NFL Divisional weekend: Eagles get tough, Steelers fall apart

PHILADELPHIA, PA - JANUARY 13: Defensive end Brandon Graham #55 and cornerback Jalen Mills #31 of the Philadelphia Eagles celebrate against the Atlanta Falcons during the fourth quarter in the NFC Divisional Playoff game at Lincoln Financial Field on January 13, 2018 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Philadelphia Eagles won 15-10 against the Atlanta Falcons. (Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images) /

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The Philadelphia Eagles rose up and played winning football against Atlanta, while the Pittsburgh Steelers threw away a golden opportunity.

The NFL race for the Lombardi Trophy is now down to four teams. But surprisingly, the two worst quarterbacks playing on this weekend advanced to their respective Championship game. This is true even though the Philadelphia Eagles and Jacksonville Jaguars hid Nick Foles and Blake Bortles to the absolute best of their abilities. Let’s give a quick overview of those two contests in which the underdogs prevailed.

The biggest key to the Eagles win over Atlanta was their play in the trenches on both sides of the ball. The Falcons offense has been somewhat overrated for a while now, but their defense has been playing well. Atlanta only allowed 15 points on the day, but the Eagles’ physicality overmatched Atlanta’s finesse style on both sides of the ball.

When Atlanta had the ball, their guards consistently were dominated by Fletcher Cox on early downs and Brandon Graham and Cox in passing situations. When the Eagles had the ball, it was their offensive line that controlled the action. This was an excellent game plan with a lot of RPOs for Foles, who got out of his early funk to become an efficient ball distributor as the game went on. Still, Philadelphia did a great job of hiding their quarterback overall.

The Eagles’ weapons then did a great job of creating yardage after the catch, usually in a very physical manner and Philadelphia leaned on Jay Ajayi. Can this formula keep up against Minnesota? Philadelphia looks like a very difficult place to play this time of year and the Eagles are playing with an edge, but Foles will probably have to do even more than we saw on Saturday for Philadelphia to advance to the Super Bowl.

It doesn’t sound like much, but two areas that Atlanta should really look to address this offseason are guard at fullback. Andy Levitre is up in age and finished the season on injured reserve, but the opposite guard spot of Levitre was a problem area much of the year. Meanwhile, the Falcons never really filled the hole made when Patrick DeMarco went to Buffalo in free agency.