Seahawks 41, Saints 36
The Saints (11-5) were the defending Super Bowl champions.  The Seahawks (7-9) were the first team ever to make the playoffs with a losing record.  Everyone believed that the Saints would run away with this one.

The Saints started strong, jumping out to a 17-7 lead.  Drew Brees passed for 404 yards and 2 touchdowns, and went without throwing an interception for the first time since week 4.  But the Saints defense, ranked 4th in the NFL this year, completely disappeared.

The Saints’ pass defense was awful.  Matt Hasselbeck only threw 12 TDs all year for the Seahawks.  He threw 4 against the Saints, including a 45-yard strike to ex-Bronco Brandon Stokley.

Marshawn Lynch’s best rushing total this year was 89 yards against the Cardinals.  He ran for 131 yards in this game, capped by a 67-yard highlight reel touchdown that put the Seahawks up 41-30 late in the 4th quarter .  The run was a great individual effort by Lynch, but also had a lot to do with terrible tackling by New Orleans.  (Hey, Bronco fans, remind you of anyone?)

One late New Orleans TD and awful onside kick attempt later, the Saints’ title defense was over, and the Seahawks were the most improbable playoff game winner ever.

Jets 17, Colts 16
Rex Ryan was itching for a win over Peyton Manning, who had beaten him numerous times as defensive coordinator in Baltimore, and in last year’s AFC Championship as the Jets’ head coach.

Manning was solid as usual, hitting Pierre Garcon for a 57-yard touchdown in the 2nd quarter to open the scoring.  Jets QB Mark Sanchez struggled in the 1st half, overthrowing receivers and costing the Jets a chance to score by throwing an interception deep in Colts territory just before halftime.

In the 2nd half, the Jets went back to what brought them to the dance.  The running attack.

LaDainian Tomlinson and Shonn Greene combined for 152 yards rushing.  Tomlinson scored from a yard out in the 3rd to tie it, then again in the 4th to give the Jets a 14-10 lead.

The Colts fought back, taking a 16-14 lead with less than a minute left on Adam Vinatieri’s 50-yard field goal.

On the ensuing kickoff Antonio Cromartie gave the Jets great field position, returning it to the Jets’ 47-yard line.  With 29 seconds left, the clock ticking, and the Jets with just one timeout left the Colts…called a timeout?  Really?  Manning himself was stunned by the call.  Sanchez completed a pass to Braylon Edwards at the Colts’ 15 and the Jets called their final timeout, setting up Nick Folk’s 32-yard field goal that gave Rex Ryan and his Jets the win.

The Jets now head to New England to try to avenge their embarrassing 45-3 regular season beatdown against the Patriots.

Ravens 30, Chiefs 7
The young AFC West champions were no match for the veteran Ravens.

The Ravens defense looked stronger than ever, holding the Chiefs to just 161 total yards and forcing five turnovers, including three interceptions off of Matt Cassel.

Joe Flacco had a stellar game, completing 25 of 34 passes for 265 yards and 2 TDs.  Todd Heap caught 10 passes for 108 yards.

The Ravens will travel to Pittsburgh to renew the best rivalry in the NFL today in a divisional playoff matchup for the ages.

Packers 21, Eagles 16
The Packers may have found a star running back at just the right time.

Rookie RB James Starks rushed for 123 yards for Green Bay in their wild card playoff against Philadelphia after missing most of the year on the PUP list and gaining only 101 yards the entire season.  QB Aaron Rodgers led the Pack to a 14-0 2nd quarter lead with 2 TD passes, and added another in the 3rd quarter.

The Eagles struggled to run the ball against the tough Packers defense, with LeSean McCoy being held to just 46 yards. Normally reliable kicker David Akers missed two of his three field goal attempts to further suppress the Philadelphia offense.

Michael Vick kept his team in the game, throwing to Jason Avant for a touchdown in the 3rd quarter to cut the Packers’ lead to 14-10.  With just over 4 minutes left, Vick scored on a QB sneak on 4th-and-Goal from the 1 to cut their lead again to 21-16.

The Eagles got the ball back with 1:45 left.  Vick drove his team to the Packer 27-yard line on a strike to WR Riley Cooper.  With the clock ticking Vick chose not to spike the ball and tried to force a quick jump-ball to Cooper in the end zone, but Tramon Williams jumped in front of Cooper to intercept the pass for the Packers and sealed Rodgers’ first career playoff victory.

The Packers will go to Atlanta to face the Falcons in a rematch from Week 12, when the Falcons won 20-17 on a late field goal at the Georgia Dome.

The Seahawks will head to Chicago to play the Bears in a rematch from Week 6, when the Seahawks pulled out a 23-20 upset in Chicago.

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LaDanian Tomlinson, also known as “Bronco Kryptonite”, has got to love the idea of donning the orange and blue and running roughshod over the team he made his name with, a team he most certainly shredded in practice on a regular basis. The Chargers finally made the final move to kick LT to the curb. He’s certainly a shadow of his former self, but given the Broncos propensity for going through running backs at an alarming rate, perhaps he’s got enough to put up some yards in the division he knows the best.

The other is a certain Brian Westbrook. Westbrook’s former backfield mate Correll Buckhalter is here, as is the star of the Philadelphia defense in days past, Brian Dawkins. Either one would be a great fit in the Denver backfield, but do either of them have what it takes to start anymore? Should Denver make a run at them? I have my opinion, but what’s yours? Speak up Bronco Country!

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