Summary
Green Bay Packers: The Packers simply didn't show up at a frigid and blustery Soldier Field as the Bears swept the season series in the NFL's oldest rivalry with a 35-7 victory. By losing, Green Bay handed the NFC's No. 1 seeding to the Dallas Cowboys, who can now treat next week's finale in Washington like an exhibition game. This is huge for Dallas, which lost star receiver Terrell Owens to a sprained ankle in Saturday night's win in Carolina, and is still dealing with a sore thumb on Tony Romo's throwing hand. However, if the Packers -- and their pass-happy offence -- are going to be as dismal in cold conditions as they were Sunday, perhaps playing an NFC title game in Dallas instead of Green Bay isn't such a terrible proposition.
Jacksonville Jaguars: The most impressive showing of the day -- even if the opponent was the Raiders -- was the Jags' 49-11 home win to clinch the AFC's fifth seed. Jacksonville may be the league's third-best team, but their problem is they'll need to go on the road and beat the top two teams to get to the Super Bowl. With their punishing running attack, a quarterback who doesn't commit turnovers, and a defence that swarms to the ball, the Jaguars would give the Patriots all they could handle if the weather is a factor in New England.The entire punt-return unit, Chicago Bears. This may seem like a strange choice, considering the Bears didn't have a punt return in Sunday's game. That's only because Packers punter Jon Ryan couldn't get the ball past the line of scrimmage on three of his tries. Ryan's adventures included a bobbled snap that he could only jump on, a blocked kick that the Bears recovered at the Green Bay 7, and a block by Charles Tillman recovered for a touchdown by Corey Graham. One of his best results of the day was a nine-yard boot that went out of bounds. But hey, at least Devin Hester didn't beat them!See the full content of this document
Extract
Jaguars Boom, Browns Bust
Jacksonville rolling, but New Orleans, Cleveland blow it
Point After / Avi SaperON the penultimate Sunday of the National Football League season, some of the playoff contenders took care of their business, while others played their way right out of the race. And as for the New England Patriots, it was a Sunday that was just like all...See the full content of this document
If you are already a vLex customer, access here