Patriots Are Denied and Seahawks Are Sent Packin'

Number One New England Patriots mounted a second half surge, but were denied a trip to the AFC Championship by a stubborn NY Jets, who just won't go away. Tom Brady couldn't get into his usual rythmn due to an annoying Jets defense and was sacked five times plus hit another seven. Mark Sanchez didn't make any mistakes, which was necessary for the Jets to even have a chance in this one. The Jets running game was superior to the Patriots. All the way around the Patriots were out finessed by the Jets ending 28-21.

Tom Brady threw for more yardage than Sanchez. Brady accumulated more passing first downs with 19-8. Time of possession was as equally imbalanced, with the Patriots holding the ball almost ten minutes longer. Obviously Brady and company were not as productive with the ball. Brady threw for 299 yards, but had the one looming mistake in the beginning that set the tone. The Patriots even had more rushing first downs. Five different rushers combined for 113 yards. All-in-all just too many passes fell to the wayside.

The Jets made the most of the time they had the ball. Mark Sanchez had a 194 total passing yards with three touchdowns. He went 16-25. Shonn Greene and LaDainian Tomlinson combined for 119 yards of rushing with one touchdown each. Santonio Holmes and Braylon Edwards accounted for the other two reception touchdowns, but Jerico Cotchery was Sanchez main target hauling in 5 passes for 96 yards. Offensive job done. The Jets defense did their part in making sure the Patriots were miserable and frustrated. As already mentioned, they sacked Brady 5 times, 3 of them in the Patriots disastrous first half. Jets move on to play the Steelers in the AFC Championship.

Seattle made it fun and interesting, but you had to know it wasn't going to last. Jay Cutler was just too much for the Seattle defense to handle, who had a great game. He became the second quarterback in NFL history to throw for two touchdowns and run for two others in a playoff game. Seattle made a valiant effort in the fourth quarter to narrow the point difference, but it was not enough. Chicago won 35-24.

Jay Cutler passed and ran like a man on a mission. The mission was to win, and that is what he did. Cutler threw for 274 yards and two touchdowns. Greg Olsen made some big catches for him scoring one touchdown with 113 yards. The big one was a 58 yard touchdown on the Bears first possession. Chicago dominated the ground game with Matt Forte pounding out 80 yards. Chester Taylor ran for another 44 yards and Cutler scrambled for 43 yards. The Bears defense did their job keeping the Seahawks out of the end zone for three quarters. Bears move on to face the daunting Packers in the NFC Championship.

Seattle could not get anything going for three quarters, their guns were silent. If it wasn't for the fourth quarter there wouldn't be anything to talk about as far as Seattle's offense was concerned. You figure by then Chicago was in prevent mode being so far ahead with the score at 28-3. Matt Hasselbeck threw three touchdowns, all in fourth quarter. Mike williams caught two of the three in that last ditch effort-less ending. Brandon Stokely caught the third and through the game mounted 85 yards. That's pretty much it, the fairy tale season is over for the Seahawks.