This past weekend was the AFC wild card playoffs. Several teams played in the preliminary round, but the hometown Patriots were not one of them. The Steelers, Dolphins, Texans, and Raiders all played in the AFC. Both the Texans and Steelers came away with wins, and we learned a lot about all the teams involved this weekend.
Le’veon Bell is VERY good
Don’t get me wrong, we all knew how strong Le’veon Bell was. The Steelers RB missed three games this season and still finished fifth overall in rushing yards per game. However, on Saturday it seemed as if he was running against tackling dummies. He ran for over 160 yards and two touchdowns, finishing with over a five yards per carry average. Miami does not have a very strong rush defense, but when they have playmakers like Ndamukong Suh and Kiko Alonso it was surprising to see Bell carve up a defense like that. Whenever people talk about Bell they mention his patience. It was on display once again against Miami. It seems like he sits behind his towering offensive lineman for three or four seconds every play until he breaks through for a seven yard gain. Kansas City will have a tough time stopping him, and the entire Steelers Offense.
The Raiders may not have been as good as we thought
There are two ways the Raiders game can be interpreted: Either the Raiders were not as dangerous as we thought, or maybe Derek Carr is was more important to that team’s success. Carr went down with a leg injury late in the season, leaving the post season duties up to back up Connor Cook. He was in MVP talks because of his stellar play during the regular season, and it showed how important he was to the Raiders on Saturday. The Raiders offense sputtered and barely got over 200 total yards, with Cook throwing three interceptions. Not only did their offense suffer, but their defense was equally flat. They weren’t able to cause any turnovers, or even record a sack against a lackluster Houston offense. This leads to the last thing we learned this past weekend.
The Patriots have nothing to fear
If the Pats were able to shut out the Texans without Tom Brady, there’s a possibility they could be even more dominant with TB12. Brock Osweiler couldn’t break 200 yards passing. The Pats will undoubtedly load the box to stop the run and force the Brockweiler to beat them. Needless to say, I am not worried.
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