The Saints get back on track and other NFL playoff thoughts

(1) It is not fun when you expect so much from a football game and it doesn’t deliver. I was so amped up to see the Saints battle the Cardinals, but the actual game was a gigantic disappointment. I wanted to see a pinball game so bad, but it turned into a woodshed beating. The worst part about it was that this game was just the beginning of another horrible weekend of NFL playoff football. The Saints have nothing to apologize for because they certainly delivered a huge amount of thrills for the Who Dat nation crammed into the Superdome and watching on television around the United States. The game started ominously for New Orleans as the Cardinals ripped off a 70-yard touchdown run on the first play from scrimmage, but the Saints answered with a touchdown of their own and soon blew the doors off the Cardinals. The Saints were clearly the more rested team. This game was a great example of why teams kill themselves during the regular season to earn one of the two top seeds in each conference. Bye week teams usually win because they get an opportunity to recharge their batteries and nurse players with nagging injuries back to full strength. This performance will also add fuel to the fire in the debate regarding playing vs. resting when a team clinches all that they can clinch during the regular season. In my opinion, the way that the Saints killed Arizona has nothing to do with waving the white flag in week 17 against the Carolina Panthers. New Orleans won this game so easily because they had a bye week not because they chose to rest their stars during the last week of the season.

It also didn’t hurt that the Cardinals were their own worst enemy and suffered a few debilitating injuries during the game. First of all, the margin for error during the playoffs is razor thin and the Cardinals committed way too many mistakes to overcome them. They converted only one third down opportunity the entire game, which contributed to their meager first down total and less than ideal time of possession. As a result, Arizona just kept giving the ball back to the Saints, which we all know is a recipe for disaster. In addition, the Cardinals turned the ball over twice, which fueled the scoreboard explosion for New Orleans. The first turnover came when the score was tied 7-7 midway through the first quarter. The Cardinals were trying to build on the momentum created by Tim Hightower’s touchdown run on their first play from scrimmage, but Jerheme Urban fumbled the ball back to New Orleans after making a nice catch. Instead of keeping the pressure on the Saints, Arizona allowed New Orleans to take control of the game. The second turnover was especially damning because Kurt Warner got his clock cleaned while attempting to make the tackle on Will Smith, who had intercepted the ball at the line of scrimmage. Warner had to be escorted to the locker room for further evaluation and played unevenly the rest of the way. Matt Leinart had to finish the first half and Warner ceded control of the huddle when the game was finally out of reach. No one can tell me that Warner was completely healthy after halftime. It probably wouldn’t have made a difference in the final score, but Arizona had no chance to win this game with a less-than-100% Kurt Warner or Matt Leinart at the controls. The bigger injuries were the ones suffered by Antrel Rolle and Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie. When these two guys left the game, it was the equivalent of blood being in the water when a bunch of sharks are swimming nearby. The Saints are a tough offense to beat when a team has its full complement of defenders, but the task turned into an alpine expedition in the Himalayas when the Cardinals lost two of their starters in the secondary.

In the end, the Saints were not only the more rested team but the better team. For the first time since undressing the Patriots on Monday night, New Orleans looked like the team that started the season undefeated through 13 games. They were deadly efficient on offense. They racked up 27 first downs thanks to a balanced offensive attack that produced 248 yards passing and 171 yards rushing. During their 13-0 start, the Saints were the most balanced team in the league and they returned to that formula very successfully. They gave up no sacks and finished tremendously in the red zone, where they scored on all three visits. They were very opportunistic on defense. Both of their turnovers set-up short fields for their offense, which was like giving an Olympic sprinter a 20 meter head start against a bunch of 12-year olds. They only sacked Kurt Warner one time, but they took their shots when the opportunity afforded itself including the vicious hit that was administered after the Smith interception. They regularly got off the field on third down and held the Cardinals’ wonderful array of pass-catchers completely in check. The Saints deserve the opportunity to host the NFC Championship game. Hopefully, their match-up with the Vikings can deliver on some of the promise that their game with Arizona held in my mind.

(2) I have only one word to describe the Ravens-Colts game: snooze-fest. This game had to be the most boring game of the 2010 playoffs. I would rather watch the replay of the Jets’ 24-14 win over the Bengals in the wild card round 100 times before watching the replay of this game. If this match-up was a boxing fight, it would have been a hug-fest that ended in a decision. If I’m a Colts’ fan, I’m ecstatic that Indianapolis won their first game after a bye week in the Peyton Manning era, but I would be looking for a partial refund because the game lacked anything remotely resembling entertainment value. I’ve seen cricket games and staring matches that have had more excitement than what happened in Lucas Oil Stadium on Sunday night. I bet the executives at CBS wished that they could go back in time and switch the Jets-Chargers game to primetime. This game will forever go down as the No-Doze Bowl. Frankly, have the Colts & Ravens ever played an exciting game? The dud they played this week followed the train wreck that they played earlier in the season when the Colts overcame three turnovers because the Ravens couldn’t finish in the red zone. Let’s not forget the “instant classic” that they played back in 2007 during the Colts’ run to the Super Bowl. I’m voting that the NFL doesn’t let these two teams play ever again.

