A fantastic round of Wildcard playoff action is behind us and what an exciting weekend it was. Beginning with the Houston Texans getting their very first franchise playoff win and culminating with an exciting 80 yard bomb in Overtime as the Broncos shocked the world. The fans were rocking and not one home team disappointed, they won in Houston, New Orleans, New York and Denver, tough time to be a visitor. Let’s take a look at each game as the NFL steps one week closer to finding out who’s the best!

Bengals vs Texans - this was a close game for a while but Houston was too strong in the end. Two rookie QB’s coming out onto the grand stage, the hopes of the Bengals future looks bright even though they couldn’t keep up with the mighty Texans Defense. Houston was fueled early by Rookie Defensive Tackle, J.J. Watt, who made a spectacular interception off the line of scrimmage then rumble into the Endzone to get the home crowd fired up. Arian Foster added 153 yards on 24 carries, 2 TD’s and Andre Johnson made his presence felt as well scoring on a 40 yard TD pass that put the stamp on the Texans first ever franchise playoff win. FINAL SCORE – Houston wins, 31-10
“This is something not just for me, but for the whole organization,” said Andre Johnson who was all smiles and hugs, “It’s a very special feeling. That’s probably the most I’ve smiled in a long time.”

Lions vs Saints – much like the Cincinnati Bengals, the Detroit Lions are a franchise that has risen from ashes a little bit to enjoy a playoff birth. The Lions had a great start to the season only to slow a little as injuries and Defensive whoas plagued them. For the Saints, they had a real bad taste in their mouth from last years Wild Card loss in Seattle. Coming out the Lions knew they’d have to be sharp in order to slow the record setting Saints offense and unfortunately, the only thing that happened was more records. Drew Brees and the Saints O’ racked up an NFL best and beating a record that stood for 50 years, by putting up 626 yards of total offense. Drew threw for 400+ and in the end the high powered offense had a field day. FINAL SCORE – Saints win, 45-28

Brees continues his record setting ways!

Falcons vs New York Giants – This was simply put, a solid Defense imposing their will. The Atlanta Falcons came out swinging, marched the ball right down on the Giants then after being denied on a 4th and Goal never seamed to recover. Mike Smith of the Falcons has not been afraid of going for it on 4th and short but the decision, after not working twice Sunday, might come back to haunt him. The Falcons were able to get a Safety after the 4th down stop by New York but those were the only 2 points they could muster. Once the Giants defense began to roll they were dominating. The Run Defense shut the Falcons down to only 61 yards rushing on 21 attempts, the Pass Rush and secondary held the Falcons to under 200 yards and the Birds averaged only 4.5 yards per completion. This game was all about the Giants Defense and is now a team that no one in the NFC wants to face! FINAL SCORE – Giants win, 24-2
“If we can play defense like that, we will continue to make ourselves heard in this tournament,” coach Tom Coughlin said.

Steelers vs Broncos – In a game that had a familiar feel to it as the Seahawks and Saints a year ago, the Broncos shocked the world. No one gave Tim Tebow and the Broncos offense a chance vs the NFL’s #1 Ranked Defense and the clutch QB Ben Roethlisberger. However, the Steelers were very banged up and were without some key starters, starting directly on the ball. No Maurkice Pouncey at Center and no Casey Hampton for much of the game as Nose Tackle. The story of the game however, without a doubt was the ability of Tim Tebow to throw the football. Finishing up with 316 yards on 10 completions, Tebow was dared all day to throw into man coverage and over and over again he and DeMaryius Thomas beat Ike Taylor like a drum. The Steelers weren’t done however after finding themselves down at Halftime. Outscoring the Broncos 17-3 in the second half Pittsburgh forced Overtime. The new overtime rules were in effect for the Playoffs but it wouldn’t matter… with the game on the line, this happened!

Broncos win, 29-23 in Overtime

The NFC Divisional Round game between the Saints and the Cardinals could be viewed in many different ways. Some may say “it’s gonna be an offensive explosion” while others may feel “these two teams are headed in different directions.” While it’s true, both teams have great offenses and the Saints have looked very ordinary over the last 3 weeks of the season while the Cardinals are once again clicking when it matters, at the end of the season!

Let’s look at some interesting facts about these two teams as they get ready to do battle to move on the the NFC Championship game. The Kurt Warner led Cardinals are 6-1 on the road this year, 6-2 without him. The Cardinals also should be looking to shore up a defense that was torched against the Packers in the WildCard round. The Cards Defense is more improved than a year ago, giving up only 20.3 ppg as opposed to the 26.6 from last season.

