All four NFL wildcard playoff games produced some thrilling football and even the odd upset. Ultimately, however, it was the home team that triumphed on each occasion.
What needs to be understood about the NFL is that there is very little support for the away team in any game. There is no such thing as an 'away end' as there is in football here, and so travelling to another ground across the country can be intimidating and often be the difference between winning and losing.
Take the Atlanta Falcons. They had a perfect 8-0 record at the Georgia Dome this season, but couldn't produce the goods away from home, winning only 2 on the road. It was enough to secure them a trip to the Metlife stadium yesterday to face the NFC #4 seeds the New York Giants. But after a sluggish start, Eli Manning and the Giants produced a solid display that saw them run out 24-2 winners, the scoreline merely reflecting the Falcons season away from the Dome. The Giants now go on to meet the Superbowl favourites Green Bay at Lambeau Field.
In Houston, the Texans were looking to use their home field advantage to win their first ever game in the playoffs. With the number 2 defence in the NFL, the Texans defence dominated over a struggling Cincinnati Bengals team who couldn't produce the goods beyond the first quarter, ultimately losing out to Houston 31-10. A special mention has to go to defenseman JJ Watt, who produced a massive performance including an intercept and run in for a touchdown. The Texans will now take their unbeaten playoff record to Baltimore to face the AFC #2 seeded Ravens.
The two best games of the weekend happened in New Orleans where the Saints took on the Detroit Lions and in Denver where the Broncos hosted the fancied Pittsburgh Steelers.
The encounter at the Superdome in New Orleans was billed as the 'shootout'. Never before had two 5,000+ yard QB's faced each other in a playoff game. Drew Brees of the Saints smashed Dan Marino's all time passing yard record for a season, while Matt Stafford came up only 46 yards short of achieving the same feat.
From the first drive, it looked ominous that this would be a high scoring game, with Stafford leading his Lions up the field in 8 downs for 80 yards to open the scoring. Straight from the kick off, Brees and the Saints looked to to prove that anything Stafford can do, Brees can do better. It certainly looked that way until a fumble in each of their opening two drives handed possession of the football back to the Lions.
It looked like it might not be Brees' day in the Superdome with the Lions up 14-0 in the first quarter. But it wasn't long before the record breaking Brees started to show why he is the top QB in the NFL at the moment, throwing for 466 yards completing 33 of 43 passes. The Saints ran out eventual comfortable winners 45-28, earning themselves a trip to Candlestick Park to meet the San Francisco 49ers. A special mention also to Pierre Thomas who was phenomenal running the ball for 66 yards, making plays he had no right in making. The Saints' running game, something they sorely lacked last season, is firing on all cylinders at the moment.
The story of the weekend though has to come from the Mile High Stadium where Tim Tebow was inspired to earn the Broncos an overtime win over the fancied Pittsburgh Steelers. It would be fair to say that the Steelers, even with Ben Roethlisberger not at 100% and no Mendenhall to run the ball were favourites coming into a game where the Denver Broncos were looking to reverse their fortunes after 3 straight losses at the end of the regular season.
Tim Tebow - defying the odds
But it was the Broncos that got off to the better start against the number 1 seeded defence in the league, taking a 20-6 lead into halftime. Roethlisberger then inspired the Steelers after the break, to tie the game at the end of the fourth quarter 23-23. A good game so far, but not worth the column inches compared to what happened next.
The two teams played the first non-sudden death playoff game in history. This basically means that after the rule changes, both teams need to get the ball in the extra period providing there wasn't a touchdown by either the offense or defense.
So, up steps Tim Tebow.
The Broncos elected to receive the kick and in doing so started from their own 20 yard line. What would the first play be? Play it safe, get the ball down the field and look for a red zone touchdown? Nope. Tebow hurls the ball long to Demaryius Thomas who runs it in for an 80 yard touchdown. 1 down, 1 pass, 11 seconds, making it the shortest period of overtime in NFL history. That's how you finish a game.
Through the adversity of losing the previous 3 games and the one way traffic in the second half in this one, Tebow produced the goods when it mattered.
Can he take this on when the Broncos go to New England to meet the Patriots and Tom Brady next week? The Pats will be fancied by the majority, but as with all of the highest scoring teams this year, they leak points. After yesterday's efforts, anything can happen.
Brees and the Saints will be most likely to upset a home crowd.
