Tag: NFC divisional playoffs
NFL Divisional Round Picks
Cowboys 49ers Playoff Pick, SF wins big
Giants Eagles Prediction, Divisional Playoff Pick
Giants test Hurts tolerance, take third shot at rival Eagles
A healthy Jalen Hurts and the top-seeded Philadelphia Eagles begin their quest to send the franchise to its second Super Bowl in five years.
Enter longtime NFC East rival and the sixth-seeded New York Giants for the third game with Philadelphia since Dec. 11 on Saturday night.
The Eagles (14-3) drew the only bye in the conference by beating the Giants (10-7-1) in the regular-season finale Week 18. The Eagles swept the season series, though the Giants rested their starters for Week 18 with nothing to gain before the start of the playoffs.
“Every game’s a new game,” Giants coach Brian Daboll said. “One week really has nothing to do with the next week or one game has nothing to do with the next game, other than you take things from it. You learn from it. You try to grow from it. But it’s going to be how we execute on Saturday and how we prepare throughout the week.”
The Eagles locked up the No. 1 seed by beating the Giants 22-16 on Jan. 8. Hurts returned from a two-week hiatus and started that game despite an ailing shoulder to help Philadelphia secure home-field advantage.
The reward: Another week of rest for Hurts and his teammates. But Hurts was officially removed from the Eagles’ injury report Tuesday, as he was a full participant in practice.
Coach Nick Sirianni said Hurts was “better today than he was two weeks ago” after spraining his right (throwing) shoulder on Dec. 18.
Now the NFC’s best team from start to finish in 2022 turns its focus to the postseason.
“We put ourselves in this position by what we did all season, the consistency we had all season and the focus,” Hurts said. “The process remains the same … but the standard rises.”
Daboll needs no introduction to Hurts, even before they played twice this season. He spent the 2017 as an assistant at Alabama, when Hurts guided the Crimson Tide to the national title game only to be replaced in the first half by Tua Tagovailoa.
In the first meeting between New York and Philadelphia Dec. 11, a healthy Hurts and the Eagles blitzed the Giants. Hurts threw for 217 yards and two touchdowns while adding seven carries for 77 yards and another touchdown. Miles Sanders gashed the Giants for 144 rushing yards and a pair of scores in the 48-22 road romp.
The Giants have hit their stride since that game.
They squeaked into the playoffs for the first time since 2016 by defeating the Washington Commanders and routing the Indianapolis Colts. The wins prior to seeing the Eagles in Week 18 set the Giants up on a wild-card date with the Minnesota Vikings, who had beaten them Dec. 24 on a last-minute field goal.
The Giants got their revenge Sunday, winning 31-24. Daniel Jones threw for 301 yards and two touchdowns and added 78 yards rushing, while Pro Bowler Saquon Barkley ran for 53 yards and two TDs.
Jones became the first player in NFL history to reach 300 passing yards, two passing touchdowns and 70 rushing yards in a playoff game. Considered turnover-prone in his first three NFL seasons, he has thrown just one interception in his last 226 attempts since Nov. 20, counting regular season and playoffs.
New York’s defense will be better stocked than in the previous two games against Philadelphia. Defensive tackle Leonard Williams (2.5 sacks, two fumble recoveries) and cornerback Adoree’ Jackson (seven pass breakups, two fumble recoveries) missed both of those losses while injured but have since returned. Jackson clamped down on Vikings All-Pro Justin Jefferson in the wild-card game, limiting the receiver to one reception in the second half.
“I missed both games against them this year, so I’m super excited to play them,” Williams said. “We’re just going right down the street to play them.”
The geographic rivals have met in the playoffs four times, each club winning twice. It last happened when the sixth-seeded Eagles toppled the No. 1 seed Giants in the divisional round of the 2008 playoffs.
Both teams gave estimated injury reports Tuesday following walkthroughs. Jackson (back) was listed as limited for the Giants, as were linebacker/safety Landon Collins (ankle), receiver Isaiah Hodgins (ankle), safety Julian Love (hamstring), defensive back Fabian Moreau (hip) and linebacker Azeez Ojulari (quad).
Eagles cornerback Avonte Maddox (toe) did not practice. Tackle Lane Johnson (groin), defensive tackle Linval Joseph (calf) and defensive end Robert Quinn (back) were limited.
