This year's NFL Divisional playoff weekend will go down as one of the most unpredictable and surprising quartet of games the league has seen in a long, long time. After all the dust had settled, the defending Super Bowl champs became post-season chumps.
Ravens over the Titans: As predicted, the Ravens win over the Titans was a true test of survival. As predicted, the Ravens toughness proved to be just too much for the Titans to handle. Having said that, there were two major factors in the Titans loss to the Ravens. One, the Titans committed a very uncharacteristic 12 penalties in the game. And two, the officials completely blew what should have been a delay of game call against Joe Flacco late in the fourth quarter. Even with the blown call, Jeff Fisher had to be just as irate as Keith Bullock was after watching his team make so many mental mistakes, take so many penalties, and turn the ball over so much. The Ravens had zero turnovers. The Titans had three. The Titans were very careless with the ball. The Ravens held on to the ball like it was their first born. The legend of the Ravens rookie quarterback is reaching epic proportions. With the win over the Titans, Flacco became the first quarterback in NFL history to win two playoff games.
Cardinals over the Panthers: Last week, the Cardinals took part in the first home playoff game since 1947. This week in Carolina, the Cards won its first game of the year in the eastern time zone. Since the AFL-NFL merger in 1970 the Cardinals had never made to the NFC Championship game. That all changed Saturday night as the Cardinals picked off Jake Delhomme five times and Kurt Warner tossed two touchdowns. Once again, the Cardinals ran the ball well enough to give Warner all the time he would need to throw downfield. In fact, the Cardinals had almost twice as many yards rushing as the Panthers. The much maligned Cards defence took advantage of Jake Delhomme's nightmarish performance and came up with five interceptions. With the win the Cards, who were 9-7 in the regular season, will host the NFC Championship game.
Eagles over the Giants: The Giants discovered that in the NFL, it is a lot easier to be the hunter, than the hunted. Last year it all seemed so perfect for the Giants. There were the little team that overcame all sorts of adversity to run the table in the NFC playoffs and then did the unthinkable and beat the undefeated Patriots in the Super Bowl. This year was much, much different. First off, whether they want to admit it or not, the Giants desperately missed receiver Palaxico Burress. The numbers don't lie. After Burress was suspended by the team, the Giants went 1-4. Manning didn't have his six-foot-five security blanket to bail him out of trouble anymore. The Eagles knew that and came up with a brilliant defensive game plan that totally stymied the Giants. Donovan McNabb had a productive second half and ended up throwing a touchdown and running for another. For owner Jeffery Lurie and the entire Eagles organization, to beat the Giants in a playoff game is sweet. To beat them in a playoff game at the Meadowlands is even sweeter.
Steelers over the Chargers: Break out the Terrible Towels, because the bad boys from Pittsburgh are hosting the AFC Championship game. Heinz Field was a gong show as the Steelers took care of business against the Chargers. Some of the loudest and most hostile fans in the NFL had a lot to yell about on Sunday. Santonio Holmes broke off an electrifying 67-yard punt return for a touchdown. Ben Roethlisberger and Hines Ward made some plays; and the defence was the defence. In the end though, it was running back "Fast" Willie Parker that had the Steelers fans going crazy. Parker had far and away his best game of the year as he shredded the Chargers on the ground running for 146 yards and two touchdowns. Thanks to Parker, the Steelers ran out to a fourth quarter lead that Philip Rivers and Chargers were simple not able to overcome. The win sets up a scary AFC Championship game between the Steelers and the Ravens at Heinz Field.
Offensive Game Ball: Steelers running back Willie Parker deserves serious consideration after his epic game against the Chargers. But it's Cardinals wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald that is the most deserving recipient of a game ball. Fitzgerald put on a show Saturday night in Carolina with a whopping 151 yards receiving in the first half alone. Fitzgerald ended up with eight catches for 166 yards and a touchdown in the Cardinals shocking win over the Panthers. What makes Fitzgerald's big numbers seem even more impressive is the fact that Anquan Boldin was not in the line-up to keep the Panthers defence honest. Kurt Warner had 220 yards passing. Fitzgerald alone accounted for 166 of those yards. That means 75 per cent of the Cardinals passing offence were a result of big No. 11.
Defensive Game Ball: Take your pick; Eagles Safety Brian Dawkins, Steelers linebacker LaMarr Woodley, or Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis. All extremely worthy candidates. In the end, I would have to give my defensive game ball to Brian Dawkins. After all these years, Dawkins is still a feared hitter and sets the tone for the Eagles defence. Three of Dawkins 10 tackles came one of the Giants ill-fated fourth quarter drives that ended when New York went for it on fourth down and failed. Dawkins is to the Eagles what Ray Lewis is to the Ravens. An inspirational leader who backs up his words with big times hits.
Special Teams Game Ball: With all dues respect to the Steelers Santonio Holmes (great name, I'm jealous), my Special Teams game ball goes to Eagles kicker David Akers. Akers went 3-3 in the Eagles huge win over the Giants and has now made 18 straight playoff field-goal attempts -- a new NFL record. Having an automatic kicker like Akers on your team is a huge luxury for Andy Reid and the Eagles offence.
Coaching Game Ball: Eagles defensive coordinator Jim Johnson. Andy Reid and the Eagles offensive coaches made some shrew adjustments at halftime. After a pedestrian first half, Donovan McNabb had 149 yards passing, he threw for a touchdown and ran for another in the second half. But it was the Eagles defence that dropped the hammer on the Giants at the Meadowlands. Johnson's defence was so well prepared that the Giants longest drive of the day was 63 yards. Asante Samuel came up with another post-season interception as the Eagles did a number against the number one seed in the NFC. Twice the Eagles stopped the Giants on fourth down. The look of utter frustration on Eli Manning's face on the sideline in the fourth quarter told the story of what a job Jim Johnson's defence did to the Giants.
Stiff of the Week: Once again, there are a number of worthy candidates. Eli Manning of the Giants had a horrible day against the Eagles. However, Panthers quarterback Jake Delhomme is now a prime candidate for the "Stiff of the Week" Hall of Fame. Delhomme threw an unforgivable five interceptions in the Panthers brutal performance against the Cardinals. To think the Panthers were facing a Cardinals team that had previously gone 0 and 5 in games played in the Eastern Time Zone this year. Because of Delhomme's horrible mistakes, the Panthers never had a chance to really establish a running game.
