NFL: NFC/AFC Championships: Seahawks pull off a Miracle & Patriots geld the Colts on way to SUPERBOWL XLIX

This past weekend saw the Divisional championships games taking place for the AFC and NFC Divisions as it would determine who would be going to the big dance at the University of Phoenix Stadium in Arizona.

It saw in the NFC championship between Green Bay Packers and the Seattle Seahawks absolute barnburner of a contest at Century Link Field in Seattle, with a thrilling climax to the contest that saw it needing overtime to see a winner of the game. In the AFC championship, it sadly wasn`t much of a contest at all at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, which saw the hometown New England Patriots meet the Indianapolis Colts.

SEATTLE SEAHAWKS       28                 22   GREEN BAY PACKERS

Seattle will be heading back to their second straight Super bowl in a row, after they produced a miraculous and stunning comeback in the fourth quarter of the game to see them pull off a miracle in the first place.  The Seahawks were looking dead and buried with 3 minutes of play to go in the match at Century Link Field in Seattle, but a couple of late plays saw the Hawks back in the contest and could also arguably be said it was a of Green Bay throwing it away more than Seattle winning it.

Things started well for the home team, after Richard Sherman intercepted an intended pass by Packers Quarterback Aaron Rodgers to Devante Adams in the end zone, that saw the Seahawks drawing first blood.  Green Bay then returned the favour in the Seahawks opening drive of the game, after Seattle Quarterback Russell Wilson saw his throw batted in the air and had HaHa Clinton-Dix collecting the ball and running to the Seahawks 5-yard line.

The Packers though thought they`d scored a Touchdown after John Kuhn seemed to gone in the end zone, but on video replay it shown that the Fullback`s arm had been grounded prior to the ball hitting the whitewash and so they went again from the 1-yard line.  Green Bay couldn`t get the score they wanted and so Mason Crosby came on to kick a field goal that put the ‘Cheese heads’ 3-0 ahead.  From the kickoff return it saw Doug Baldwin running into his team mate DeShawn Shead and in doing so fumbled the ball, which led to the Packers quickly jumping on it and recovering the ball.

Green Bay missed a glorious chance to score a touchdown on a 2^nd & goal, after Aaron Rodgers found Jordy Nelson wide open and the wide receiver was unable to take the catch in the end zone and saw a chance go begging.  Mason Crosby was called upon once again for his kicking abilities with the boot and saw him make the field goal to see the visitors lead 6-0.  Julius Peppers then sacked Russell Wilson and saw the Packers well on top in the contest, after the first quarter saw the Seahawks struggling to get anything going as they were being picked off with ease by the Green Bay defence.

With Seattle unable to get a score, it saw Green Bay with the following drive finally get a Touchdown that their play deserved. Aaron Rodgers found Randall Cobb screaming for the pass in the end zone and after he got free from his marker, Rodgers fired a  pass to him and saw him complete the catch to go 13-0 up with Crosby adding the PAT.  Russell Wilson then tried to engineer a way back for the Seahawks in the first half, as he threw up field towards Jermaine Kearse but once again it saw Clinton-Dix taking the interception and running to the Seattle 34 yard line.  During the run by HaHa Clinton-Dix however, it saw Clay Matthews put a big hit on Wilson as he tried to stop the quarterback from getting into position to make a tackle and saw a helmet to helmet collision, that saw Green Bay losing 15 yards from it as the referees called it a 'blindside hit'.

A few plays later and it saw Aaron Rodgers throwing down the left side of the field, but Byron Maxwell was on hand to make the interception and saw Seattle back in control of the football.  The rain then started to come down and saw the Seahawks looking to try and make advantage count, when a throw by Wilson went straight into the hands of Green Bay`s Sam Shields that saw him getting in between ball and Jermaine Kearse to see him make the interception in the end zone and end the first half with the Packers up by 16.

In the Third quarter and it needed something to spark in the game for Seattle and came when Russell Wilson had all the time in the world, after some great defensive work by the linebackers to give him the extra seconds to scan down field and it he found Doug Baldwin wide open to make a huge play on a 3^{rd &} 19.  Seattle then looked to take a field goal to get on the board, but they opted to go for a play from right out of nowhere, that saw a faked field goal attempt kicker Jon Ryan and when Ryan was given the ball, he threw it over the Packers defence to Garry Gilliam and he scored a touchdown that sparked a revival for the Seahawks.

Cornerback for the home side in talisman Richard Sherman,  saw the Seattle man pick up an arm injury colliding with teammate Kam Chancellor on the sidelines after they forced a Green Bay player off onto the sidelines. The injury saw him struggle throughout the rest of the game as he carried on playing with just one arm and looked to be in some serious pain as it was reported later that he may have some nerve damage in it.  With 5.04 left to go in the game, it saw Russell Wilson trying to find Kearse once again in middle of the field, but the catch wasn`t taken and so saw another interception with Morgan Burnett making the grab.  This then started a trend of weird Packers decision making, where they started to slowly implode on themselves with silly mistakes. First off that Morgan Burnett interception on the Seattle drive saw the Green Bay man inexplicability fall to the ground instead of running with the ball and picking up some vital yards.

Seattle saw them given the ball back with just over 3 minutes left to go and trailing by 12 points, it needed the champions to score quickly if they had any chances of getting back in the game. It then saw Wilson throwing to Marshawn Lynch; where ‘Beast Mode’ had just been switched on and saw initially a touchdown ruled for Seattle, however Lynch stepped out of bounds and so saw play brought back. With a 3rd and Goal for Seattle, it saw some clever thinking by Russell Wilson as the quarterback sneaked his way over for a touchdown, prior to the Two minute warning for a 19-14 lead to the Packers and had them trailing by 5 points.

