matt ryan ALWAYS takes the check down. he is more like mark sanchez than he is like tony romo. the falcons have deep weapons and consistently can't get them the ball. matt ryan plays scared.

i've always said that matt ryan was matt flynn with opportunity. turns out matt flynn might be better.

Man da Giants won (who Cares) Its all about Tebow! Da Steelers got Tebowed! Iam on da wagon now,Iam no longer a Tebow hata its CHURCH TIME!!!!!!

Matty Checkdown is not a physical quarterback, so I was puzzled as to why the Falcons used quarterback sneaks to try to pick up fourth and shorts, especially the one with jack hammer Michael Turner on the bench. Matty is as tentative running as he is throwing down field.

I don't know why the Steeler corners weren't instructed not to jump routes when the Pittsburgh D was playing nine men on the line. My instructions would have been to not sucker on the double moves and never let the receiver deep. You're not gonna jump a route for a pick against Tebow because the ball won't be thrown accurately enough to get your hands on it. But if you let the receiver behind you, the receiver can adjust to an off line pass and make the catch.

Congrats to Detroit for a good season. The Saints - Niners game will be fascinating. The Niners will have to come up with 28 points to win, and that's if the Niners D plays extremely well.

Packer Pete -
I'm sure Dick LeBeau is kicking himself today because he didn't call you for your insight........

You can't talk about the weekend's games without mentioning the absolutely terrible whistles on pretty clear fumbles in both the Lions-Saints and Steelers- Broncos games. With replay available, there is no excuse for officials prematurely blowing a play dead instead of letting it play out. I'm not going to say that the officials were out to protect two of the league's elite and popular teams with those inexplicable calls, but plays like those most certainly give the conspiracy theorists ammunition. At least the Broncos can't really complain today while the Lions are left to wonder if that play might have altered the course of their game.

The Saints' defense is soft, always has been. That's why Williams blitzes so much, because they have to. They're trying to hide and/or accomodate for their deficiencies in the back end. It shouldn't be a surprise that Calvin Johnson shredded their secondary; because they're not that good. Drew Brees keeps them in games.

Hmm. Cedric Benson didn't show up in a big game, huh? He seems to be making a career out of that. See Super Bowl XLI for details.

You know why Matt Ryan didn't throw deep? Because all week the Falcons coaches and GM preached the need to "not turn the ball over" as one of their key learnings from past playoff losses. Ryan's told all week to be careful with the ball, so how do you do that? throw to your checkdown receiver. Falcons coaching staff isn't smart enough. Period.

This just in - TJ Yates and Tim Tebow now have as many playoff victories as Tony Romo...

This just in -Mo girls have said no to Big Ben Than Romo.....

Monday Morning ...
That was pretty funny.... Packer Pete you do sound like a Monday Morning something or other LOL !

Unsugn heroes of the weekend: the O lines of the Saints and Broncos. You give a QB like Brees that kind of time and he will eat you alive. No sacks on Tebow. Pretty good stuff. Thing is, I can't see the Patriots' D getting to Tebow. I'm not sayin', I'm just sayin'.

The only gane that was mildly surprising was the Denver game - and the Steelers inability to stop them.

The Bears showed most how to play the Broncos - until they changed their D at the end of the game. The point being is that the Steelers had other examples how to defend them - and they couldn't, didn't have the palyers speed, etc. How many big plays were the Steelers at the line and didn't bump the recievers? Tevo had some excellent throws but not trying to disrupt the recievers at the line to hurry a below average quarterback is foolish and you're inviting trouble. Too bad. Rothlesburger was close to useless and stuck in the mud with his gimpy ankle.

Steelers in the next seasons, fading, as are the can't ever win in playoff Falcons

i didn't see the early whistle in the steelers/broncos game, but i have to comment on the one in det/N.O. It was an unfortunate even for detroit, but one that you certainly can't blame on the refs (and CERTAINLY can't call foul play). That whistle is going to get blown 100% of the time on that play. From the vanatge point of the ref who blew the whistle, there is no reason for him to think that its anything other than a routine incomplete pass. heck, listen to the surprise in the voice of al michaels when he realizes that it might have potentailly been a fumble.... sometimes you just get shitty luck on those types of things. Lions lucked out that they were actually awarded the turnover, and its their own fault they couldn't turn it into points after that. jim schwartz is one of the only coaches in the league that would actually be publicly whining about that play after the game.

