Necessary Roughness: Wildcard Weekend
It was a ridiculous wildcard weekend in which two of the hugest factors — home field advantage and extreme cold — failed to live up to the hype as three of the four hosting teams lost and the cold weather didn’t seem to bother anyone. It certainly didn’t bother me as I huddled in my well-provisioned hobbit hole and dug deep to watch all four games. Wildcard weekend is probably my favorite weekend of football action and this one did not fail to deliver the goods, like I failed to deliver the goods last weekend, completely “dropping the ball” and not even attempting to write a column as my beloved ‘Skins ended the season in completely pathetic fashion, going 3-13 after winning the NFC East last year. So I decided to fully embrace the holidays, ignore my responsibilities, and hang out with this guy who was wearing a trash bag.
But thats old news! On to the playoffs!
It certainly looked miserable in Cincinnati as a steady rain drenched the field and the Bengals continued their tradition of exiting the playoffs in the first round, bowing to the San Diego Chargers 27-10 in a game that turned on Giovani’s Benard’s crucial fumble into the the Chargers end zone. It was the fifth consecutive playoff loss for the “Bungles,” and there is every indication head coach Marvin Lewis will be around to fail again next year. Chargers QB Philip Rivers seems to have overcome a couple of shaky seasons and was accurate all day, gloves and all. The Chargers have won five in a row and have to be considered a contender. Stranger things have happened and I for one would love to see the Chargers in the Super Bowl.
The wildest game of the weekend was the Indianapolis Colts 45-44 victory over the stunned Kansas City Chiefs, who blew a 28-point lead to go 0-8 in their last eight playoff appearances (weren’t they 8-0 at one point this season?). Colts QB Andrew Luck overcame a couple of early interceptions and maybe had the play of the weekend when he recovered a fumbled hand-off and managed to advance the ball into the Chiefs end zone. It was a crazy play in a crazy game, where the two teams combined for 1049 total yards, which is a new N.F.L. post-season record. With Luck, the Colts could make a real run of it. Sorry, I had to do that.
Supposedly Philly cops were undercover in the stands of Lincoln Field, dressed up as Saints fans to dissuade the notoriously bellicose Eagles fans from assaulting innocent drunk people. And what a bummer it was for all the Philly GWAR fans and my boys at The Electric Factory as the Eagles got edged at home, 26-24, by my NFC Super Bowl pick, the New Orleans Saints, in a back-and-forth struggle. The Eagles rallied to take a 1-point lead late in the fourth quarter only to have Saints kicker Shayne Graham boot the game-winner as time expired. Still, Eagles fans, you have to be happy with the progress of first year coach Chip Kelly. The Saints previously had been 0-5 in road playoff games since 1967 and will now travel to Seattle to take on the Seahawks. There’s a great article in the Post today about what an asshole Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll is. Also, considering they kicked the ‘Skins out of the playoffs the last two times we got there, I will be cheering loudly for Drew “everyday is a bad hair day” Brees and the Saints… all the way to the Super Bowl, baby!
The weekend’s final contest featured the resurgent San Francisco 49’ers against the Green Bay Packers on the “frozen tundra” of Lambeau Field, in another game that was decided by a last-second kick. It was a total duel between the ‘Niners’ Colin Kaepernick and the Pack’s Aaron Rodgers, as both QBs pulled off critical throws and scrambles as they tried to “ice” the opposition. Ugh, that sucked. Crabtree had a monster day as did the indestructible Frank Gore. The ‘Niners continued to figure out ways to beat the Packers, and now travel to Carolina to deal with those pesky Panthers. Should be a great game.
Back in D.C., Shanahan got the boot and yet another agonizing search for a new head coach began. Some of the ideas being kicked around included:
- Scout high schools and Police Youth leagues for standout talent just waiting for a lucky break.
- Hire a Native American to the position, thereby proving “Redskins” is a completely acceptable term even if the new coach sucks.
- Dan Snyder will hire Dan Snyder as head coach.
- Give nobody the job, let the team completely suck, but figure out a way to charge even more for parking.
- Stop giving a shit and enjoy the rest of the playoffs!
