The first round of wild card games of the 2013 NFL playoffs has all come to an end, and four teams have finally been determined to advance to the next round of divisional rounds. Although this is only a wild card game, the ups and downs and exciting games still make fans excited. It's so addicting, it once again proves the fact that there are no weak teams in the NFL.
Unfortunately, the reality that there is only one winner is also doomed: some are happy and some are worried.
First up is the American League.
The first wild card game, "Indianapolis Colts vs. Kansas Chiefs."
After growing up and running in last season, the Indianapolis Colts, led by second-year quarterback Andrew Luck, reached the top of the AFC South for the second consecutive year. He surpassed Robert Griffin III and Russell Wilson who were in the same grade, and surpassed Andy Dalton and Cam Newton who entered the league a year earlier. Together with Lu Ke, he is called the twin of the younger generation. star.
After years of ups and downs, the Kansas City Chiefs have made a strong comeback under the leadership of Alex Smith and head coach Andy Reid. They led the league in the first half of the season. Unfortunately, they were weak in the second half. Eventually falling to the fifth seed, they are still the best performing team in the American League - in fan voting, the San Francisco 49ers lead the National League, while the Kansas City Chiefs lead the American League, which shows their popularity.
This wild card game was also a head-to-head confrontation between the old and new No. 1 draft quarterbacks, "Andrew Luck VS Alex Smith." This game lived up to expectations and delivered a perfect answer, creating a lot of history.
In the first half, the Kansas Chiefs led by Alex were full of firepower and entered the halftime break with a "31:10" lead in an absolutely strong manner. At the beginning of the second half, it only took 75 seconds to complete another touchdown. further opened up the score and achieved a full 28-point lead; Luck's Indianapolis Colts seemed to be completely incapable of playing. Luck threw three interceptions in the first half, and also appeared A dropped ball and a disastrous performance put the team in dire straits.
If it develops according to the conventional route, then the Kansas Chiefs will win tickets to the divisional round, but it is precisely this game that has achieved Luck's reputation as the "King of Digging and Filling Kings": he is responsible for digging holes in the first two-thirds of the game, and the last three. He is responsible for filling holes in one-quarter of the game, and the outcome depends on how well the hole is filled that day - his hole-digging ability is even stronger than that of the New York Giants' Eli Manning, but his hole-filling ability seems to be slightly inferior.
After the start of the third quarter, Luck sounded the clarion call for a counterattack, scoring five touchdowns in the second half alone, and completed a reversal and winning pass touchdown with 75 seconds left in the game. , completely erased the 28-point difference, and completed the go-ahead, with a final score of "45:44", creating the second-highest reversal miracle in playoff history, recreating last year's Super Bowl decisive battle. thrilling moments.
Eleven months ago, before the blackout in the second half of the Super Bowl between "San Francisco 49ers VS Baltimore Ravens", the San Francisco 49ers were trailing by 29 points and finally came back to top with a score of "42:41"; this time, Luck also Led the Indianapolis Colts to replicate the same feat.
This game set a series of historical records:
The second game in history where a lead exceeded 28 points but suffered a comeback. The first game in history where both sides exceeded 44 points and the difference between victory and defeat was only one point. The second game in history was decided by one point. The playoffs that win or lose, the playoffs with the most total passing yards and first downs for both teams in history.
In addition, the Kansas Chiefs have lost eight consecutive playoff games, the most in history. Previously, they shared the embarrassing record of "losing seven consecutive playoff games" with the Detroit Lions. Now, the Kansas Chiefs have thrown away the Detroit Lions. Lion, uniquely owns such a historical record. But, this doesn't seem to be a good thing.
Such a result is undoubtedly shocking, and coincides with the development trajectory of the Kansas Chiefs' regular season:
After leading the league with nine consecutive wins at the start of the season, he lost five of the remaining seven games. He only defeated two weak teams, the Washington Redskins and the Oakland Raiders, and lost all games against strong opponents. defeat. It also contains an embarrassing record. In addition to winning against the Oakland Raiders at home and away, they also lost all divisional civil wars at home and away against their rivals Denver Broncos and San Diego Chargers.
Therefore, the Kansas Chiefs are also known as the "weakest" playoff team - not the weakest, but still unable to prove their emptiness in the battle between strong players. In the end, the team also ended up with a near-defeat A tragic way to end this year's season.
The victory of the Indianapolis Colts once again ushered in the trend of "blowing" Luck throughout the league. Many professional analysts and commentators even began to exclaim early on, "the birth of another elite quarterback."
