SHOCK OF THE NFL

The playoffs took an interesting turn on Saturday and Sunday.

Texans/ Bengals-Texas for the first time wins a playoff game for the franchise. T.J. Yates proved he is not a fluke, but running his team past Cincinnati, and who could doubt it. Houston may be a dark horse in this playoff. Cincinnati, like Houston has not been able to field a full healthy team this year, and went into the game in the same shape. But someone had to win; it’s the law!

 

T.J. Yates may not have the flair of Tebow or the credentials of Tom Brady, but he does get the job done. What more can Texas Fans ask? The question is how far will he go?

 

Steelers/Broncos-Ben Roethlisberger found out the hard way, on gimpy legs, firing and miss firing, on the heels of his feet, hitting the turf, and yet coming back to go into overtime as the Steelers rallied to tie the Broncos, that Tim Tebow is not a gimmick, coming back in the nick of overtime to pull one more win out of the hat, as he has time and time again this season!

 

After blowing a 14 point half-time lead, then a 10 point 4^th quarter lead, Tebow took the Tebow time or Overtime, to perform his magic. The last time I saw such a thing was from Hollywood, but that finish wasn’t so implausible.

 

Lions/Saints-One of the oldest and grandest of franchises didn’t survive the weekend, but at least made an appearance for the first time since 1999. The mainstay of the old days of Thanksgiving Day football, the Detroit Lions, walked away disappointed, and de-clawed.

 

Giving up 626 yards will insure you of the rest of the playoff season off, as the Lions fell 45-28 to the New Orleans Saints. They allowed an average of 122 yards rushing and 312 yards passing in six losses to playoff teams — two times to both Green Bay and New Orleans, and once to San Francisco and Atlanta! The Lions were double-digit underdogs, who haven’t won a playoff game since 1957!

 

Giants/Falcons-Someone forgot to tell Matt Ryan to come to the Meadowlands for the game Sunday! So the Falcons suited up an impostor and put him out there. The trouble was everyone on the Giants showed up!

 

His team has once again vindicated Tom Coughlin. The New York Giants did it all correctly starting with the defense, and along the second quarter, even the offense caught on after a questionable safety called against them that left them in a 2-0 hole. Fortunately this isn’t baseball and a quick score by the offense of any kind would dig them out. 24-2 was the final score, but it wasn’t even that close as the New York/New Jersey Giants played like they have something to prove and did.

 

The New York press is all; gaga over the victory, and rightfully so, since they have been the underdogs all season of ever making the playoffs. The coach has his job for another week and who knows where this will all lead? Right now it leads to the Green Bay Packers and the frigid tundra, but can they survive next week? If they do you are thinking Super Bowl Champs?

 

So to sum this up, the Giants shocked the NFL in beating the Falcons, as did the Broncos spanking of the Steelers. It makes for an interesting weekend and discussion for tomorrow as we look at the match ups.

 

That’s all I wrote, folks!