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Wild-card week
Titans, Redskins, Vikings, Dolphins advance
Posted: Wednesday January 12, 2000 09:46 AM
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Kevin Dyson met with very little resistance from the Bills on his 75-yard touchdown run. AP |
ATLANTA (CNNSI.com) -- The NFL's version of the Elite Eight features only three teams that made it to the quarterfinal round of last season's playoffs -- the Miami Dolphins, Jacksonville Jaguars and Minnesota Vikings. Of those three, only the Vikings advanced past the divisional round, and they went on to lose in the NFC Championship to the Atlanta Falcons. The opening weekend of the 2000 NFL Playoffs featured a memorable finish in Nashville, a memorable first half in Washington, D.C., and a veteran quarterback who won on the road in Seattle and hopes to keep making some more memories in the playoffs. Frank Wycheck's cross-field lateral to Kevin Dyson will be talked about over hot wings in Buffalo for generations. Stephen Davis' phenomenal first-half performance Saturday won't soon be forgotten in Detroit or Washington either. On Sunday, Jeff George earned a measure of redemption, throwing three touchdown passes to lead the Minnesota Vikings to a 27-10 victory over the Dallas Cowboys. And the Miami Dolphins earned their first road playoff win since December, 1972 with a 20-17 win in Seattle. Here are capsule looks at the wild-card games:
| Wild-Card Weekend NFL Recap |
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| Titans 22, Bills 16 |
| Review | Key Stat |
Game Summary and
Game Recap | 75: Number of yards on game-winning kick return by Titans wide receiver Kevin Dyson. |
| Player of the Game |
| Eddie George, RB, Tennessee: Didn't score any touchdowns but his 109 yards on 29 carries allowed the Titans to keep the ball away from the Bills and stay within striking distance. |
| Breakdown |
| This exciting contest was really more like two games -- one controlled by the Titans in the first half and by the Bills in the second half. Tennessee's Jevon Kearse was the first story. He had two sacks, a forced fumble and a safety that essentially led to the Titans' first nine points. Bills running back Antowain Smith helped Buffalo claw back into the contest in the second half, rushing for 79 yards on 14 rushing attempts and scoring two touchdowns. By all rights, the Bills should have won, since they kept Titans quarterback Steve McNair in check. But the last-ditch lateral to Kevin Dyson on a kickoff return worked for the Titans, and they advance to the divisional round to face the Indianapolis Colts at the RCA Dome on Sunday. |
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| Redskins 27, Lions 13 |
| Review | Key Stat |
Game Summary and
Game Recap | 38:28: Time of possession by the Redskins, who more than quadrupuled the Lions' rushing output, finishing with 223 yards on the ground to only 45 for Detroit. |
| Player of the Game |
| Stephen Davis, RB, Washington: Ran for 119 yards and two touchdowns on 15 carries, before leaving in the second quarter with a sprained knee. |
| Breakdown |
| A third of a game from Stephen Davis is better than a complete game from Detroit's stable of running backs. Davis garnered his 119 yards on the ground in a little more than 20 minutes of action, before leaving in the second quarter with a knee sprain. Fullback Corey Schlesinger got the bulk of the carries for the Lions, but he ran for only 23 yards on seven carries. Detroit had to abandon the run in the first half after falling behind 14-0 early, and the result was a huge disparity in time of possession and number or rushing plays -- Washington ran the ball 46 times, while Detroit carried only 10 times for the entire game. The Lions suffered five sacks and committed 12 penalties for 126 yards on Saturday, while the Redskins gave up one sack and made only six mistakes for 75 yards in lost field position. The Redskins move on to face the Tampa Bay Buccaneers next Saturday at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa in the divisional playoffs. |
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| Vikings 27, Cowboys 10 |
| Review | Key Stat |
Game Summary and
Game Recap | 175: Rushing yards by Vikings, compared with 111 for the Cowboys. |
| Player of the Game |
| Jeff George, QB, Minnesota: Threw for three touchdowns, connecting on 12 of 25 attempts for 212 yards and no interceptions. |
| Breakdown |
| Minnesota dominated in time of possession -- 35:57 to 24:03 -- and hit the big plays to put Dallas away by the middle of the third quarter. The Cowboys didn't help themselves when they failed to punch the ball in for a touchdown after Emmitt Smith's 65-yard-run to the Vikings' 3-yard line on Dallas' first possession. And Deion Sanders' muffed punt gave the Vikings an extra opportunity. The bottom line is that Jeff George connected with his wide receivers when he needed to, and found wide-open backs in the flanks when the Cowboys' secondary double-covered receivers. The Vikings play the top-seeded Rams at St. Louis in the divisional round of the NFC playoffs. |
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| Dolphins 20, Seahawks 17 |
| Review | Key Stat |
Game Summary and
Game Recap | 6: Sacks by the Dolphins against Seattle's overmatched offensive line. |
| Player of the Game |
| Trace Armstrong, DE, Miami: Led Miami's fourth-quarter defensive surge with two key sacks, and finished the game with four total tackles and three sacks. |
| Breakdown |
| Miami's defense played as it did early in the season, when the Dolphins jumped out to a quick 7-1 start and looked like contenders in the AFC. Jon Kitna was sacked six times and threw two interceptions, while completing only 14-of-30 passes for 162 yards and one touchdown. Dan Marino didn't put up big numbers either, throwing for just 196 yards and one touchdown on 17-of-30 passing, but Miami's running attack helped him out in key situations. The Dolphins held the Seahawks to 171 total yards and 12 first downs, and kept Ricky Watters to 41 yards on 20 carries. The loss was the first at home in the postseason for Mike Holmgren, who had gone 5-0 in playoff home games while coaching the Green Bay Packers over the previous seven seasons. Miami will travel to Alltel Stadium on Saturday to face the No. 1 seed in the AFC, the Jacksonville Jaguars. |
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