Playoff Mainstays New England and Philadelphia Dominated in First Round

January 10, 2010   ·   Paul Preibisius   ·   Jump to comments

Two near constants in late postseason play this decade, the New England Patriots and Philadelphia Eagles, lost dramatically in the first round to close out their seasons.
The pair of mainstays lost by a combined 67-28.
The similarities don’t end with near identical final scores (a 34-14 win for Dallas, 33-14 for Baltimore):  The teams both won with power running games steamrolling their opposition. 
For Dallas, Felix Jones led the way with 148 yards for a team with 198 net yards on the ground.  Baltimore was powered by Ray Rice’s 159 yards to lead their 235 yard rushing performance.
Added to similar ground success was a capacity to force turnovers.
Tom Brady was harassed into coughing up the ball four times, tossing three interceptions along with losing a fumble.  Philadelphia spread the turnover wealth around, losing three fumbles by three different players (Donovan McNabb, Michael Vick, and Leonard Weaver) along with one McNabb interception.
The ...

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