Wizards win first game; underdogs surprise in NFL divisional playoffs
January 16, 2012
Ceci Ferrara
Sports Writer
Sports Insider
The Wizards won their first game of the season last week after a franchise worst eight straight losses. Rashard Lewis and Nick Young led Washington with 15 points each, leading the team to a 93-78 win at home against the Toronto Raptors. Meanwhile, John Wall was underwhelming, missing 9 of 12 shots despite tying his season high of nine assists. Even though the Wizards came up on top, the Raptors put up an impressive performance, led by Andrea Bargnani who put up 22 points.
Their inability to put points on the board has been what’s cost Washington so far this season; four of their losses were by 18 points or more. And while the win was a much needed boost for the sinking team, they have been unable to repeat their winning formula, dropping four straight. Two of those came against the 76ers: a deafening 120-89 loss on Friday, followed promptly by a 103-90 loss the next night. They came close to a win this afternoon back home against the Rockets, outscoring Houston 31-23 in the fourth quarter. Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough to make up for their earlier deficit, and they fell to the Rockets 114-106.
Though the season is far from over, at 1-12, the Wizards’ future looks bleak. Though Ted Leonsis has remained optimistic, he sums it all up in his blog post after Saturday’s loss to the Sixers: “I saw some encouraging signs last night, but a loss is a loss.”
NFL Divisional Playoffs
One playoff weekend later, we’re four teams closer to getting to the Super Bowl. The four teams left standing are not the ones everyone was envisioning: 49ers, Patriots, Ravens, and Giants. The AFC teams look about right, but if I predicted a week ago that the 49ers and Giants would rout the Saints and Packers on their way to the NFC Championship Game, you’d probably call me crazy. The Saints and Packers were not only favored to win this past weekend, but many thought one of them would take it all.
Drew Brees has been outstanding for the Saints this year, breaking several records and raising the bar for the quarterback position. The Packers meanwhile, were perfect through their first 12 games and looked ready to repeat last year’s Super Bowl win, with Aaron Rodgers widely considered a shoe-in for league MVP.
Still, football isn’t predictable. The Saints lost in the last nine seconds of regulation to the 49ers, who were at the bottom of the league last year. The Giants stunned the Packers in a 37-20 win at Lambeau Field, despite two blown calls that could have given the Packers an edge if the Giants defense and special teams had not been so good. But they were, and the Packers go home empty handed one week before the championship game.
Big Blue will now travel to San Francisco for their playoff spot, while the Ravens, who shut out the Texans in the second half to win 20-13, will head north to Gillette Stadium to face Tom Brady and the Patriots. The Pats are red hot after their 45-10 pounding of Tim Tebow’s Broncos. It was a sad, albeit, flat ending to Tebow’s headline stealing season of miraculous comebacks and controversy. Tebow can take solace in the fact that his future with the organization is cemented; they have officially named him their starting quarterback for next season.