Kicker Steven Hauschka took an onside kick for the Seahawks, knowing he had to make it a good one for them having a chance to get the back.  Hauschka kicked the ball into the ground for the extra bounce and saw the ball looking to be claimed by Green Bay with Jordy Nelson awaiting the ball and instead saw Packers teammate Brandon Bostick trying to be a hero and managed to fail with his attempt at collecting the airborne ball and saw it come off his helmet instead and into the hands of Chris Matthews for a recovery by Seattle and the ‘12^th Man’ in the Seattle crowd saw them beginning to believe that this could comeback could happen.

This crazy game took another twist, as with 1.25 to go ‘Beast Mode’ was up and running and saw Marshawn Lynch running through the Green Bay defence and seemingly had the bizarre situation of the Seahawks scoring too early, as there was plenty of time left in the game for more drama.  Seattle went for the two point conversion to give them a 3 point lead and when Russell Wilson was being hurried by the oncoming Packers defence, it looked like the chance had gone, but Wilson threw a desperation pass into the end zone and saw Luke Wilson managing to take it and spin over for the conversion and the two points.

Seattle looked like they had won the game and the Packers seemed to have blown up in the contest now.  When you`re side is trailing and need a quarterback to lead a huge drive for your team in a losing situation, one of those players you`d want to have in the world would be Aaron Rodgers and once again the quarterback came up trumps for the Packers.  Rodgers threw a couple of completed passes to see his side move up field with out taking any timeouts and saw the clock running, then he limped his way out of bound but not before he gained some more cruical yards for his team. The next possession saw a 6 yard pass to Jordy Nelson being completed and saw the Green Bay kicker in Mason Crosby kicking a 48 yard field goal to tie the game at 22 apiece and see this game heading to overtime.

Back in 2004 it saw the Seahawks and Packers playing out an overtime game in a Wildcard match up at Lambeau Field, on that occasion the Wisconsin side coming out as the victors thanks to the great Brett Favre.  The coin toss was won by the home side and as they had done earlier in the season against Denver, Seattle chose to attack first and had Doug Baldwin taking a catch on a 3^rd and 6 drive before he was forced out of bounds on the Green Bay 35 yard line.  The following possession brought this game to a close saw the comeback complete, as Russell Wilson pick out Jermaine Kearse who had a game full of interceptions coming from attempted passes to him in the game, however this time he was the hero and saw him make the catch and send the reigning champions the Seattle Seahawks back to  the Superbowl in a 28-22 win in overtime,  after what was one of the most stunning Championship games in history. 

NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS    45               7    INDIANAPOLIS COLTS

                             

In the AFC championship game it saw what turned out to be a pretty one sided affair with the New England Patriots booking their place in Superbowl XLIX after a 45-7 blowout of the Indianapolis Colts at Gillette Stadium.  It saw a dominating performance from beginning to end from the Patriots as they easily overcame their opponents as 21 points in the third quarter was the massive difference in the contest, with the Colts unable to stifle New England Quarterback Tom Brady and the offence. 

The start saw both sides going scoreless on their opening drives in the game, but when the Patriots punted away possession to the Colts for the first time, it saw Josh Cribbs seemingly to lose the flight of the ball and had it bounce off his helmet right into the path of Brandon Bolden who gathered up the ball for a fumble recovery.  LeGarrete Blount then ran in for a short gain to give the New England side the early lead in the game, this was after their opponents had suffered from dropped catches, of which they were all wide open but just failed to take them cleanly.

On a 2^nd & Goal attempt for the Patriots, it saw Tom Brady throw a short pass towards James Develin at the 1 yard line and he went over for the touchdown to see the home side move into a 14-0 lead after the opening quarter of play.  Moving in the Second quarter and a Tom Brady throw towards Rob Gronkowski saw it was picked off by D`Qwell Jackson and he saved the Colts from going further behind. Indianapolis then came agonisingly close to scoring a touchdown themselves, when Quarterback Andrew Luck threw a pass to Coby Fleener and as he ran towards the end zone the Colts man then tried to stretch out towards the line and saw him losing his grip on the ball and fumbled it on the 1 yard line.

New England then moved 24-7 ahead, after Nate Solder ran into the end zone for the host and started to see the game slipping away from the clutches of the Indianapolis Colts.  The Patriots offence was carving their opponents defence up with ease, and there was more proof of that, as LeGarrete Blount made a quick dash through the Colts defence to the 10 yard line.  New England then a few plays later saw them on a 3^rd & 1, to which Tom Brady thrown to Rob Gronkowski and he managed to make the catch and move the scoreboard onto 31-7 in favour of New England.

Darrelle Revis then intercepted an Andrew Luck catch, which put the New England side in great field position to have a chance of another score before the end of the quarter.  With just over 2 minutes of play in the third, it saw Blount once again at the heart of the offense for the Patriots, with the Running Back going to the house to score another touchdown and seal the win for the home team.  New England had scoring 21 points in the 3^rd quarter and was showing off Bill Belichick`s side ruthless aggression in these playoffs, as they killed off any hopes the Colts had of making a comeback and capped it off with a further touchdown in the fourth from LeGarrette Blount, to see the Patriots crowned once more as AFC Champions again.

New England will now be looking to make history in Arizona, as they have the chance of being the most successful franchise in the National Football League with victory, as they are currently tied with the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Dallas Cowboys for the most Superbowl wins as they have 8 Vince Lombardi trophies to their name at Foxboro.