DIVISIONAL ROUND WEEKEND FRENZY

Hello my name is Allison and this is going to be a blog recapping certain events in sports that have occurred throughout the week/weekend! There will be a focus on NCAA sports, women's sports but also the NFL, MLB and NHL as they start to gear up more. 

What a CRAZY weekend in the sporting world! The NFL finished up the divisional round, Ohio State with a big upset against Caitlin Clark and the No. 2 Hawkeyes, and much more!

NFL DIVISIONAL ROUNDUP:

To begin this blog off, the same way most sporting shows do, with the National Football League. The divisional round started off with a Saturday game at 3:30 (CT) with the matchup of young, talented QBs. Lamar Jackson and the Baltimore Ravens were able to take home the divisional round and move on to host the AFC Conference Championship for the first time in their 27 year history. Lamar Jackson is playing at a MVP-level caliber in the most crucial games of his career, which is helping the Ravens succeed, but on the other side of the ball the Ravens defense held down the fort. However, CJ Stroud and the Texans had themselves a wonderful season. If I was a Texans fan, I would have high hopes for the future of this team and the future at the quarterback position. 

Onto the second matchup on Saturday which included the Packers and San Francisco 49ers game. A fantastic game of football on display. An underdog Packer team being led by potentially the third HOF QB in a row for the city of Green Bay taking on the No. 1 San Francisco 49ers. This game was much closer than most anticipated and was capped off by the lack of special teams contribution from the Packers. A great season for the Packers in their first season without Aaron Rodgers, but you have to think about where the 49ers go from here? With Deebo Samuels out for more than half of the game against the Packers, who does Brock Purdy go to to get passed the Detroit Lions? 

As alluded to, the Sunday slate began with a matchup between the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Detroit Lions. As most had anticipated, this game was won by the Lions, however it was not completely dominated by Detroit. It wasn't until the fourth quarter where the second seeded Lions were able to break the tie. Jared Goff and his numerous offensive weapons were able to connect for some crucial drives in the fourth quarter that gave them the edge over Baker Mayfield and the Buccaneers. Like I said earlier, this Bucs team is looking very solid for the upcoming years after losing Tom Brady at the QB position. I can personally admit that I didn't think highly of Mayfield as a top-tier QB at this level but these past few games and a majority of the season have made me think differently. He is starting to look like the dominant college football player that he was for the Sooners. 

Last but not least, we had the Buffalo Bills vs. Kansas City Chiefs. One thing we all knew coming into this was that Josh Allen wanted revenge and although he fell short, he played good enough to keep the Bills in the game. With Taylor Swift on the Chiefs side, they were able to pull off the win in front of 50.393 million fans, in the most watch Divisional Round game in history. The game was back and forth the entire time, but it was the Chiefs defense that came up big and prevented the Bills from scoring in their last three drives of the game. This game was the embodiment of defense wins games. 

With those four games finished, we are now set for the Conference Round, which for the sixth straight season will include Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs in a contest against the Baltimore Ravens. Personally, I love this matchup for the Ravens. They matchup well defensively against the Chiefs lack of depth at the WR position. I also think in the QB matchup- Lamar is playing better football right now. I love a good NFL story and seeing John Harbaugh and the Ravens making it to the Super Bowl in the same season where brother Jim Harbaugh won the National Championship would just be poetry. 

On the NFC side, we have the Detroit Lions and the San Francisco 49ers. Again, both top teams in the NFC this season and should be a phenomenal game but I love a story. As a Chicago fan through and through, other than the Packers, there is nothing I love more than seeing Detroit sports loose BUT seeing a team coming out of a 34-year winless playoffs drought, I love it. This will be a tough matchup though for the Lions. It really all comes down to the availability of Deebo Samuels. 

My personal pick for the Super Bowl is Ravens vs. 49ers.

IN OTHER SPORTING NEWS:

- Caitlin Clark and the No. 2 Iowa Hawkeyes UPSET by No. 18 Ohio State for their first conference loss of the season. Caitlin Clark scored a season high, 45 points, in the loss to the Buckeyes. The Hawkeyes shot 46% from the field in comparison to their season average of 50.5% BUT allowed Ohio State to shoot 48%, while their opponent season average is 38%. The Hawkeyes fall to No. 5 in the standings with this loss. 

- MLB announces three players who have officially been inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame: Adrian Beltre, Todd Helton, and Joe Mauer.

- The Chicago Bears clean house in firing OC Luke Getsy and QB coach Andrew Janocko. What does this mean for the Justin Fields and his future with the Bears?  

QUESTION OF THE DAY:

What was your favorite sports moment of the weekend that I highlighted or something not mentioned?