Jim Lang

It was a forgettable opening weekend of NFL playoff action until the Cards and Packers took centre stage.

Cardinals 51, Packers 45 (OT)

After three wild-card playoff games that offered little drama and mediocre excitement at best, Sunday afternoon's tilt between the Cardinals and the Packers was by far the game of the weekend. In fact, by the time Karlos Dansby scored the game-winning touchdown in overtime, the Cardinals and the Packers set the new NFL record for the highest scoring playoff game ever with 96 points.

It's amazing to think that in a game featuring so many points, so much offence, and so much yardage, the Cardinals won on a defensive touchdown.

Here's the mind-blowing stat of the whole weekend, Kurt Warner had more touchdowns (5), than he had incompletions (4). Can there be any more doubt that Kurt Warner is a Hall of Fame player?

Aaron Rodgers had a game where he was both brilliant and flawed at the same time. After a pedestrian first quarter, Rodgers put up some sick numbers the rest of the way. Rodgers ended up throwing for 422 yards and four touchdowns in his first ever playoff game. However, there are two plays that will haunt Rodgers for the entire off-season. First was the turnover that led to Dansby's touchdown. The other play that will hurt Rodgers took place in overtime when he missed a wide open Greg Jennings. If Rodgers makes that throw, the Packers win the game. Simple as that.

Another thing that will make the Packers sick to their stomach when they break down the film was all the missed tackles on defence. One of the killer plays for the Packers defence took place after Aaron Rodgers hit Jordy Nelson to make the score 31-24. On the Cardinals second play of the drive, Beanie Wells takes off on a backbreaking 42-yard run. Warner then hits Larry Fitzgerald for another score.

Now to be fair, the Cardinals defence had issues of their own as they looked helpless to stop Rodgers and the Packers aerial attack. But in the end, the Cardinals defence came up with the big play when they had to and the Packers didn't.

Remember how Larry Fitzgerald re-wrote the NFL record book last year during the Cardinals run to the Super Bowl? Well, Larry is at it again as he scored two touchdowns Sunday. Fitzgerald now has nine touchdowns catches in his first five playoff games. There's something about the post-season that brings out the best in Fitzgerald.

Up next, Warner and the Cardinals take on the Saints in New Orleans. Goodness knows how many points will be scored in that game?

Star of the game - For a guy who was hinting that he might retire if the Cardinals lost the game, Kurt Warner put on a show. Warner was near perfect, going 29 of 33 for 379 yards and five touchdowns. Now the old guy has at least one more game to play, next week in New Orleans.

Stiff of the game - Neil Rackers. Yes, the Cardinals won, but their kicker didn't just miss the game-winning 34 yard field goal, he shanked it. Rackers should man up and buy Karlos Dansby lunch for the next month.

Jets 24, Bengals 14

For all those long-suffering Bengals fans, there had to be a deep sense of dread as Marvin Lewis wasted all of his coaching challenges in the first quarter. Even though Lewis had done that, the Bengals took a 7-0 lead into the second quarter. Then Shonn Greene took a hand-off on a sweet misdirection play by the Jets and went 39 yards for the touchdown. The game was tied, the momentum had shifted over to the Jets sideline and they never looked back.

Rex Ryan made some bold predictions during the week that the Jets should be favoured to win the Super Bowl. In fact, ESPN's Rachel Nichols reported that Ryan handed out a schedule to the team that outlined what they would be doing for the next month; including the Super Bowl parade in Manhattan on February 9th.

The man has balls but he also his team believing that anything is possible. That all-out confidence Ryan had in rookie quarterback Mark Sanchez believing that he would come through in the clutch. By God it worked.

For a team that was expected to almost exclusively run the ball all day, the Jets passing game was very productive. Thanks to the brilliant play calling of offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer, Sanchez went 12 of 15 for 182 yards, one touchdown and had a quarterback rating of 139.4. Sanchez was so good, that he became the first rookie quarterback in NFL history to complete more 70 percent of his passes in a playoff game.

Not only did Sanchez have a good game, but running back Shonn Greene, a 3rd-round draft pick from Iowa, shredded the Bengals for 135 yards and a touchdown on 21 carries. Tight End Dustin Keller picked a good time to have his best game of the season as he had three catches for 99 yards and a touchdown

For all his bravado and bold predictions leading up to the game, Ryan was right about two things; his team played good defence and they ran the ball very well. What he didn't predict, and what the Bengals looked a little unprepared for, was how often Mark Sanchez would throw the football.

About the only thing Ryan could find fault with was how they allowed Cedric Benson to run for 169 yards and a touchdown. In the end, it didn't make a huge difference, but the Jets defence doesn't usually give up that many yards on the ground

It started bad for Bengals with the two lost challenges by Lewis. Carson Palmer had a terrible game and the Bengals secondary got burned by a number of big passes by Sanchez. In the end, the poor Bengals will go into the off season still searching for their first playoff win since 1991.

Up next, the Jets are off to San Diego to take on the Chargers. All that confidence exuded from Ryan will come in handy next week because the Chargers will provide a much stiffer test than the Bengals.

Star of the game - Nick Mangold, Alan Faneca and the entire Jets offensive line. Not only did the Jets run for 171 yards, Mark Sanchez wasn't sacked once. Not only was Sanchez not sacked, the Bengals defence barely even touched him. What a brilliant performance by the five men who took control of the line of scrimmage and allowed the Jets to execute their game plan to near perfection.

