The Green Bay Packers were better prepared to play without Jordy Nelson after the star receiver was ruled out of the NFL divisional playoff against the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday.
Nelson had an NFL-high 14 touchdown catches in the regular season as quarterback Aaron Rodgers’ top target in the Packers’ prolific passing attack. But he suffered broken ribs in a tackle as the Packers beat the New York Giants 38-13 in the wild-card round last weekend, and still wasn’t right on Friday.
The offense struggled to hit big plays in 2015 while Nelson was sidelined for the entire season with a knee injury, but Green Bay proved last week that it can win without him, scoring all their points after he left.
With Rodgers, the league’s best quarterback over the past two months, connecting regularly even on desperation passes, the Packers have won seven straight games.
And in Nelson’s absence, Rodgers still has Randall Cobb, who caught three touchdown passes against the Giants, Davante Adams emerging as a playmaker, and Jared Cook as an athletic target at tight end. The Packers should do their share of scoring against a Dallas defense that ranked 26th against the pass.
Then again, sensational Cowboys rookies Zeke Elliott and Dak Prescott, operating behind the best offensive line in the NFL and complemented by Jason Witten and Dez Bryant, also should supply points.
Elliott and Precott are the third rookie running back-quarterback starting tandem in the playoffs in the Super Bowl era. Of note, the other two pairs lost their playoff debuts.
The Cowboys and Packers share an NFL postseason history that dates back five decades. Dallas holds a 4-3 edge, but since they beat the Packers three years in a row in the 1990s, they haven’t been back to the NFC Championship game in 21 years.
All four home teams this weekend are tipped to win, especially the New England Patriots, who are 15 1/2-point favorites over the visiting Houston Texans, just the sixth time in 50 years that a team has been favored by at least 15 points in a playoff game.
New England has won its past four meetings with Houston at Gillette Stadium by a combined 150-49, but the Patriots say they aren’t taking anything for granted against the NFL’s top-ranked defense. But how does Houston, which lost 27-0 in September to a Patriots team without Tom Brady, go about beating a team that the odds-makers say is one of the most unbeatable in playoff history?
Running back LeGarrette Blount has taken a lot of pressure off Brady’s arm this season, rushing for a New England single-season record 18 touchdowns and career-high 1,161 yards. And the defense has been creating turnovers at a high rate during their ongoing seven-game win streak.
That walking boot being worn by quarterback Ben Roethlisberger after Pittsburgh’s win against Miami last weekend is very worrisome to the Steelers. But Roethlisberger tends to always show up in the playoffs, and he’s expected to perform against the Chiefs in Kansas City on Sunday.
The Steelers eased past the Chiefs 43-14 on Oct. 2, but that was in Pittsburgh. Kansas City is better now than it was back then, although so are the Steelers.
If the Chiefs can get pressure on Big Ben and somewhat control Antonio Brown, the league’s most dangerous receiver (and non-quarterback), and running back Le’Veon Bell, it can use its relatively conservative offense to its advantage. But will coach Andy Reid turn the reins loose a bit when the Chiefs have the ball?
The Chiefs haven’t won a playoff game in 23 years.
Then again, the Atlanta Falcons are the only team among the eight left who have not won a Super Bowl.
Facing the Seattle Seahawks at home on Saturday is one of those prove-it games for Atlanta quarterback Matt Ryan and wideout Julio Jones. Which opponent to better prove that your offense, and an improving defense, are capable of a long postseason run than against the big kid on the NFC block?
The Seahawks bring superior experience, coaching, and swagger.
Seattle is as accomplished as any NFC playoff team, and many of the key contributors to its recent success remain on the scene: Russell Wilson, Bobby Wagner, Richard Sherman and Doug Baldwin. And now that Thomas Rawls seems healthy, there’s a running game to complement Wilson, Baldwin and tight end Jimmy Graham.
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