wiguyinmn,
The biggest problem with play in the Saints' game is that the referee is the one who determines if it's a fumble or an incomplete pass, and HE got it right! It was another official, who did not have that responsibility, that overstepped and blew the whistle when he shouldn't have. And no, that same type of play is not ruled an incomplete pass even most of the time in your average NFL game. Since replay returned, officials have been instructed to let questionable plays continue and then use replay to correct if necessary. And just because Detroit couldn't score after that TD was taken away doesn't mean that they weren't entitled to it in the first place. You could say the same thing after taking a score away from any team in any situation. Again, I'm not saying that the officials were in the bag for the Saints or Steelers just that there is really no innocent or realistic explanation for either whistle since the fumbles were pretty obvious and there was no player safety component either.

Falcons are built for their dome, an athletic line that is quicker more than it is stronger. The Giants size pushed them around and Tony G looked soft on point as well, no push to their run game. Julio started out making some plays in tandem with team mates, they ran a vertical stem to combo with the next near player and Ryan usually threw underneath, though he did hit Jones on the skinny reading that vetrical route for an early score.

The Giants adjusted and took away their ability to protect and get that look going where one deep player clears for someone else to slot side. All the other players that forced cover rotations from helping there intiially had to stay in and protect.

Most of Atlanta's big run stats come down the stretch vs. teams not playing last week. They got Jones to try and develop the team past that but limitations up front still challenge their chemistry. A good team has to try and become great, that was the Jones move and they need more such calls at other solid positions for their team, on both lines. If the sneak didn't work once it usually won't again. If they push in the middle you run the toss, as the Saints correctly called in their game against Detroit.

Never thought Denver's OL would be up to task having just put one of their best interior guys on IR. They held their ground enough to let their quarterback create. Clark missing really hurt because it meant Troy P was rotated deep and he likes to jump routes so a lot of their double moves went at his aggressive(and usually great) positioning. Ike got toasted, nothing new there, it just stood out more. Two Steelers starters missing on the interior from early injuries really hurt their ability to control situational running and that is where the Broncs get their tempo.

Tackling is contagious, a defense works on that all year. Not tackling is also contagious, see also, Pac Man Jones. The entire Bengals secondary started playing softer and those extra steps let someone else play on a bigger field and playoff teams must aim to make the field smaller, with how they play in terms of technique and fundamentals to deny opponents playmaking space.

Dalton was doing well until early flags in each phase of play postioned the Texans to tie the game. They should have been going into halftime up and the end of half would see them run the clock out. Instead they tried moving it up a long field and an amazing play by a great rookie linemen turned the rookie passer's day sour. He'll come back with better focus at other times, think Franklin's number needed to be called more early so they could have created true scoreboard separation because if you don't get something in early on teams and let them hang around the home crowd can play in when they make a big play against a young team.

Matthew Stafford looked great in his game, he had a couple of throws he'd like back, but this guy is ready to roll with anyone. Think of Aikman when I see him now, only Matty actually moved around on his feet better. Big guy, big arm, confidence, make those throws! By this time next season Pettigrew will be making the kind of plays Calvin is, he should be along for this ride and has that kind of mismatch ability in his game. Stafford is the leader who will get everyone their reps.

Anyone wanting reps take a look at the Giants. A ton of talent, everyone getting theirs and cheering one another on. Players on defensive rotation, feature backs, all taking pride in what their team mates also get done. The team that shares their stadium needs to learn how to share the success in the same way. The Jets have all kinds of talented individuals, the Giants have a talented team, and it is a team sport. Coach Coughlin has everyone playing to their best, a friend who is a huge Pats fan thinks the Giants have that look, we've seen it in them before. When they play big the field gets big for their playmakers while their run game and defense both work to make the opponents field smaller to cover and tackle, that's Giant football where you play big and the field looks small in comparison.

Really tired of hearing about BB's gimpy ankle. Most teams squelch as much injury info as is legal but it seems to be a central theme of the Steelers every week. Every team has players playing with injuries but apparently only in Pittsburgh is it cause for some odd type of celebrity. If he was so inhibited, get a back up that can play!

Eli is a man and Matt Ryan is a girly man