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NFL Wild Card Game Capsules
Posted: Thursday January 07, 1999 11:28 AM
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Jake Plummer now must lead the miracle Cardinals against the Vikings in the Metrodome AP |
So that's why they call them wild cards. This weekend's wild-card
showdowns not only pared the NFL postseason field to eight teams -- they
also showed why a team's season isn't over until the very last play.
Saturday's near-comeback by Buffalo's Doug Flutie and Sunday's
fourth-quarter heroics from Brett Favre and Steve Young typify the
cold-blooded nature of the playoffs -- win and you're in; lose and it's a
long way to minicamp.
Flutie's last-minute drive ended with a fumble on the Miami 5-yard line,
and Favre's touchdown drive with two minutes left was trumped by Young's,
with just three seconds left.
Even with two wild finishes like that, next weekend has the makings of
something greater -- Dan
Marino and John
Elway squaring off for only the third time ever, Tom Coughlin and Bill
Parcells meeting in a battle of the AFC's top coaching minds, the
surprising Cards trying for another impossible upset against the 15-1
Vikings, and the Falcons testing their NFC West supremacy with the 49ers in
town.
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NFL Wild Card Game Capsules |
| Teams | Key Stat | Key to
Victory | MVP |
Dolphins 24 (10-6)
Bills 17 (10-6)
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Buffalo's Eric Moulds
set an NFL playoff record with 240 receiving yards, but had a costly fumble
on the game's first play. | Miami had no fumbles while
Buffalo lost four, and Miami used its running game to control the clock
with 37:32 in time of possession. | Karim Abdul-Jabbar rushed
for 95 yards and a touchdown, with 27 carries, most in postseason for Miami
since Larry Csonka 25 years ago.
Stats and recap |
Cardinals 20 (9-7)
Cowboys 7 (10-6)
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Cowboys QB Troy Aikman
threw three interceptions, as many as he had in the final 16 weeks of the
1998 regular season. | Big plays: The Cards' two TDs were
set up by a 59-yard catch by Frank Sanders and a
74-yard run by Adrian
Murrell. | Cards QB Jake Plummer threw 13
fewer passes than Aikman, but finished with more yards (213) and TDs (2)
and only one INT.
Stats and recap |
Jaguars 25
(11-5)
Patriots 10 (9-7)
| Patriots have lost six straight road playoff games, while
Jaguars won in their first-ever home playoff game. |
Patriots offense couldn't find any big plays, with no run longer than 7
yards and only one pass longer than 17 yards. | Jags rookie
tailback Fred Taylor
rushed for 162 yards, the most allowed by the Patriots in the postseason in
35 years.
Stats and recap |
49ers 30
(12-4)
Packers 27 (11-5)
| Of the nine passes Steve Young attempted on the final
drive, only one was thrown at Jerry Rice, and that was
only a 6-yard gain. | The 49ers got the ball last -- the
second half had two ties and three lead changes, the last coming with three
seconds remaining. | Young threw for three touchdown
passes (7-for-9 for 76 yards in final two minutes) and beat the Packers for
the first time.
Stats and recap | |
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