed for 1,000 yards in eight consecutive seasons, was selected to five consecutive Pro Bowls, and was named NFL MVP in 1991. Thomas was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2007, and is now an NFL ambassador in Canada and will be making community and charitable appearances on behalf of the league north of the border.