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The first time facing each other as opponents
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SEATTLE (AP) — For most of the past 10 years Alexander Mattison Jersey , Richard Sherman and Doug Baldwin were inseparable. College teammates at Stanford. Pros together in Seattle.n the pros was going to be noteworthy, no matter how much Sherman tried to downplay the significance before and after.“It was just a regular game. It’s just unfortunate we couldn’t have played as well as we could have. Had too many turnovers, gave up too many plays. That’s football and that’s the way things have gone this season,” Sherman said.The subplot to Sunday’s 43-16 win by the Seattle Seahawks over the San Francisco 49ers was the return of Sherman to the city where he went from an overlooked fifth-round draft pick into becoming one of the elite cornerbacks in the NFL and a Super Bowl champion. He was a beloved star in Seattle, whose career with the Seahawks abruptly ended last March when he was released coming off an Achilles injury that ended his 2017 season early. He left Seattle, found a new home in San Francisco and knew doing so would mean twice a year seeing his former team.The first reunion was going to be the most awkward, but for the most part it went smoothly. Sherman tried to disassociate himself from the hype surrounding the game, while his former teammates — especially Baldwin — spoke emotionally about missing their friend and now opponent.Bobby Wagner seemed to be the only one that wanted to have a little fun with the situation, saying he was looking for Sherman on the sideline during his 98-yard interception return in the fourth quarter which led to a little trash talking postgame.“He was just telling me that I was slow. I was telling him if I’m slow then what does that say about his team? We were just talking trash,” Wagner said. “That’s my brother, it was an amazing time for us to play with each other and to see him on the opposite side in the other jersey — that he looks ugly in — was cool.”Sherman went through his normal pregame routine that included finding Baldwin and briefly throwing a ball back and forth as they did in Seattle. He spent several minutes talking with Baldwin while also giving a quick handshake and hug to Russell Wilson and speaking with several other Seahawks players and staff.When the game started, it was mostly a quiet day for the cornerback. Seattle didn’t throw much and the first time Wilson threw his way was the third quarter when Baldwin slipped free from Sherman’s tackle attempt for a 21-yard gain. He also saw Jaron Brown break free from coverage for an 18-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter when the game was already out of hand.Afterward, he made certain to exchange jerseys with Baldwin on the field.“I’m not that emotional of a person when it comes to stuff like that,” Sherman said. “We’re obviously good friends and obviously we don’t see each other during the season. We’re going to see each other during the offseason. So it was good seeing him, good seeing his face and get to have a conversation.”Sherman said he wasn’t paying attention when Seattle’s wide receivers recreated his famous tip play from the 2013 NFC championship game when he deflected an end zone pass by Colin Kaepernick late in the fourth quarter into the arms of Malcolm Smith. The recreation was part of Seattle’s ongoing touchdown celebrations by its wide receivers and was the one Baldwin specifically wanted to do. It just happened to come in the same end zone as the original play — just this time with Baldwin in the role of Sherman in the reenactment.“He didn’t even know. I wanted it to be a surprise,” Baldwin said. “He knows it’s a tribute and he knows how the guys on this side of the ball feel. He knows how much we love him and how much we miss him.”Welcome back http://www.vikingsauthorizedshops.com/authentic-dru-samia-jersey , Buffalo. You, too, Jacksonville and Tennessee. It’s been a while, Los Angeles.
The NFL playoffs open this weekend with a few teams – and cities – that have been merely spectators in January for years.
The Bills (9-7) are, of course, the poster boys of postseason dreaming, earning their first playoff appearance since 1999 and ending a 17-year absence that was the longest for any team in the four major North American sports leagues.
”It definitely was a goal of ours, but it doesn’t just stop here,” quarterback Tyrod Taylor said. ”We’re excited to be in this position and we have a great opportunity in front of us.”
They also have the Jaguars (10-6) standing in their way. Jacksonville is in the playoffs for the first time since the 2007 season, and won its first division title since 1999.
The Bills also will see a familiar face Sunday leading the other sideline in coach Doug Marrone, who was Buffalo’s head coach from 2013-14.
