NFL Wild Card Round Takeaways

A few choice words on the result of the NFL wild card round. The first thing that has to be mentioned is my poor performance. I went 0-4. Last year I was 4-0 for the wild card round. What happened?

Saturday began well for me. I expedited two loads of laundry before 7 AM and then rested until the 1:30 PM (PST) K.C.-Indy kickoff. I was overjoyed by the Chiefs' domination of the first half. Alex Smith played masterfully at quarterback, Knile Davis ran with force for a concussed Jamaal Charles, and the Kansas City defense intercepted Andrew Luck. But in the second half the Chiefs defense collapsed, T.Y. Hilton ran rampant in the secondary, and Andrew Luck looked like he was Canton bound. My takeaway? Don't bet against Andrew Luck when he has home field.

The outcome of the evening match-up of New Orleans at Philly should have been foreseen, but I was bedazzled by the Eagles offense and underwhelmed by the Saints defense. Well, as it turned out, Rob Ryan did a great job keeping Foles-McCoy-Jackson in check. One factor that I did not foresee and was critical to the Saints win was their running game. Though Pierre Thomas was absent due to injury, Mark Ingram and Khiry Robinson showed up big time. My takeaway? The Seahawks will have a tougher game on their hands than the Monday night regular season steamrollering of New Orleans. Look for Sean Payton to establish a ground game.

After staying in bed basically all day Saturday, reading newspaper stories on the unraveling of Uncle Sam's imperial project in South Sudan, I awoke at 6 AM and washed a sink of dirty dishes, scanned the headlines online, and then set out on my "Big Man's Run." I got home and juiced a lime and settled back on the mattress just in time for the start of San Diego-Cincy game. This was the one lousy game of the weekend, and of course the outcome was entirely predictable. That didn't prevent me from making the wrong choice and believing that somehow Marvin Lewis would right himself and that Andy Dalton wouldn't make incredibly poor throws and bad choices at quarterback. My takeaway? Don't pick the Bengals in a playoff game and don't rule out a Charger upset in Denver. The San Diego rushing attack of Danny Woodhead, Ronnie Brown and Ryan Mathews is awe-inspiring.

The final contest of the weekend was worth the wait. San Francisco-Green Bay lived up to the hype. My takeaway? I am a fool to have thought that Kaepernick was going to self-destruct in the single-digit temperatures of Lambeau Field. Kaep is the real deal. The 49ers will roll on. The Panthers defense is tough, maybe the toughest, but Kaep & Co. will find a way to win.

Now, enjoying my first Sunday evening in a long time without the televisual specter of football, I plan to eat dinner and continue my Breaking Bad immersion.