Talking NFL

“Something tells me this is going to be a “home team weekend�?.
- Posting by The Moose on Jan. 6th

Sorry, folks, if you were cheering for one of the road teams. The Moose out front should have told you the home teams were going to win. That’s right, all 4 home teams won on Wild Card weekend, just one year after the Steelers ran the table on 3 straight road playoff games to reach the Super Bowl. As I stated in my first posting on this blog, gambling on NFL games? Bad idea…

Let take a closer look at Saturday’s games:

Colts 23 - Chiefs 8

One of the things that makes the NFL so great is when you come into a game with a certain match-up, and everyone thinks they know exactly what’s going to happen. And then the complete opposite happens. Everyone and their mother had the Chiefs running the ball down Indy’s throat (yes, including your’s truly). The boys over at PTI (one of my favorie shows) had the over under on yards rushing for LJ at 150. So naturally, he got squashed, putting up just 32 yards. In fact, the Chiefs couldn’t even get a first down until nearly the end of the 3rd quarter. Give credit where credit is due; the Colts defense, much maligned all year long, came to play. Especially safetly Bob Sanders, who came back just in time from a knee injury, and the entire Colts D line, which spent most of it’s time in the KC backfield.

This helped off-set a shaky performance by Peyton Manning, who threw 3 interceptions (2 to Ty Law). A surprising time for #18 to have a subpar performance (oh, wait - he does this all the time in the playoffs. Nevermind).

Seahawks 21 - Cowboys 20

Wow. Well, Parcells said to put the anointing oil away when it came to Tony Romo. Seems like the QB must have gotten into that stuff himself judging by the way he handled that extra point.

Seriously, what are the chances that not one, but two teams this year would have their seasons ended thanks to a botched snap on a kick? Unreal. And how about that post-game conference? As Stuart Scott said on Sportcenter, “that guy needs a hug”.

Hopefully, some people in the Cowboys organization will pull Romo aside & help build his confidence back up in the offseason. After all, the Boys would have never gotten to the playoffs without him. I think these guys will bounce back well next year. They have a good young team in place. The question will be whether or not Bill Parcells or Terrell Owns (or either of them) will be back in ‘07.

Back with some thoughts on Sunday’s games soon.

Source: ESPN