My December 29th post listed the order of the playoffs, so if you need a refresher course feel free to either scroll down, or click the link posted at the beginning of this sentence. Kicking off the wild weekend was Arizona's 30-24 victory over Atlanta. Now, just by looking at the bracket, it wouldn't be surprising that the Cardinals defeated the Falcons, seeing as how Arizona landed the 4th seed in the NFC, while Atlanta finished with the 5th seed. But keep in mind, Arizona posted a 9-7 regular season record, the worst win/loss record in the NFC Playoffs, but still won their division, which guaranteed them a top 4 spot in the playoffs; while Atlanta posted an 11-5 record.
Saturday's second game featured the 4th seeded San Diego Chargers (8-8) hosting the 5th seeded Indianapolis Colts (12-4). San Diego also landed a higher seed than deserved due to them winning their division, the dismal AFC West. Despite the higher ranking, the Bolts came into the game underdogs on their own home field for obvious reasons, one of which being the fact that their star running back LaDanian Tomlinson was battling a groin injury, which held him to 25 yards on 5 carries and kept him out of the entire second half. But LT's backup Darren Sproles proved more than worthy of backing up the all-pro back, gaining 105 yards on 23 carries and 2 touchdowns, the last of which being the game winner in overtime. All-pro tight-end Antonio Gates was also battling an injury for the Chargers, but you really couldn't tell. He finished with 8 receptions for 87 yards as the Chargers upset the Colts 23-17 in overtime.
Sunday continued the trend of shockers, as both 6th seeded teams won their game on the road. The 9-6-1 Philadelphia Eagles defeated the 10-6 Minnesota Vikings by a final score of 26-14, and the 11-5 Baltimore ran through the feel good story of the year, the equally 11-5 Miami Dolphins on their field, 27-9. The Ravens were led by their dominating defense, forcing Comeback Player of the Year Chad Pennington to throw 4 interceptions, one of which was returned for a touchdown by all-pro safety Ed Reed.
Overall, the Divisional round of the playoffs should be very interesting. The Baltimore Ravens face off against the 13-3 Tennessee Titans, who spent all of the 2008 season atop the NFL standings, and the Arizona Cardinals face the rejuvenated 12-4 Carolina Panthers on Saturday.
Sunday will showcase the Philadelphia Eagles battling the 12-4 New York Giants, last year's Super Bowl champions in an NFC East showdown, as well as the San Diego Chargers battling the 12-4 Pittsburgh Steelers. And with the clock finally striking 12 on the Cinderella stories known as the Miami Dolphins (1-15 in 2007) and the Atlanta Falcons (4-12 in 2007, led by a rookie quarterback Matt Ryan, and apparently finally past the Michael Vick situation), the playoffs appear to be getting serious. I expect a hard-hitting weekend. I'll holla at y'all next week, previewing the Conference Championships. -Trufe
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