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Division rivalries did not disappoint. And an unexpected domination in the NFC.

The pre-dance round also known as the Conference Championship is here.
It's all about Division championships, Conference championships and of course the big dance, the Super Bowl. You can have a Super bowl ring without a division championship on your resume'. But you can't have a ring without that precious Conference championship on your record.  

Oakland @ Cleveland
Oakland is all too hungry to put their first kiss on that big trophy. It's so close they can taste it. Cleveland is looking to be the first team in Paydirt's history to become a two time league champion. They are also the only team left in 74' that has a chance to do it. 

Oakland survived a tough fought game against AFC's Wild West division rival San Diego Chargers in the Divisional round winning 23-19. The Chargers got down to the Raiders 33 yd line with :20 left in the game before a huge pick by Oakland's LB John Frazier sealed the deal. Frazier was carried off on the shoulders of his teammates. 

Cleveland gets to the Conference championship by defeating their division rival as well. The Bengals and Browns have been going at it since the league open it's doors in 1970. The AFC North showdown was a good one. Cleveland jumped out to an early 14-0 lead with the help of a big time sack by LDE Seth Reeves and fumble recovery by RDE James McDonagh in the endzone for what turned out to be a game deciding TD. Cincinnati stormed back in the 4th QT after trailing 26-10 after 3 quarters but fell short 26-20.   

San Francisco @ Carolina
The 49ers continue their run through the playoffs by defeating a powerhouse Seattle team that most experts had repeating as Super Bowl champions. And Carolina handed Green Bay's elite GM GrandadB his first playoff shutout in not only Paydirt history but in MFN history. These two teams are on a collision course.

San Francisco used defense this go around to win their second consecutive game against the Seahawks who were 15-1 on the regular season. Both Seattle's losses in 74' were against the NFC West rival 49ers. The 49ers jumped out to an early lead and their defense did the rest, holding Seattle to 299 yds and 3 turnovers include two down the stretch to seal the game. 

In Carolina, defense was the word as well. The Panther defense help Green Bay to 203 total yds and 2 turnovers in their shutout route of the Packers 29-0. The Carolina gave Green Bay a steady dose of the leagues rushing champ RB-Phillip Strickland to go along with great D. They controlled the clock for over 38 minutes. The Panthers are problably the hottest team entering the playoffs. The San Francisco / Carolina matchup should be a good one.    

Good game jgcruz/Chargers! Another hard fought close game.

After a relatively clean well played half, we go into the second half and the turnovers started to pile up. Overall the turnover count was close Chargers 4 Raiders 3, my team definitely benefited from proximity.

Three plays (I was very fortunate to get) that turned the game in my favor...

1. We kick it to you to start the 2nd half and on your first play, we get a strip sack and the ball on the ten for an easy TD.

2. But dang, your offense bounces back nicely and drives the ball 74 yards on 10 plays, only to throw an int on 1st and goal from the 1 yard line. While I was relieved....I felt for you, I knew I would've taken that one hard.

But your Chargers are resilient and your defense shuts me down and you add two FGs to make 20-19, a one point game....I am sweating it big time.

3. We get the ball....2 minutes left in the game...3rd and ten and we get our biggest play of the game a 66 yarder to Branch that sets us up for a short FG and puts us up by 4....whew!

We sure caught the breaks in this one, you did a **** of a job this season.

Sob.... ;-(

Heck of a game. Great game plan, Wolveraider. You enhanced your run game. We abandoned ours. In the end, we lost ... but were competitive.

Good luck the rest of the way. Bring that trophy to the AFC West, where it belongs.

Good Game Green Bay! I'm honored to be the first to shut you out in the playoffs but the TOP really helped in achieving that.. Strickland definitely benefited from a week off and I'm glad Thompson didn't turn the ball over! I'm sure you'll be back in the playoffs next year but until then good luck to you in the off season!

GG voegma. I was happy to just survive and advance Time to take down Raider Nation now.

There's always the possibility of getting a bad sim or a higher number of bad"rolls", where your team doesnt perform anywhere near its normal, I had a bad one also vs the Panthers but I also had a roster problem. Fortunately "bad sims" dont happen often, at least that is what it seems.
And its interesting when one team "has your number", have experienced that a couple times before, other than coincidence, it causes me think about match-ups, where there may be one or two player match up advantages that make a significant difference.

Yes great point GrandadB. I do believe matchups can be an advantage. Especially when you have a bad team. If ya can't beat em overall find a place where you might be able to win a battle or two.

Games usually come down to a handful of plays or less. If you can get a few of those in your favor you got a chance of beating a team that has a superior roster. Same goes for covering your own weaknesses. But of course your opponent might be thinking the same thing and so the chess game begins.

Whew.....Good game warthog/Browns!

That was a freaking battle...while both of our QBs had some pretty ugly moments throwing a combined 9 ints...two of yours came at the worst times for you and I was fortunate enough to benefit from the one in OT that ultimately led to our victory.

But ****, that was a nailbiter.

**** of a game WR. I don't think either team played their best, but it was a slobberknocker to the end. Congratulations and good luck in the championship.

There are some things about these sims that I just can't understand though. I get it if a player comes out and has an off day. That is real. What I can't stand is players doing well for part of the game and then awful the rest. Case in point, early in the third quarter, my QB was 23-39 (59% completion), 1 INT and had 4 passes knocked down (~10% of attempts). The rest the game he was 9-32 (28% completion), 3 INTs and 11 passed knocked down (~34% of attempts!). Did the defense really figure something out or did my QB just **** his pants in a close game?