Joe Flacco and the Ravens are headed to Pittsburgh. After falling behind early 7-3 following an impressive 41 yard touchdown run by Jamaal Charles, the veteran Ravens got stingy. Over the final 3 quarters, the Ravens defense forced 5 turnovers and the offense outscored Kansas City 27-0. After only throwing 7 interceptions all season, the Ravens picked Matt Cassel off 3 times, and both Jamaal Charles and Dexter McCluster coughed up costly fumbles. Flacco meanwhile had the offense humming with contributions coming from everywhere. Todd Heap caught a Ravens postseason record 10 passes for 108 yards. Anquan Boldin and Ray Rice each caught touchdown passes and Willis McGahee pull the final nails in the coffin with a late 25 yard touchdown run. The Ravens looked like they'd been there before, while the Chiefs just looked overmatched. Dwayne Bowe, who had 15 touchdown receptions during the regular season didn't catch a single pass, Jamaal Charles had just 1 carry after halftime and it lost 5 yards and for the game, the Chiefs only possessed the ball for 18:16. The win was Flacco's 4th during the postseason in 3 years in the league, all of which have been on the road.
Jamaal Charles is FAST
Ed Reed Ends a Chiefs Drive
McGahee Ices the Game
PACKERS OUTLAST EAGLES
During the entire regular season, rookie 6th round draft pick James Starks ran for 101 yards while appearing in only 3 games for the Packers. In today's game against the Eagles, Starks set a Green Bay rookie postseason record by rushing for 123 yards against the Eagles defense. This took pressure off of Aaron Rodgers and made their attack multi-dimensional. Rodgers was no slouch either hitting on 18 of 27 passes for 180 yards and three touchdowns and was able to spread the ball around, completing passes to 10 different receivers with Donald Driver being the only Packer to catch more than 3 passes. The Eagles had opportunities, but David Akers missed a pair of field goals and Brent Celek stepped out of bounds before catching what would have been a two-point conversion that would have made it a 3 point game late in the 4th. Vick then threw an interception in the endzone in the final minute of the game to seal the win for the Packers. DeSean Jackson was injured in the first quarter and though he was able to return, he did not catch a pass until there were under 9 minutes to go in the 4th quarter. Vick finished with 292 passing yards and 33 rushing yards and accounted for both of Philadelphia's touchdowns, but he didn't get a lot of support from their other playmakers. Jackson finished with only 2 catches, Jeremy Maclin had only 3, and LeSean McCoy had 86 total yards while averaging under 4 a carry. Jason Avant was the leading receiver catching 7 for 93 yards and a score. The Packers now head to Atlanta to take on Matt Ryan and the top seeded Falcons.
CAVS ROUGH YEAR CONTINUES
Absolutely nothing has gone right for Cleveland lately, and the hits just keep on coming. Scrappy Brazilian center Anderson Varejao was injured in practice on Thursday, and it turns out he has torn a tendon in his ankle which will require surgery and end his season. Varejao was leading the team in rebounds with 9.7 a game and also chipping in 9.1 points. In 31 games this season (all starts), he had tallied 7 double-doubles. Cleveland lost their 10th in a row tonight and 20th in their last 21 falling 108-100 at Phoenix. They are now 8-29 and own the worst record in the Eastern Conference. When it rains in Cleveland, it pours. J.J. Hickson started in place of Varejao tonight and had 23 points to go with 17 rebounds (9 on the offensive end), and rookie Guard Manny Harris had a career-high 27 but it wasn't enough.
COLLEGE HOOPS ACTION - DUKE, OHIO STATE AND KANSAS
The top three teams in the men's polls were all in action today with #1 Duke taking on Maryland, #2 Ohio State hosting #21 Minnesota and #3 Kansas traveling to Michigan. All three came out winners, but all three were put to the test.
I feel like Maryland always gives Duke problems and tonight was no different. Duke went into halftime only up 1 against the Terps, but Seniors Kyle Singler (25 points, 10 rebounds) and Nolan Smith (18 points, 7 rebounds, 8 assists) powered the Blue Devils to a 71-64 victory. Duke overcame 23 points and 13 rebounds by Maryland's Jordan Williams as they improved to 15-0 on the year and 2-0 in the ACC. Maryland drops to 10-5 and 0-2 in conference play. Duke's next game will be Wednesday at Florida State.
#2 Ohio State hosted #21 Minnesota and it came down to the last shot. Freshman Guard Austin Hollins missed a 3-pointer at the buzzer as Ohio State won their 16th game of the season and improved to 3-0 in the Big Ten. Jared Sullinger had 15 points and 12 rebounds and Senior swingman David Lighty chipped in 19 before fouling out to lead the way for the Buckeyes. Minnesota was led by Trevor Mbakwe who had 16 points and 12 rebounds. With the loss Minnesota drops to 1-3 in the Big Ten. Next up for Ohio State is a trip to rival Michigan on Wednesday.
#3 Kansas saw a double digit lead evaporate in the second half and found themselves needing overtime to knock off Michigan 67-60. Neither team shot the ball well from long range with the Jayhawks hitting 4 of 24 while the Wolverines hit only 4 of 28. Marcus Morris led all scorers with 22 points and added 10 rebounds to lead the way for Kansas. Twin brother Markieff added 13 points and 11 rebounds. Tim Hardaway Jr. led Michigan with 19 points, but shot just 5 of 19 from the floor. The game was just Kansas' 2nd true road game of the season as they improved to 15-0 on the year overall. Kansas opens up Big 12 play against Iowa State on Wednesday.
AND THEN THERE WAS ONE
With the conclusion of the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl tonight, there is now just one bowl game remaining: Oregon vs Auburn in the National Championship Game. The Mountain West Conference enjoyed the most successful bowl season to this point going 4-1 in their 5 games. BYU blew out UTEP in the New Mexico Bowl 52-24, San Diego State ran over Navy 35-14 in the Poinsettia Bowl, Air Force knocked off Georgia Tech 14-7 in the Independence Bowl and TCU held on to win the Rose Bowl over Wisconsin 21-19. The Mountain West's only loss came when 1-loss Boise State beat Utah 26-3 in the Las Vegas Bowl. The ACC, SEC, Big Ten and Big 12 all produced 5 bowl losers which was something of a surprise. The SEC will need a win from Auburn tomorrow night to clinch a .500 postseason. Conference USA finishes with the worst bowl record going just 2-4.
GOLF SEASON UNDERWAY
The Hyundai Tournament of Champions kicked off the 2011 Golf Season this weekend. I'm not a huge golf fan, however my buddy Rue and I started playing Fantasy Golf last year so that's actually gotten me to follow it a little bit. I'll be honest though, I'm still not very good. Americans Jonathan Byrd and Robert Garrigus each shot 6 under 67s to force a playoff which Byrd would win in 2 holes. Byrd won one tournament during the 2010 season and finished 58th on the money list. Garrigus also won one tournament last year and finished 54th. Graeme McDowell came out of nowhere and shot an 11 under 62 on the final day to finish 3rd. My top golfer was Steve Stricker who came into the final day tied for the lead, but shot just 2 under and finished tied for 4th.
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