Deuce is back and will lead the team onto the field!

Here are some things that we see troublesome. Can you turn it back up once you’ve shut it down? The Saints, back when they faced the Patriots on Monday Night Football, looked like the best team in the league. They were clicking and they were unstoppable. Since then however they have shut it down a bit. Rested some players and set the cruise control button. Can they get it jumpstarted enough to face a team that did the same thing last year that they are trying to do this year – get hot at the right time and ride that momentum all the way to Super Bowl XLIV.

With Boldin sidelined, the Cards are gonna have to lean on Ducet once again!

By Contributing Author
Michelle Jarvis

The Indianapolis Colts are no stranger to the pursuit of perfection. Closing out the 2009 regular season with a 14-2 record was the second time in recent franchise history it had been done, most recently in 2005. Their AFC South crown was their 6th in 7 years. The Peyton Manning lead Colts haven’t had a losing season since 2001, when they finished 6-10. Since then the team holds an impressive 73-29 regular season record. Following their recent impressive season, Manning found himself celebrating his 4th MVP award. Aside from Manning, Indy’s prized team’s roster is sprinkled with Pro Bowlers. Reggie Wayne (WR) and Dallas Clark (TE) continue to be frequently mentioned as one of the best at their positions offensively. Opposing offenses spend a good amount of time studying film and preparing for Dwight Freeney and Robert Mathis (both DE). Freeney is coming off a statically impressive year; recording 13.5 sacks.

The Colts and Coach Jim Caldwell have found themselves under attack the past few weeks. After putting together an impressive 14-0 record, the Coach pulled his starters against the New York Jets; leading to a Jets victory. Players were shown visibly (most noticeably Manning) upset on the sidelines watching their perfect season go down the drain. Always the professional Manning did not speak out about his disappointment, but rather said that the team does what they are told by the coach. While the players did not, many media outlets questioned Caldwell’s decision to bench his starters, who were clicking on all cylinders going into week 16 against the Jets. Many believed that by resting the starters “momentum” would slow down for the team, as has happened in the past and some fans are worried. When coming off a First Round Bye, the Colts are winless in the Playoffs. Coach Caldwell ignored skeptics and told the media this week, “We are right where we want to be. Every single week we’ve prepared for an opponent, our team has been excited about the opportunity and performed well.”

The Ravens hope to limit the talented Wayne!

Ray Rice is proving to be a valuable weapon in the Running Game!

This time it may be the Colts who will be relying on Matt Stover’s leg if it comes down to a game winning field goal. Stover, who spent 18 years in the Ravens organization (5 of which in Cleveland), joined the Colts after an injury to kicker Adam Vinatieri.

Saturday will also be a rematch of the Week 11 meeting between the two teams, where the Colts escaped with a 17-15 victory off a Stover game winning field goal. Notably it was the debut of the Ravens second kicker of the season, Billy Cundiff who kicked five field goals, including two from 46 and 44 yards. A 30-yard miss in the third quarter by Cundiff came back to haunt the Ravens. Glaringly absent from the first meeting was Baltimore’s Terrell Suggs, the team’s best pass rusher.

Against the Colts second year quarterback Joe Flacco had one of his better outings yardage wise, but did not throw any touchdowns. He was 23 of 35 for 257 yards and threw one damaging interception in the red zone. However, his numbers were not far off from the MVP winning Peyton Manning who went 22 of 31 for 299 yards, 1 touchdown, and 2 interceptions. This time around a beat up Flacco is expected to be more of a game manager against the Colts high powered passing offense. He threw for only 34 yards and 4 competitions in New England, letting the offense do damage with their high powered running game. All three of Baltimore’s running backs (Ray Rice, Le’Ron McClain, and Willis McGahee) scored a touchdown in last week’s wild card round against the Patriots. Baltimore is expected to go with a similar game plan going into Indy this weekend. Meanwhile Manning is expected to once again challenge Baltimore’s questionable secondary with deep balls to his favorite target Reggie Wayne while mixing in Joseph Addai in the ground game.

Following the last meeting the Colts have now won the last seven straight games against the Ravens; most memorable being the 2006 playoff divisional round in Baltimore. Saturday night will be an opportunity for Baltimore to have their revenge or for the Colts to break the hearts of those in Baltimore all over again.