–Field Level Media
Ravens Bills Playoff Pick, Divisional Analysis
‘Gloves off’ for Packers with Rams eyeing upset
Friends turn foe if only for a few hours Saturday when the Green Bay Packers welcome the Los Angeles Rams in an NFC divisional playoff game at Lambeau Field.
Two years and five days after being hired as head coach of the Packers, Matt LaFleur led his team and MVP favorite Aaron Rodgers onto the practice field to accelerate preparation for an unexpected guest.
Due to Jared Goff’s thumb injury, the Rams started undrafted rookie John Wolford at Seattle last week, but they beat the NFC West champion Seahawks by battering quarterback Russell Wilson and avoiding mistakes.
The toll was steep for the Rams, who returned to Los Angeles with no obvious choice at quarterback for the Green Bay game. Perhaps of greater importance, defensive tackle Aaron Donald (ribs) and leading wide receiver Cooper Kupp (knee) were injured in the team’s first playoff triumph since losing to the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LIII.
“This is a legit, real-deal defense,” LaFleur said Tuesday of the Rams, calling Donald a “once in a lifetime player.”
Packers All-Pro center Corey Linsley draws the Donald assignment as Green Bay attempts to prevent Rodgers from being trampled by a Rams defense that sacked Wilson five times last week. Donald left little doubt he will play through his injury. He tied for second in the NFL with 13.5 sacks in the regular season.
Kupp plans to play, too, but could be limited and more broadly impacted by who is throwing the ball for the Rams.
Wolford was not long for the wild-card win. He got hurt and was transported to the hospital for tests on his neck, leaving Goff to pilot the Rams in the second half. Coach Sean McVay said both players are trending in the right direction, but he won’t likely name a starter until later in the week.
Donald, Kupp and Wolford all sat out the team’s light workout Tuesday.
LaFleur likely has a good idea of what’s coming. He said Tuesday the Packers have to “prepare for both” Goff and Wolford and wouldn’t put a surprise or two past his good friend McVay.
The coaches assistants with the Washington Football Team from 2010-13, and when McVay became a head coach at age 30 in 2017, he hired LaFleur as offensive coordinator in Los Angeles.
“We still talk pretty regularly. I don’t know how much I’ll talk to him this week,” LaFleur said. “That’s one of my closest friends in life. He’s like a brother to me … but the gloves will be off on Saturday.”
McVay said, “He’s a great coach. He’s a great friend of mine. You’re so happy to see that success.
“It’s pretty crazy that we’re getting an opportunity to play against one another — really, our teams our getting to play each other in the divisional round. That’s going to be the most important thing, is the Rams versus the Packers and we’ll see if we can go and get after Matt a little bit. It’ll be fun.”
After Lambeau Field was mostly empty during the regular season, the Packers are allowing fans in the stadium — up to 6,000 — on Saturday afternoon.
Champions of the North division, the Packers were idle last week after securing the top seed in the NFC with a 13-3 record. Rodgers lost his previous meeting with Goff and the Rams in 2018 — 29-27 at Los Angeles — in a duel of Cal quarterback products. Rodgers was sacked twice by Donald in that contest.
Green Bay has won six consecutive games since a Nov. 22 overtime loss to the Indianapolis Colts.
Rodgers was consistently great in 2020, leading the NFL with 48 touchdowns, a 70.7 percent completion rate, a 121.5 passer rating, a league-tying-low five interceptions and a loud and clear statement that he’s not done at age 37. He is 10-8 all-time in the playoffs with 40 touchdowns and 12 interceptions.
Rodgers’ job has been easier this season with Davante Adams healthy. Adams will draw a lot of one-on-one coverage from Rams cornerback Jalen Ramsey, an aggressive and physical counterpart. LaFleur said the matchup should be entertaining but is confident in Adams, a player he called “one of the best route-runners of all-time.”
Adams is the first player in NFL history to have at least 100 receptions with 18 receiving touchdowns in a season, as he finished with 115 receptions and 18 touchdowns in just 14 games this fall.
During film study, the Packers have seen a lot of cover-2 looks from the Rams, and Rodgers said he might not see Ramsey over Adams as speculated.
That’s just another exhibit, Adams said, of how Rodgers makes his life easier on game day — a knack for simplifying everything with relentless focus.
“You can kind of see a weight off a guy’s shoulders in the huddle just hearing that from Aaron,” Adams said. “I think that’s how you wind up being MVP 16 seasons in, finding something in your game to get better.”
–Field Level Media