This is the difference between the No. 1 pick and the undrafted rookie. Lu Ke spent three seasons constantly proving himself, including a Super Bowl victory, but the league still had reservations about his praise because he was an undrafted rookie with an unstable foundation and needed more time to prove it. Himself; but Luck is the proud son of God. He has been favored since college. After entering the league as the No. 1 pick, every outstanding performance now further proves the "correctness" of the scouts and analysts and commentators. It is easy. You can win a lot of admiration and recognition.
Now, some people have long started to speculate: "Is it possible that there will be a 'Lucker VS Lu Ke' in this year's Super Bowl?" Just thinking about it makes me a little bit uncontrollably excited.
But whether it is Luck or Lu Ke, there are still two tough battles to complete. It is too early to look forward to the Super Bowl now. You can at least wait until the divisional games are over. It can also be seen from the side that people in the industry are looking forward to the rise of Lark - because Lu Ke is proving them wrong all the time, and Lark is proving them right all the time.
The second wild card game, "Cincinnati Bengals VS San Diego Chargers".
Andy Dalton continued to perform well after joining the Cincinnati Bengals. He reached the playoffs for the third consecutive season. His record of 11 wins and 5 losses was consistent with the Indianapolis Colts and Kansas Chiefs, and he finished the regular season. Defeated the Pittsburgh Steelers, Green Bay Packers, New England Patriots, Baltimore Ravens, Indianapolis Colts and many other strong teams, including defeating the wild card opponent San Diego Chargers in the thirteenth week of the regular season. The victory also made the league generally optimistic about the team's playoff prospects.
The San Diego Chargers are also not a soft persimmon. Philip Rivers has always been considered one of the most underestimated quarterbacks in the league. His ability is even better than that of Ben Roethlisberger, Joe Flacco and others. This year Faced with a five-win and seven-loss situation in the regular season, they ended the season with a four-game winning streak, and made a thrilling run into the playoffs at the last minute - these four wins included defeating the Denver Broncos, New York Giants and Kansas Chiefs. In the wild card round, many analysts and commentators believed that this was a team full of unknowns.
Facts have proved this.
In the first half, the two teams were evenly matched. At halftime, the Cincinnati Bengals took a small lead with a score of "10:7".
But the situation changed suddenly in the second half. Andy Dalton instantly fell into a quagmire of mistakes. His poor performance of two interceptions and a fumble allowed the Cincinnati Bengals to miss a clean sheet; and Philip Rivers, who was not in the best condition either. Relying on his experienced experience to stabilize the situation, he gradually took the initiative with ground attack and pressure from the defensive team, steadily scored 20 points, and won the victory easily.
The final score was "10:27". This was also the only game among the four wild card games where the score difference exceeded three points during regular game time.
The Cincinnati Bengals lost cleanly and without any chance, making them the first team in league history to lose three consecutive playoff opening games; what's even worse is that since 1991, the Cincinnati Bengals have The NBA hasn't won a playoff game in 23 years - for comparison, 31 other teams in the league have won at least one playoff game during that 23-year period. In other words, they are the only team in the league that has not won any playoff games in the past 23 years.
Compared to the Kansas Chiefs, the Cincinnati Bengals are even more tragic. This seems to have become a kind of inner demon for the entire team and the entire city. Even they themselves are beginning to doubt: Can we win the playoffs?
Andy Dalton, who joined the league in the same year as Lu Ke, has successfully proven his ability. Whether it is reaching the playoffs for three consecutive years or defeating strong teams in the regular season, these performances are worthy of recognition. ; but his repeated failures in the playoffs put him in a desperate situation.
So, when will the Cincinnati Bengals get a playoff win?
When the American League's wild card rounds were all over, fourth-seeded Indianapolis and sixth-seeded San Diego Chargers successfully won and advanced to the next round, which also determined the divisional matchup.
The top-seeded Denver Broncos take on the sixth-seeded San Diego Chargers.
The second-seeded New England Patriots face the fourth-seeded Indianapolis Colts.
This also means that the anticipated "Old Home Showdown" could not be staged as scheduled, and the playoff showdown between Peyton Manning and the Indianapolis Colts was still missed. The staggered fate is disappointing; and Denver The Broncos will start a divisional civil war with the San Diego Chargers in the American League West, which can be regarded as a wonderful scene after the NFL's special competition system.
At the same time, the new-old matchup of "Tom Brady VS Andrew Luck" has also successfully attracted more attention. This is bound to be a battle, and neutral fans can get excited early now.
The American League Division Series has unique expectations!
