In case you didn't know, it's the best time of the year for football fans: the draft may be fun but ends up boring, opening night is exciting if you're a fan of one of the two teams playing, and the first Sunday of the year just makes you feel good! All that pales in comparison to football in January/February. The NFL Playoffs gets your heart pounding, your stomach in knots (as my mom so eloquently told me this morning), and can create unreal drama between friends, coworkers, and even family members. This past weekend was no exception. We had every kind of game: shocker, blowout, massacre, meltdown, comeback, collapse and much more. Let's review the NFC games first...
Arizona 51 Green Bay 45 in OT. What a game! Holy impressive offense Batman! Or perhaps we should say 'Holy nonexistant defenses Batman!' Either way the Cards and Packers put on quite a show Sunday night. I thoroughly enjoyed watching all the TD passes. I mean that is what the NFL's become: pass happy (at least that's what we thought until we get to the AFC playoffs). Kurt Warner threw 5 touchdowns, Aaron Rodgers had four of his own. Kind of iron though that the game was won by an amazing defensive play by two Cards players. GB fans cry foul that Rodgers had his facemask touched but let's be realistic: this game is in the desert, not the cornfield. The Pack would never get that call at a crucial moment of the game, such as this one in overtime. Just imagine if the latest hunk of beef on 'The Bachelor' committed an illegal act such as call one of his lovlies the wrong name towards the end of the series. Unbelievable? yes. Wrong? absolutely! Forgivable? HELL NO! But will anything happen to him - definitely NOT. The show's all about him and heaven forbid he be shown in a negative light. Again, that's why they call it homefield advantage. I picked Arizona to win this game, but never imagined they would put up an NFL postseason record 96 points! I still believe AZ is the better team, even though their kicker tried to ruin my chance of winning our $80 playoff pool! I'm standing in my cousin's living room watching this play, thinking to myself - "ok, the Pats may have gotten spanked earlier but at least all my final four teams are still alive" and then he missed the potential game winning field goal. Good thing Brendan was standing nearby otherwise I might have taken a step back in my New Year's Resolution of eliminating ugly words from my vocabulary.
To conclude discussion on this game let's remember: Aaron Rodgers may have started rough with an INT that led to immediate points for the Cards, but he finished the game throwing over 400 yards, a Packers postseason record. Yes that means he passed Brett Favre's best postseason game, whatever that was. Although Rodgers and the Pack came up short this year, they show much promise for the future. This is a young team with lots of weapons on offense, a decent defensive group (they just chose to nap during the game) and a bright future ahead of them. The only reason I wish GB would have won would be a chance for them to meet up with Favre and the Vikings with a SuperBowl berth on the line, talk about sports drama. That would be a media dream! But the Packers are out and the Cardinals will move on to the Bayou. 'Down by the bayou' - DMB, great song by the way. Saints will definitely have their hands full this week preparing for the experience road warriors the Cards have become over the last year and half.
The other NFC game was about crossing the point of no return, getting past a huge hurdle, achieving a long saught after goal: the Dallas Cowboys winning a playoff game for the first time since 1995, Boys head coach Wade Phillips winning his first playoff game ever, Tony Romo playing big in a huge game, we could go on forever. How bout them Cowboys?! What a dominant performance this weekend in big D. Philly limped into this contest after being blown out and shut out the previous week, which resulted in the loss of a bye and division crown. Many people said it's too hard to beat a division rival 3 times in one year. Other said Romo, Philips and the rest of the team would crumble under the pressure of a 14 year playoff win drought. None of the above happened. Dallas dominated from the beginning, pushing the Eagles around and showing them the exit door much earlier than Philly fans expected. I found myself just amazed at how Dallas dictated everything in every facet of the game. The only time the Boys looked vulnerable was when the infamous Michael Vick came in and caught the defense off guard to tie the game with a quick 76 yard score. The next series would prove to be the biggest of the night.
Romo overthrew a pass and it was picked off by Philly. The Eagles returned it to the Dallas 10 yard line, instantly every Cowboys fan felt sick to their stomach. It's happening again they said, as McNabb trotted out on the field, looking to give Philadelphia its first lead of the day. However, there was something on the field: laundry. Red to be exact. Wade Phillips made probably the most important decision of his Dallas career - he challenged the previous play. After a long review the referee came out and shot the city of Philly right in the heart worse than Cole Hamels did in the 2009 World Series (my cousins are seriously cursing at me somewhere). He overturned the call. No interception, no change of possession, no first and goal for the Eagles. Just a incomplete pass and it was 2nd & 10 for the Cowboys. Romo went on to lead the Boys to 17 straight points and the Eagles were finished. I picked Dallas to win but never expected the blowout we witnessed Saturday night. McNabb was pressured, bullied, harrassed, beaten and bruised all night long. The Cowboys defense played inspired football and Jerry Jones was all smiles. Who would have ever thought at the start of the year, with no Terrell Owens, that this team would be playing the Vikings in Minn and actually have a fighting chance? In my opinion they have more than a fighting chance but we'll get to that later in the week.
Next article will be on the AFC games... still trying to gather myself to breakdown that game in Foxboro on Sunday... yep, I need more time...
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