”For me, obviously the past is past,” Marrone said. ”They have earned it as well as we have earned it. My focus obviously is going to be on our football team. It’s as easy as that for me.”
Football fans in Los Angeles haven’t been able to watch a home team in the postseason since the Raiders beat Denver on Jan. 9, 1994, at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum – site of Saturday night’s showdown between the Rams (11-5) and the defending NFC champion Atlanta Falcons (10-6).
The Rams haven’t hosted a playoff game since 1986, before 31-year-old coach Sean McVay was even born. McVay is now the youngest coach to make the postseason.
”Until you take a step back (to see) what this team has done such a nice job with Daniel Jones Jersey , you can’t fully appreciate the journey,” McVay said. ”You try to, every now and then, enjoy it and not get so caught up in the moment that you can’t enjoy the experiences as you’re going on that journey.”
The Titans (9-7) last made the playoffs back in the 2008 season , when Jeff Fisher was coach. Nine years later, it’ll be coach Mike Mularkey and quarterback Marcus Mariota leading Tennessee into Kansas City on Saturday against Andy Reid’s playoff-tested Chiefs (10-6).
”It’s been a long time coming,” tight end Delanie Walker said. ”We thought that at the beginning: if we get in, we can go all the way. That’s our mindset and that’s how we’re going to play.”
Tennessee at Kansas City
The Titans lost three in a row before beating Jacksonville in their regular-season finale to get into the playoffs. Now, they’ll try to win their first postseason game since beating Baltimore on Jan. 3, 2004.
Tennessee allowed only 88.8 yards rushing per game, but will have a tough task against Chiefs rookie Kareem Hunt, who led the NFL with 1,327 yards on the ground.
Kansas City has won four straight after a four-game skid that put their playoff hopes in doubt. But the Chiefs haven’t won a postseason game at home since topping Pittsburgh in January 1994.
”We completed the first step and now it’s on to the second one, which is winning this game,” quarterback Alex Smith said. ”It’s tough to add any more motivation with historic streaks or things like that.”
Atlanta at Los Angeles
The Rams have been one of the NFL’s best stories all season, with McVay leading an impressive turnaround – in the standings and with quarterback Jared Goff.
The franchise’s return to Los Angeles last year was hardly a happy homecoming with a 4-12 record Ed Oliver Jersey , but things certainly changed in a hurry. Goff went from being a somewhat disappointing No. 1 overall pick to leading the league’s No. 1 scoring offense.
Running back Todd Gurley’s re-emergence as one of the NFL’s most dynamic and dangerous players has certainly been key. He finished second in the league with 1,305 yards rushing and had an NFL-leading 13 TD runs to go along with six TD receptions.
While this is all new for the Rams, Dan Quinn’s Falcons will lean on their experience with Matt Ryan, Julio Jones and Co. trying to make a second straight run to the Super Bowl.
”We’ve been tested,” Quinn said. ”I thought we’ve come through the fires to the other side together as one brotherhood. We’re battle ready.”
Buffalo at Jacksonville
After lengthy playoff droughts, one thing is for sure: either the Bills or Jaguars will get at least as far as the second round.
This is the first time since 1999 that Jacksonville is hosting a postseason game, and fans are fired up. Tickets went quickly and the team received permission to remove tarps covering four sections of seats in the upper deck to create 3,501 additional seats at EverBank Field.
”It’s good for both organizations,” said Jaguars linebacker Paul Posluszny, who spent his first four seasons with the Bills. ”It’s good for the NFL to have two teams that haven’t been to the playoffs in a long time to have the opportunity to play.”
The Jaguars had the second-ranked overall defense in the league, with a ferocious pass rush that produced a franchise-record 55 sacks.
Taylor and the Bills might have to try to make things happen against that unit without running back LeSean McCoy, who was considered day to day after being carted off the field last Sunday against Miami with an injured right ankle.
”This team thrives off adversity,” Bills guard Richie Incognito said. ”It thrives off neg