NFL wildcard games have ended, no major upsets, but many major plays.
Game 1 of the playoffs was between the Houston Texans and the Oakland Raiders. This was projected to be a very exciting matchup. The Texan’s number one defense had to go up against the big offensive threats in Latavius Murray and Amari Cooper. The Raiders lost a major key player, Derek Carr, two weeks prior, due to a broken fibula against the Colts. He led the team to a 12 – 3 season, which hasn’t been done in over a decade. A rookie quarterback’s first game getting to utilize these powerhouses didn’t go as planned.
Connor Cook went 18-45 for 161 yards, and threw one touchdown, despite having three interceptions. The #1 defense in the league wasn’t playing around, they held Murray to only 12 carries for 39 yards and one touchdown. The former Rookie of the Year finalist, Amari Cooper, only had one catch for 5 yards.
The Texans weren’t “Clowney”ing around at all during the big game. Osweiler came off the bench and went 14-25 and threw for 168 yards with one touchdown. Despite having a bad run game against the Raiders, Lamar Miller managed to get in one touchdown. The big stars were on defense: Johnathan Joseph had 10 solo tackles and Whitney Mercilus had five tackles, two assists, and sacked Cook twice. The former first round pick Jadeveon Clowney only had one solo tackle, but was the reason for many of Cook’s incomplete passes, he also had 1 interception.
The Texans ended up beating the Raiders, 14-27. Next week the Texans will be taking on the #1 team in the NFL, the New England Patriots. This will be a very good game because the Texans have a lot of lockdown DB’s and they have very good linebackers. The Patriots have a decent run game with LeGarrette Blount and they have a very solid offensive line. They also have a very good passing game with one of the greatest, Tom Brady. They have been doing very good, even though Rob Gronkowski was injured during the Seahawk’s game in Week 10. Their newest pickup, Michael Floyd, has made several big catches and has helped the Patriots enforce their passing offense.