As our favorite anchorman would say, “Well, that escalated quickly”. After a great week of college football games with upsets and excitement, NFL Wildcard Weekend didn’t disappoint either as it got off to a fast and furious start. We got the 2^nd largest comeback in postseason history by the Colts, the Saints 1^st postseason victory on the road, the Chargers hot streak and Bengals woes both continued, and a cold game on the frozen tundra of Green Bay with a hot finish. That’s the beauty of the NFL postseason – you really never know what’s going to happen!

The first game will be known as the KC Disasterpiece. The lone indoor game of the weekend also produced the most major injuries. The game started as a shootout and didn’t disappoint. The Kansas City Chiefs tried to re-define the mantra of “next man up” as they lost their top RB (and possible MVP candidate) on the first drive of the game. As they game went on, they also lost their backup RB and one of their starting WR’s. Still, Alex Smith stayed poised and silenced the critics for the first 3 quarters of the game.  Unfortunately the Chiefs defense, which suffered several in-game injuries as well, couldn’t stop the Andrew Luck Show. I think everyone knew the game was over when the Colts fumbled at the goal line and Luck scooped it up for a touchdown. The momentum had shifted and it just felt like Indy would find a way to win. They eventually did as the Chiefs bounce back season came to an abrupt end  and the Colts will play on, proving that it’s sometimes better to be Luck-y than good!
Next up: The Colts travel to New England for a renewed rivalry with the Patriots. It will be a match-up of the rising star QB versus the veteran, both with young wideouts. The running game that is more successful could be key for which QB shines brighter and watch for a big play on defense to be a game changer.

After much talk about weather, it didn’t play much of a role in the game between the Philadelphia Eagles and New Orleans Saints. While it was cool, there was little wind and no precipitation. Talk about much ado about nothing! Yes, Brees and the Saints have historically struggled on the road, so with that, mastermind Sean Payton decided to change things up (from the Gatorade color to their clothing) to try to break the “curse.” Maybe it was the new sweatsuits, or that the cold weather story was over-played, but the Saints came out ready to play. In Chip Kelly’s playoff coaching debut, the team looked pretty good until their mantra that time of possession doesn’t matter ended up coming back to haunt them. New Orleans D also showed how much it has improved while Philly’s couldn’t get the big stops. Clock management was a key to the game as everyone got the feeling that the team who had the ball last would win. The Saints ran the ball more than throwing, contributing to their advantage in the game of “keep away” and ultimately setting them up to kick the game-winning FG as time expired. Now we’ll see if the Saints have become road warriors in 2014!
Next up: New Orleans will travel to Seattle, where their road woes first came into question. It will pit 2 good defenses against 2 big game quarterbacks at the loudest stadium in the country. Seattle dominated their 1^st meeting this season in Seattle, Could the Saints ride momentum to another tough road win, or will it be Russell Wilson’s time to shine?

The Bengals had not won a playoff game since 1990 and pressure was on both the team and coach to change the fortunes of the city. They also hadn’t lost at home all season. San Diego backed their way into the playoffs and the 6 seed after a wrong call in week 17, but has basically been playing elimination games for several weeks and really had nothing to lose. You could sense the contrast in styles too once the ball was kicked off. Cincinnati wanted to win so badly that they made several bad plays – key drops, poor decisions, turnovers, and another underwhelming performance by Dalton spelled doom for the Bengals. The Bengals had the #3 defense in the NFL going into the game but it was the D of the Chargers that was better on Sunday. People questioned San Diego’s hiring of Mike McCoy in the offseason and he took this moment silence them. He has found a way to make Phillip Rivers effective again without having to do it all. The Chargers’ running game gave them balance, and most importantly limited their mistakes when they had the ball. With each win, they’re getting more confidence and wondering if they could be the next wildcard team to make a run in the playoffs.
Next up: We will get the 3^rd meeting of the season between division foes when the Chargers battle the Broncos. They split the regular season, both winning on the road. However, when Denver lost in week 15, they had already won the division. Both teams will need their best defense to show up in this game as ball control could make the difference.

In the final game of the weekend, two of the league’s best quarterbacks dueled in a matchup that went down to the wire and was won on a FG as time expired. Aaron Rodgers was back in form for Green Bay and San Francisco’s Colin Kaepernick was hot while wearing short sleeves in subzero temperatures (are all those tattoos on his arms geothermal?). The Packers were able to overcome several injuries during the season to get to the playoffs. However, that may have caught up to them in this game as Green Bay was frozen out at Lambeau. The game was back and forth with big plays for both teams. Michael Crabtree finally looked like the star receiver that people expected him to be and the legs of Kaepernick eventually made the difference. While both teams had to settle for field goals at times, it was ultimately the kicker that won the game and the Niners eliminated the Packers from the playoffs for the 2^nd consecutive season.
Next up: San Francisco travel to Carolina where teams that somewhat mirror each other will face off. Mobile QB’s with good arms plus stout defenses will collide in this battle of the titans. While both have a good running game, I think this one will come down to which QB can make the big throws to best the other defense. This could be the most evenly matched game of the weekend.

With another college football season in the books and coming over this wild weekend, here’s hoping that the Division games give fans more close games and exciting finishes!