Wild Finish for the Wild Card Weekend

By Ryan Foray
One weekend down and now it’s down to eight teams left in the NFL playoffs.
Man. Where do I begin?
The Rookies emerge for New York? Dallas ending a playoff drought? How about the Patriots getting mauled by the Ravens’ Defense?
And then there was the track meet in Arizona.
Even though three of the four matchups during this weekend’s wildcard were total blowouts, our final game earlier this evening left us believing we saw probably the best football game of the season.
Let’s Review Shall We?
1. The New York Jets are no longer the least favored team. They showed why they are the number one running game and rushing game in this league. They came to Cincinnati and pushed around the Bengals all day long. Yes the Bengals missed two crucial field goals, but they were pretty much dominated for the majority of that game. Next Week vs. San Diego could be interesting
2. The Dallas Drought is over! They have finally gotten the monkey off their back and defeated the Eagles for the third time this year, a hard feat in itself. The Defense swarmed McNabb and company and just dominated both sides of the ball. Dallas might start to be a favorite to make a run to the big game in Miami.
3. Is the Dynasty in New England over? It looked like it today as the Ravens Defense was truly relentless in that game. When you’re opposing Quarterback Only Completes 4 Passes in a Game...and the offense STILL SCORES 33 POINTS ON YOU…there is a big problem right there. Brady threw 3 interceptions and was knocked down constantly the entire game. The Ravens Running game should also get a pat on the back as well. Ray rice has continued to show why he will be a top rusher for years to come. Add Willis McGahee into it and that’s a rushing attack that can be very hard to shut down.
4. Arizona and Green Bay put on an offensive show.
Or maybe just a terrible defensive act. Either way, it was fun to watch as a football fan. The Cardinals got very lucky that they were able to sneak that win in, because Green bay had all the momentum going into overtime. We should be talking about how Aaron Rodgers is the next elite QB to surface into the NFL world, but the pass on the first play of overtime wasn’t on the mark...and the rest is history. Also good to see Kurt Warner will get possibly another game to play in his career (unless he changes his mind)
Overall 3 out of 4 on predictions correct…not too bad...now the big dogs will be looking to play after a full weeks’ rest. Look for previews later in the week!