DEFENDING NFL CHAMPIONS the New York Giants failed to make to the playoffs despite winning last night, while the Washington Redskins advanced.
Needing to beat Philadelphia on the final day of the regular season and hope the Detroit Lions got the better of the Chicago Bears, the Giants did what they had to do by smashing the Eagles 42-7.
Giants quarterback Eli Manning finished with 13 for 21 for 208 yards but it was not enough as the Bears defeated the Lions 26-24 in Detroit. At FedEx Field, the Redskins upstaged the Dallas Cowboys 28-18 to win the NFC East title, their first since 1999.
With both teams knowing a win would see them through to the playoffs, it was the Redskins who progressed thanks to a seventh successive triumph.
In other results, the Minnesota Vikings edged NFC North champions the Green Bay Packers 37-34 to seal a wildcard spot and the Seattle Seahawks got their hands on the remaining wildcard after accounting for the St Louis Rams 20-13.
NFC top seeds the Atlanta Falcons were beaten 22-17 by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who were already out of playoff contention, while the Carolina Panthers capped the season with an entertaining 44-38 success over the New Orleans Saints.
Meanwhile, the Denver Broncos sealed the number one seed in the AFC after dismantling the hapless Kansas City Chiefs 38-3. Peyton Manning was the star of the show, throwing for 304 yards and three touchdowns as the Broncos won their 11th successive game and secured home field advantage in the play-offs.
The Colts claimed a wildcard berth into the playoffs following their 28-16 victory over AFC South winners the Houston Texans, who had already booked a place in the post-season festivities. Joining the Colts in the playoffs are the Cincinnati Bengals, who took the remaining wildcard spot with a 23-17 triumph against AFC North champions the Baltimore Ravens.
Elsewhere, AFC North winners the New England Patriots made light work of the Miami Dolphins, recording a straightforward 28-0 win as Tom Brady threw two touchdown passes, while the Buffalo Bills ran out 28-9 winners against the New York Jets.
NFC West winners San Francisco defeated the Arizona Cardinals 27-13, while the Pittsburgh Steelers edged the Cleveland Browns 24-10, the Tennessee Titans ended a disappointing season with a comfortable 38-20 win against the lowly Jacksonville Jaguars, and the Oakland Raiders fell to a 24-21 defeat at the hands of the San Diego Chargers.
Ulster have some amount of ballers in their backline stocks. Its crazy a fella as good as Addison is barely missed
Brilliant performance against a strong Cardiff selection. Hopefully the right time to come to the boil. We were trying to play like this at the start of the season and winning but looking sloppy. Then we took a few defeats. But now we are clicking and looking the real deal. Hopefully we’ll be full strength against Toulouse and play like tonight.
@Sustainable Hedgehog: to be fair I thought Cardiff were the better team in the first half but sloppy handling let them down. Ulster got 2 pretty lucky tries and one good one late in the half. Second half was a different story, Ulster looked very solid and controlled the pace.
@Michael Bryson: You have a pretty unique view of the first half. None of the Cardiff fans I know felt so. Ulster’s rush defence destroyed Cardiff’s attack, our forwards broke them down and took the game away from them. It’s a great result, a weaker Blues side beat Leinster.
@Sustainable Hedgehog: not really that unique, from my viewpoint in the stand the consensus was that Cardiff built pressure much better than us in the first half and went through the phases better than we did. Yes our defence was good but they lacked cutting edge which was fortunate and give better teams that much ball they will be out of sight by half time. Just watched the game back and stand by my 1st half assessment.
@Michael Bryson: To be clear I am not belittling the result, great result from a game where I was worried by Cardiffs team sheet before hand. Just a little worried about some of our side to side and kick away tactics in first half. Much better in second half though.
@Michael Bryson: Michael, Ulster play a brand of rugby that involves taking risks in defence and attack. Predictable, risk free rugby won’t cut it if we want to be winning trophies. Ulster put a good Cardiff side under immense pressure and beat them well. These are the nights we should enjoy.
@Sustainable Hedgehog: I never said I didn’t enjoy it and at no point do I say that I disagree with the way we are playing. I am just a little worried about the bigger picture against the bigger teams with regards to control of the game. However as someone who has been a season ticket holder for over 20 years I am just conditioned to be reluctant to get too excited with our chances…#toomayfalsedawns but the sun will rise eventually!
@Michael Bryson: I get what you are saying. But I didnt think Cardiff were the better team in the first half, but they were certainly in it, most stats would have been 50:50, except the scoreline. But it was a very strong Cardiff team, with 13 internationals, it was never going to be all one way or close to it, I still think Ulster were the better side in the first half, but Cardiff had their moments.
Our weakness at the start of the season was dominating games but not being able to turnbthat into points, we dominated Leinster but couldn’t build the scoreboard, and were a score away from defeat, against Ospreys we did lose, Clermont came close. Nearly every game up to Christmas we dominated territory and possession but couldn’t turn that into points, we also tired in the last 15mins, as such we were vulnerable to throwing a game we dominated away. Amost happened against Leinster and Clermot, it did happen against Ospreys. Since christmas I am glad to see we have been much more clinical, and can turn that pressure into points. Its shaping up to be a good season.
That was a very strong Cardiff side with 13 internationals and some very good players, yet Ulster made it look easy. The ones in Ireland camp really showed they should have had more Ireland caps by now, Balacoune, Hume, Timoney all had great games and on the scoresheet also Henderson was very good. Conway has been playing well and has a good all round skill set, but Balacoune has been in better and there isn’t a weakness in his game either, apart from experience, I’m not sure why Balacoune isnt in the right wing. Ulster normally weaken in the last 15, but with the bench last night actually finished stronger. Really dont think Leinster will be looking forward to next weekend, which will be strange for them.
At least get the score right, it was 48 – 12