I’d rather not spend too much time talking about this game, but I do want to touch on the three reasons why the Colts are advancing and the Ravens are cleaning out their lockers. The biggest reason is the Indianapolis has Peyton Manning and the Ravens don’t. As I said last week, I believed that Manning would make a handful of big plays against the tough Ravens defense and that is exactly what he did. On the opening drive of the game, Manning went 4-6 and led the Colts to a field goal. In the second quarter, otherwise known as when all the action happened, Manning led a 14-play touchdown drive, where he was 8-9, and an eight-play touchdown drive, where he was 5-9. He finished both drives with touchdown passes and the second drive took only 83 seconds and covered 64 yards to end the half. Manning essentially ended the Ravens’ season with a 14-point flurry in the second quarter. He proved once again why he is the best closer that the NFL has to offer. The second reason for the Colts’ victory is that the Ravens had to rely on Joe Flacco whose ineffective play finally caught up with Baltimore. Flacco had less than 200 yards, two interceptions and a passer rating less than 50. The Colts gave Flacco chance after chance to beat them, but he failed every single time. Flacco was especially putrid on third down, where he went only 4-13 for 74 yards and one interception. Flacco might be better than 50% of the quarterbacks in the NFL, but he is not ready to lead the Ravens to the Promised Land. The final reason that the Colts won this game is that their defense played lights out. They short-circuited the Ravens’ game plan by taking away the running game and putting the outcome on the shoulders of Joe Flacco. As a result, the Ravens only managed 87 yards rushing and Flacco collapsed under the pressure of having to carry his team to victory. The Colts defense forced three turnovers in the second half and would have registered a shutout if Antoine Bethea had secured a sure pick-six at the end of the Ravens’ field goal drive. Nevertheless, the Colts still allowed the fewest points in the postseason since the 1971 Divisional playoffs. The Colts played so well on defense that it made the 17-3 halftime lead look like 45-3. In the end, the Colts have a great chance to make a return trip to Miami because they have the incomparable Peyton Manning and an aggressive defense on their side.

(3) Did the Dallas Cowboys even make the trip to the Twin Cities for their Divisional Round match-up with the Minnesota Vikings? Based on the final score, the Vikings couldn’t have beaten the streaking Cowboys that badly, could they? Maybe the Oklahoma State Cowboys showed up instead and got their lunches handed to them by the Purple People Eaters. I guess we would have been able to explain what happened in the Metrodome if it had been the amateurs showing up instead of the professionals from Big D. This outcome was the most shocking of the entire weekend. It wasn’t shocking that the Cowboys lost the game, but I was astounded by the way they lost the game. How is it possible that you exorcise your December and playoff demons, but lay a gigantic egg with a chance to reach the NFC Championship game? The Vikings won so easily because their defensive line completely destroyed the offensive line of the Cowboys. I thought it was going to be DeMarcus Ware and Anthony Spencer who were going to display their superior speed and be the difference in the game. Instead, it was Ray Edwards, Jared Allen and the rest of the Vikings front seven that caused havoc all day long. My first inclination is to rip into Tony Romo for choking yet again on a big stage, but I cannot place the blame on him for this one. There is not a quarterback on the planet that can function successfully when they are being constantly pressured by the opposing defense. Edwards and the boys got to Romo six times, hit him on numerous other occasions and kept him on the run all game long. As a result, Romo was ineffective with only 198 yards passing and three turnovers all by himself. Romo never had a chance to win this game. The Vikings demonstrated a gear that the Dallas offensive line was unable to match. The day started out badly for Romo when he fumbled the ball away on the first drive, but things progressively got worse and all hell broke loose when Flozell Adams left the game due to injury. The Vikings defense played like they were possessed by the ghosts of Carl Eller, Allan Page, Jim Marshall and Gary Larsen. The result for the Cowboys was only 248 total yards, three out 15 conversions on third or fourth down attempts and three momentum-killing turnovers.

