Cinderella hits the NFL
Last weekend’s NFL Divisional playoffs set a record as all four games were decided by seven points or less. One of the league’s Co-MVPs lost. The other was near perfection.
In the wake of last week’s great weekend of football there are four teams remaining in the playoffs: the Carolina Panthers, the Indianapolis Colts, the New England Patriots and the Philadelphia Eagles.
As Yogi would say, “It’s deja-vu all over again.” Championship weekend revisits two games that were played during week 13. Both Philadelphia and New England won on the road in their previous confrontation and now it’s up to Carolina and Indianapolis to do the same.
In the first game, rivals go at it. The Patriots and the Colts are no longer in the same AFC East division, but trust me – they have been battling against each other for years.
The New England Patriots play host and if it’s anything like last week, you’d better bring your sweater. Last week in New England’s win over Tennessee, it was a brisk four degrees.
When opening up the record books, the Patriots sound pretty tough to beat. They have won 13 consecutive games and post a 9-0 record at home this year. Their quarterback, Tom Brady, has never lost a playoff game. It won’t be Brady’s offense that is put to the test this week though. Instead, the defense, fifth best in the AFC, will have to contend with the new gunslinger in town, Payton Manning.
During Wild Card weekend against Denver, Payton had a perfect quarterback rating. Not an easy task to accomplish by any means. His performance in last week’s divisional playoff game against Kansas City was equally as impressive. Manning is so good that he has spectators wondering if he might have recently given his autograph to Lucifer.
Despite their offensive prowess, this game will rest on the shoulders of the Colts defense. If they can keep the Patriots offense off the field, they have a good chance of winning this game.
The Colts will need to establish the run early, utilizing clock management. On the other hand, if New England can get Indianapolis to finally punt a few times, then they have a shot at another Super Bowl appearance.
In the second game, the Cinderella story Carolina Panthers, travel to Philadelphia to face the Eagles. The Panthers won a big game against the Rams last week in St. Louis. Jake Delhomme, in his first year with Carolina, has been brilliant at times. Delhomme has had help, with a solid running attack headed by Stephen Davis.
Unfortunately, Davis strained his quad last week and is questionable for Sunday’s game. Without him the Panthers still ran for 130 yards but their offense is built on his inside running.
Philadelphia gets the chance to play another game at home. They seemed to spite the football gods last week by beating Favre and the Packers. The Eagles’ Donovan McNabb set a playoff record for quarterbacks by running for 107 yards. McNabb will have to lead his team against a tough Panthers defense.
To win this game the Panthers will have to be physical on defense. If they can stop the run early, the game will be on Donovan McNabb’s shoulders. The Panthers run the ball more than they throw and with an inexperienced quarterback, I would stick with it. This game will be decided at the line of scrimmage, whoever wins that battle will be headed to Houston.