Stiff of the game - This is typical of the Bengals luck; kicker Shayne Graham missed five field goals all year. In the biggest game of the year, Graham missed two, including a chip shot from 28 yards.

Cowboys 34, Eagles 14

Talk about pressure. Dallas Cowboy fans follow their team with a fanatical passion. So imagine how nervous they were going into the game as the Cowboys were trying to win their first playoff game in 14 years. Through one quarter, it was a 0-0 game and Cowboys fans must have been thinking, "Not again".

The second quarter erased any doubts about the Cowboys and erased the Eagles from the post-season. Tony Romo threw two touchdowns as the Cowboys exploded for 27 points in the second quarter. At that point, that gigantic playoff monkey was ripped off of the back of Romo and the Cowboys.

While the Cowboys were lighting it up in the second quarter, Donovan McNabb and the Eagles were living a nightmare in high definition. McNabb had a terrible first half as he didn't complete his first pass until the second quarter. The Eagles offensive line didn't exactly help him out and had McNabb running for his life. Meanwhile, the Eagles defence was shredded by Romo and the Cowboys offence. All Andy Reid could do was stand there and look horribly confused.

The Eagles lack of a running game really hurt them in this one. With the Eagles unable, or unwilling to establish a productive running game, DeMarcus Ware and the Cowboys front seven had a field day.

To paraphrase Sir Winston Churchill, that was surely not the Eagles finest hour. In fact, it will likely go down as one of the most embarrassing playoff efforts in modern Eagles history. If the Eagles had any thoughts of mounting a comeback in the second half, they were quickly squashed when Felix Jones took off on that breathtaking 73-yard touchdown in the third quarter.

For Tony Romo and Wade Phillips this was a cathartic victory. Romo proved he can win the playoffs, Phillips probably saved his job and the Cowboys organization has their first playoff win since 1996.

A couple of observations from the Cowboys win over the Eagles. Long time referee Ed Hochuli's arms look even bigger in high def at the Cowboys new state of the art stadium.

The other one being NBC's curious decision to ignore the fans, the cheerleaders and most of the players as they kept showing shots of Jerry Jones giving those lame high fives to George W. Bush in the Cowboys box. Football fans in North America need more shots of the Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders and less shots Jerry Jones snuggling with George W. Bush.

With that playoff win out of the way, the Cowboys can try to keep their hot streak rolling. Up next, Tony Romo and the Cowboys traveling road show will take their act to Minnesota for a date with Brett Favre and the Vikings.

Star of the game - Honourable mention goes out to DeMarcus Ware after his two sacks and constant harassment of Donovan McNabb. But with all due respect to Ware, my choice for star of the game goes out to running back Felix Jones. Making the most of his breakaway speed; Jones had 148 yards and a touchdown on only 16 carries.

Stiff of the game - Andy Reid. The much-maligned Eagles coach is bound to get carved in the Philadelphia media after the egg his team laid in Dallas. It was a total team defeat; bad run defence, bad offence, turnovers: You name it.

Ravens 33, Patriots 14

This was not supposed to happen. The Patriots don't lose home playoff games. Tom Brady NEVER loses home playoff games. The only problem for Brady and the Patriots is: As great as they are at home in the playoffs, the Ravens are just as good on the road.

Channelling the fire and brimstone of their motivational leader, Ray Lewis, the Ravens laid a beating on the Patriots. Or, as Ravens linebacker Terrell Suggs so eloquently put it; "We gave them a humbling ass-whupping today."

Indeed they did. This was Ravens football at its finest; relentless, with punishing defence, and a relentless ground game. Hell, Joe Flacco only completed four passes for 34 yards and had a quarterback rating of 10 and the Ravens still beat the Patriots by 19 points! Ray Rice and the Ravens ran for 264 yards and ground down the Patriots defence.

The most shocking thing from this game was just how rattled and off his game Tom Brady looked. Ray Lewis and the Ravens administered that ass-whupping with authority and Brady bore the brunt of it.

Brady's numbers were so bad it's downright shocking. Brady was 23 of 42; he threw three interceptions and had a quarterback rating of 49.1. Yes, that was booing you heard at Gillette Stadium. And Brady deserved to be booed just as much as his teammates.

There's no doubt the loss of Wes Welker hurt the Patriots but Welker's absence doesn't explain Ray Rice opening the game with an 83-yard touchdown. Or the fact the Patriots were dominated along the line of scrimmage.

When Billy Cundiff nailed a 27-yard field goal with 1:19 to go in the first quarter, the scare was 24-0 Ravens. Think about that one; a Bill Belichick team had never allowed 24 points in the first quarter of a game - regular season or post season - ever. The Patriots lost their first home playoff game since 1978. Tom Brady lost his first home playoff game, ever. All in all it was a disastrous effort for the Patriots.

Up next, John Harbaugh and the Ravens will take their reign of terror to Indianapolis for a date with Peyton Manning and the Colts.

Star of the game - I have to call this one a tie between Ray Rice and Ray Lewis. Rice ran for 159 yards and two touchdowns. Lewis was unstoppable, making 13 tackles, one sacks, one tackle for a loss and two quarterback hits.

Stiff of the game - There's a very good reason why Tom Brady had the most miserable playoff game of his career, the Patriots offensive line were awful. Brady's close friend, long time left tackle Matt Light, was taken to school by Terrell Suggs and the Ravens front seven.