Conversely, the Minnesota offense was extremely efficient behind another huge performance from Brett Favre. The Vikings, led by Favre, only had 16 first downs but they still produced 34 points. They ran the ball adequately, but Favre connected with Sidney Rice for three touchdowns and later threw a fourth touchdown to Visanthe Shiancoe, which established a playoff career high for Favre. Honestly, the overall stats for both teams don’t look that much different, but the Vikings certainly did more with less. Minnesota started four drives in Dallas territory and produced 13 points. Meanwhile, the Cowboys never had better starting position than their own 43-yard line. The Cowboys spent the entire afternoon trying to go the length of the field and were extremely unsuccessful. On the other hand, the Vikings mixed some good field position together with a handful of explosive plays to blow the Cowboys right out of the Metrodome. The tone of the day was established by the defense, but Favre sealed the deal with his turn-back-the-clock performance. It got so bad for the Cowboys at the end that they resorted to complaining about an eff you touchdown that the Vikings added on late in the fourth quarter. The Cowboys were upset that Minnesota still had their starters in the game when they eschewed a field goal and went for a meaningless touchdown to stretch the margin to 27 points. It was probably unsportsmanlike to run up the score, but shouldn’t the Cowboys be mad at themselves for allowing the Vikings the opportunity to embarrass them? If you are so pissed off that Minnesota still has their starters in the game, then why don’t you try to take someone’s head off. I can see complaining about running up the score in college, high school and Pop Warner football, but NFL players should know how to handle themselves after getting their collective asses kicked.

(4) Once again, the best game of the weekend happened last when the New York Jets shocked the football world by upsetting the San Diego Chargers on the road. What do we make of the Cinderella Jets? It was a mild surprise when they dominated the Bengals last week behind a stellar defensive effort and a balanced offensive effort, but I was totally shocked to see them escape Southern California with a victory. This game was the perfect example of what happens when you allow a heavy underdog to hang around. Just imagine what the Jets were thinking at halftime after they had played a horrendous first half but only trailed the high-flying Chargers by a score of 7-0. Honestly, I felt like the Jets had them right where they wanted them. It was almost like a tiger stalking his prey because the Jets seemed to be biding their time and waiting for the perfect moment to strike. The momentum started to shift in New York’s favor when Brad Smith returned the opening kickoff of the second half 36 yards to set-up his offense with tremendous starting field position. The Jets got their first three points of the afternoon after driving 32 yards behind five running plays from Thomas Jones and a short completion to Dustin Keller. On the exterior, the field goal drive seemed innocuous, but it must have meant the world to the New York sideline because it was the first positive move they had made on offense the entire game. This baby step got the ball rolling for the Jets because they intercepted Phillip Rivers twice in the third quarter, including the second interception that set-up Mark Sanchez and the offense with a first-and-10 at the Chargers’ 16-yard line. Sanchez took advantage of the tremendous field position by finishing the short drive with a touchdown pass to Dustin Keller. The Jets had their first lead of the game and the upset was beginning to take shape. Subsequently, New York finished off the Chargers with a 53-yard touchdown scamper by emerging star Shonn Greene. This run was impressive not because of its length but because of the way that Greene steam-rolled Eric Weddle before going untouched to the end zone. This play served as the exclamation point for the Jets’ victory.

Outside of Greene’s game-clinching play, the Jets offense was no better than mediocre. Let’s be honest, if the Chargers had played a little closer to the level they played at during their 11-game win streak, they would have won this game going away. Fortunately, for the Jets, their defense made sure that the Chargers would face another long off-season. The Jets played like a number one defense. They pressured Rivers all day long and sacked him twice. His first interception was the result of trying to attack the best cornerback in the NFL. His second interception was so poorly thrown that it appeared that Rivers was trying to get the ball out of his hands as quickly as possible to avoid getting hit again. The pass looked like it was intended for Jim Leonhard. Rivers was so jumpy late in the game because the Jets had got after him for most of the previous 2.5 quarters. Rivers threw for nearly 300 yards, but those have to be some of the most meaningless passing yards that I have ever seen. Overall, the Chargers were unable to move the ball consistently because the Jets shut down their running game and forced nine failed third down attempts out of 13 opportunities. Make no mistake about it, the Jets defense won this game and they better hope they can replicate the effort in Lucas Oil Stadium next week. The other major reason that the Jets escaped with a victory is that Nate Kaeding produced one of the biggest choke jobs in NFL history. Kaeding had only missed three field goals all season, but he missed three in this game. I can’t fault him for missing the 57-yard attempt prior to halftime, but he missed a 36-yard field goal in the first quarter and a 40-yard field goal in the fourth quarter. The complexion of this game would have been radically different had Kaeding connected on both of his chip shot attempts. His third miss was so bad because it appeared that Kaeding was trying to push the ball through the uprights rather than smoothly kicking it. The pressure of the moment and his earlier failures got to him. This is the same guy who was the most accurate field goal kicker in NFL history (87.2%). Since opening day of the 2007 season, Kaeding had made 69 straight field goals of 40 yards or less. In the span of 21 minutes against the Jets, he missed two from that distance. I don’t want to take too much away from the Jets, but they certainly benefited from the perfect storm.