Wild Card weekend, v1

Some random thoughts on the two games from today...

ATL @ AZ
Man, is it even humanly possible to cover Larry Fitzgerald? I can't imagine better coverage on a WR than the Falcons had on that flea flicker, and Fitz just went up and got it. The guy is flat out sick.

Then you can almost say the same thing about Boldin, who took that pass five yards behind the db, races him to the outside, and is by him by two yards by the time he reaches the sideline.

AZ's D came up big, and while the game was entertaining, largely I think it was somewhat forgettable. Ryan didn't have too good a game, and mostly it was dominated by AZ for two quarters, ATL for one, and even in one, which was the reason the Cards won.

INDI @ SD
Wow. What a football game. Lots of thoughts here...

With apologies to Sproles and his game, I personally think Scifres was the MVP of that game. The Chargers two first half TDs were really set up by the field position disparity between his punts and Smith's. He booted one from his own 17 that went to the Colts 4 in the air!

Peyton Manning is really, really good. The Chargers D really played a terrific game, but Manning is just scary-good. Is there a person out there that didn't think "If Manning gets to touch the ball in [the fourth with two minutes left] / [overtime], game over, Colts win?"

San Diego really stepped up their game a lot in OT. They played a terrific game overall (as did the Colts), and I know they got three first downs by penalty in OT. But they just looked like they wanted it more. The run after the catch by Gates to turn an "and 7" into a "first down" was a great example of that.

This was vintage playoff football. Fantastic football game.