NFL Playoffs: Wild Card Round (Review)

Alright, so the fist round of the playoffs is over, and no real surprises. To begin, Arizona knocked off the Falcons. What I enjoyed most about this game was that with time winding down in the fourth quarter, the Cardinals needed to run out the clock, but rather than run the ball, they went with their strength and put the ball in the hands of their MVP, Kurt Warner. He made the plays they needed and got out of town with a victory. The second game reminded us that there is a really good post-season rivalry going between the Colts and Bolts. While it appeared that the Chargers should have won the game, they continually shot themselves in the foot, with a fumble into the endzone and then an interception in the endzone. But they managed to send the game to overtime and a touchdown on the first drive of overtime, sparking once again complaints about the NFL overtime system. I'll save my opinions on NFL overtimes for another date, but I will say that it is a shame that MVP Peyton Manning had to play conservative, run out the clock-football for almost the entire second half, until the Chargers finally tied the game. Then Peyton had to try to move the team 80 yards in about 20 seconds, which would not happen. Then, losing the coin toss kept him on the bench for the entire overtime period. Bummer.
Sunday's first game was the Ravens exposing the Dolphins as a team that maybe shouldn't have been in the playoffs. Five turnovers for the fish who turned the ball over 13 times in 16 games this season. The Wildcat formation had to be thrown out in the first half, while on the other side of the field the Ravens were having a successful day on the ground. The last game of the weekend took place inside a dome in Minneapolis. If it had been outside, it would have been single digit temperatures, but inside, Deshaun Jackson was able to show off his speed, and David Akers was able to make four field goals. As the Eagles expanded a lead in the fourth quarter and the Vikings needed to turn to the pass, Tarvaris Jackson showed the world that the Vikings will have a new quarterback in town next season, assuming they can find one.
All in all, it was a good first round, and now we move forward to the divisional matchups, of which at least three should be pretty darn good.

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Prediction record: NFL: 4-0 ; Overall:4-0