Rodgers Dominates as Roethlisberger and Defense Shine

The games on Saturday night were taken over by two performances, Aaron Rodgers being nearly flawless for the Green Bay Packers, and Ben Roethlisberger taking over in the second half to conquer the Baltimore Ravens. In the typically low-scoring rivalry between the Steelers and Ravens, Pittsburgh was able to win in a game that had the highest combined amount of points between the two since 2002. Rodgers and the Packers took control of the game in the second quarter and the Atlanta Falcons never recovered.

The Steelers game began as many expected, the Ravens ending the first possession of the game with a punt. From there, it was not exactly easy to anticipate. The Steelers were able to go right down the field and score on their first drive to take a quick 7-0 lead. The Ravens would then score 21 straight points, helped out greatly by two turnovers by the Steelers in their own territory.

Then came the second half, a half that saw the Steelers score 24 points on their way to a 31-24 win, and a chance to host the AFC Championship game next week. Roethlisberger led the way, controlling the game in the second half on his way to throwing for 226 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Roethlisberger was able to move the ball against the stout Ravens defense, who did all they could to keep their season alive.

The Steelers defense was able to truly dominate the game in front of the home crowd. Of the 24 points given up, seven came on a fumble return in a play where almost all the players on the field stopped anticipating the ruling of an incomplete pass. But the Steelers were able to hold the Ravens to only 126 total yards of offense, not completely new territory for the team that led the league in scoring defense and was second in yards per game defense. They also created huge momentum plays, including a crucial interception of Joe Flacco by the safety Ryan Clark. Finally, the secondary did an incredible job, holding the top two receivers for the Ravens, Anquan Boldin and Derrick Mason, to a combined one catch for negative two yards.

The win made the Steelers a perfect 9-0 against division opponents in the playoffs. They will now surely be glued to their televisions tomorrow to see who and where they will be playing the AFC Championship game after the defense and Roethlisberger were able to lead them to victory.

The game between the Packers and Falcons can really be summed up by six words: Aaron Rodgers and interception before halftime.

While Aaron Rodgers was, to put it bluntly, as close to perfect without being perfect, the game also came down to one play and one decision in my mind, that last play of the half.

After leading 14-7 the Falcons had conceded the next 14 points, but were driving right before halftime, and in range for Matt Bryant to attempt roughly a 52-yard field goal. However, with no timeouts and only 10 seconds remaining the Falcons wanted to try and get a little closer for Bryant, and ran a play towards the sideline. Well wouldn't ya know, Tramon Williams picks the ball off and returns it 70 yards. Just like that the Packers go into halftime with a 28-14 lead, and how much more momentum can ya have?

Well I guess you could have a little bit more, such as getting the ball to start the half and scoring another touchdown to cap off a 12-play drive that took 6:32 off the clock. Why the Falcons tried a play where it was obvious, moreso than most times, that they absolutely needed to get to the sideline was beyond me. They make that field goal, go into halftime down 21-17 but with a little momentum for yourselves, and who knows how the rest of the game goes.

Okay, now that the hypothetical of this actually still being a game going into, and just after that first drive of the second half, let us get to the reality of this game, and that is the fact that Aaron Rodgers was literally unstoppable.

In the game Rodgers went a modest 31-36 with 366 yards and three touchdowns. Not that bad. Oh and his quarterback rating, already the first player to have it over 120 in both of his first two NFL playoff starts, well he did it again, setting the bar a bit higher. You really can't say enough about how great he played, every decision, scramble, throw was great. One of the greatest and most flawless playoff performances you are going to see, and he led them to the win, and a berth in the NFC Championship game.

Rodgers could not have summed up his game and the night any better:

"It was one of those nights. Guys made some big plays. I felt in the zone. . . .  We had fun all night. . . .  It feels so good."