I received several questions about the seemingly backwards starting times for this weekend’s AFC and NFC Championship games. The Philadelphia Eagles are playing out west at Arizona in the “early” game against the Cardinals at 3 p.m. ET while the Pittsburgh Steelers host the Baltimore Ravens on the east coast in the “late” game starting at 6:30 p.m. It’s determined by yearly rotation. CBS gets the prime-time game one year, and FOX gets it the next. CBS broadcasts the AFC game and FOX broadcasts the NFC game. Location matters not.

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AFC and NFC Championship Game Times

The Tennessee Titans lost this afternoon’s AFC Divisional Playoff game (13-10) more than the Baltimore Ravens won it. I’m not taking anything away from the Ravens. They did plenty of things well. But look at the stats. Tennessee held onto the ball longer (34:07 to 25:53), gained more yards (391 to 211) and had more first downs (21 to 9). Those totals really aren’t even close. What you can’t do is end up minus three in the turnover differential and expect to win any game in the National Football League, let alone a playoff game. The Titans learned that. You also can’t have 12 penalties, which is what the Titans piled up for negative 89 yards. It was a sloppy, miserable and uncharacteristically poor performance from the league’s best team during the regular season. Blech. Titans tight end Alge Crumpler, who committed one of the team’s costly turnovers, was understandably quite distraught after the game:

“It’s probably the worst feeling I’ve had in my life because I understand the magnitude of what we’ve built here. When you lose possessions, especially being the cause of it, it’s a feeling I don’t know when I’ll ever get rid of. The game’s a blur right now. I’ve lost playoff games before, but it’s the worst feeling I’ve had in my life.”

Sources: NFL.com, TitansOnline.com

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Titanic Turnovers For Tennessee

National Football League Blogcast, NFL Blogcast

Atlanta Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan was named the NFL’s Offensive Rookie of the Year yesterday by the Associated Press. I think Falcons owner Arthur Blank had hoped for Matt to have a shot at the starting quarterback position this season when the team drafted him third overall back in April. But I’m sure he didn’t expect this kind of success this soon — not for Matt and not for the Falcons as a team as the prepare to play the NFC West champion Arizona Cardinals Saturday in a Wild Card Playoff game. As one would expect, Matt was typically well-spoken of the award:

“There’s a number of guys who had great rookie seasons this year, so to even be mentioned in that light is nice. It’s certainly a great honor, and I think it speaks to what we did as a team this year.”

I’m sure Tennessee Titans running back Chris Johnson is one of the guys Matt was talking about. It had to be a close call. Nevertheless, Matt had a great season by any player’s standards, but especially for a rookie QB. He completed 265 of 434 passes for 3,440 yards with 16 touchdowns and 11 interceptions. He had a respectable 87.7 passer rating and also contributed with 104 rushing yards and one rushing touchdown. His 3,440 passing yards ranks sixth in a single-season in Falcons history and he became only the second rookie quarterback in NFL history to have over 3,000 passing yards. Impressive.

When you think about what the Falcons organization and the fans went through in watching their supposed savior quarterback Michael Vick being led off to prison and their proud franchise reduced to jeers amidst the embarrassment of former head coach Bobby Petrino, this has to be an especially proud moment. From 4-12 in the basement of the NFC South last season to 11-5 and a Wild Card berth this season, the team can look to their Rookie of the Year quarterback as a building block for many years to come.

Source: AtlantaFalcons.com, Photo: Newscom

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Matt Ryan NFL Offensive ROY

National Football League Blogcast, NFL Blogcast

I’ll be speaking with Miami Dolphins center Samson Satele for a Wild Card weekend EMQB Interview on New Year’s Day. If you would like to ask Samson a specific question about his career or the Dolphins’ remarkable season as AFC East champs, leave a comment on this post or send me an email before midnight on Wednesday, December 31 and I’ll do my best to ask him for you. Please include your first name, city and state along with your question.

Photo: Newscom

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Ask Miami Dolphins C Samson Satele