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Quick take: Impressive offensive display sees Bengals past Chargers, to the Super Bowl

Chris Crocker effectively ended all hopes of a Chargers comeback when he forces a rare LT2 fumble

It was over when...

SS Chris Crocker stripped the ball from Ladainian Tomlinson at the Bengals 3-yard line with 7:30 to go and the Bengals leading 41-31. Seconds earlier, Quentin Jammer had intercepted Carson Palmer and given the Chargers the ball in great field position at the Cincinnati 12. But after LT2’s fumble, the Bengals never looked back, driving 90 yards down the field and taking nearly 5 minutes off the clock before Cedric Benson walked in untouched for his third TD of the day.

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Cedric Benson was the Bengals workhorse, rushing for 138 yards and 3 TDs on 29 attempts. He also added 2 receptions for 30 yards, and was the main reason why the Bengals dominated time of possession.

Key stat

With Carson Palmer operating the no-huddle offense for large parts of the game, the Bengals were firing on all cylinders, amassing 553 total yards and 26 first downs.

Noteworthy

Robert Geathers opened the scoring when he brought down Philip Rivers in his own end zone for a safety after Kyle Larson had pinned the Chargers at their own 2 yard line with a great punt early in the first quarter... The Chargers went into halftime with a 24-20 lead after Philip Rivers strung together several passes for huge gains in the second quarter. He had only 8 completions at halftime, but they went for 270 yards and 3 TDs of 72, 91 and 10 yards, respectively... Vince Jackson had 8 receptions for 193 yards, while T.J. Houshmandzadeh had 6 for 154... Shawne Merriman had 11 tackles, including 2 sacks... The Bengals now face the St. Louis Rams in the Super Bowl... The Rams beat the Bengals in a close-fought game late in the regular season to keep their playoff hopes alive... This marks the first time in NFL history that two wildcard teams meet in the Super Bowl.

Brandon Jackson who filled in for the injured Ryan Grant was lifted off his feet and brought to the ground while blocking during the Packers two-point conversion attempt to tie the score with 1min17sec to go in the game. With Jackson, A-Rods primary target for the play, out of the game, the Packers QB hit Greg Jennings close to the sideline but the Pro-Bowl receiver was brought down before he made it into the endzone.

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must go to Brock Berlin who surprised the Pack with two excellent drives in the fourth quarter, finishing both with TD throws to Torry Holt. Of course the punishing running game of Steven Jackson helped to keep both drives alive several times.

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The Packers killed their Superbowl chances with four holding calls on four different drives in the second half, especiallly when an 8yrd TD run was nullified and the Packers were brought back to the 18yrd line to only score a FG. Two other drives were killed by the penalties, since the Packers O was not able to make the 20yrds for the first down. So if you vote on the Poll to the right, go for "The Pack itself"!!

Noteworthy

The game ended up to be an offensive battle:
The Pack had a great day on offense, A-Rod throwing for 324yrds and 3TDs (111.1 QB rating) and Ryan Grant running for 110yrds on 20 attempts before he left late in the 3rd quarter, while the Rams anwered with 230yrds through the air and 133yrds from Steven Jackson on the ground.

Quick Take: Rams lead 14:10 at half

Randy McMichael comes up with a rare TD catch

Quick Take: Rams win in Double OT

 Neil Rackers had the chance to put the Cards into the NFC championship game, but missed his FG try at the end of the 4th quarter

It was over when...

Josh Brown denied to miss his first FG of the season and hit a 51 yarder in double OT to put the Rams in the NFC championship game against the hungry Baby Pack...

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goes to... Sorry for this boring shit, but guess who...???!!! #39 Steven Jackson, despite not hitting the game winner.

Key stat

Jacksons statline were 21points, he carried 41 times, for 189 yards and also caught 6 passes for 54 yards. Torry Holt had his best game with 6 catches and the Rams D held "Fitz" in check with 3 grabs for only 30 yards and no TD. Will Witherspoon had 11 tackles and Pro Bowl CB Tye Hill had 6 tackles deflected 4 passes and had a key INT in the frist half.

Noteworthy

The Cards offense moved the ball pretty well and sometimes at will but the Rams D managed to held them to 24 points. The Rams had to replace their best defender FS O.J. Atogwe who left in the first quarter with an injury but Eric Bassey had a nice game as his replacement. The teams were fighting to death and coach Moose was dehydrated throughout the game but managed to put together one final drive in the second OT after luckily entering the first OT. The Rams now face the best team in the Buam season and will enter the contest later today.

Quick take: Palmer-to-Johnson sees Bengals past Titans, 27-23

Carson Palmer found Chad Johnson in the end zone from 5 yards out to cap a 10 play, 78 yard drive that put the Bengals up by 4 points with only 20 seconds left on the clock.

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With T.J. Houshmandzadeh sidelined by a sprained elbow he suffered last week in Baltimore, Chad Johnson stepped up big time to register his best game of the season. He terrorised Tennessee’s defense (ranked second in the NFL) with 7 catches for 190 yards, including several long bombs and the game winning TD.

Key stat

The Bengals defense held Tennessee’s feared ground attack to only 63 yards on 25 carries. This allowed Cincinnati to drop extra defenders into coverage, and third-string QB Chris Simms (starting in place of Kerry Collins and Vince Young, both out with injuries) was unable to make anything happen.

Noteworthy

Both teams were a combined 0-for-15 on third down conversions in the first half... Tennessee’s only TDs were scored by the defense: Keith Bulluck ran back an interception 27 yards in the first quarter, and Chris Carr added an 81 yard score off a Palmer pick in the third quarter... The Bengals’ Pro Bowl DE Robert Geathers had 3 sacks... Cedric Benson found just enough running room (89 yards on 19 attempts) to keep the Titans’ defense honest... The Bengals now travel to San Diego to face the Chargers. The last time these teams met in an AFC Championship Game, the Bengals advanced to their first ever Super Bowl when they beat the Charger 27-7 in the famous 1982 “Freezer Bowl”.

NFC Playoffs: Packers a force at Lambeau, beat Saints 38-10 

Outta my way!! Grant stiffarms Mike McKenzie on his way to his second TD of the game.

It was over when...

The Packers scored from 1yrd out to finish a 13 play, 73yrd drive that started the second half and took 6:17 off the clock. Clearly dominating their opponent with a strong running game, the Pack took a 21:3 lead and everybody in the stadium knew that the Saints were beaten.

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goes to Ryan Grant who had an incredible game with 275 total yards and two TDs, the 226yrds on the ground came on 27 carries, resulting in a strong 8.3 yrd/carry average. Grant missed the single game rushing record of the Buam Season held by the Texans Steve Slaton by only 11yrds when he pounded a weak Saints D over and over again.

Key stat

Once again an almost flawless execution of the Packers offense, resulting in 478 total offensive yards. Although Aaron Rodgers threw an early interception, he still ended the game with a 113.7 passer rating, hitting 70% of his passes and throwing for 3 TDs.

Noteworthy

Although the Saints Offense showed glimpses of competence, especially with a good passing game by Drew Brees, they entered the Packers redzone for the first time in the fourth quarter of the game. Brees also threw 2 interceptions, of which one was carried back for a TD.