The Best and Worst of Wild Card Weekend 2014

If inaccuracy is the price I have to pay for the Saints to upset their way to the divisional round, bring it on.  Lots of streaks were broken and revived this season, leaving me with a confounding 1 - 3 record in wins but a 3 - 1 record against the spread.  The Chiefs and Bengals continued their heartbreaking playoff win drought despite having serious odds in their favor.  The Saints won their first road playoff game in franchise history.  Colin Kaepernick remains undefeated against Green Bay. Both 6th seeds are moving on to the divisional round.  All told, it was a mighty entertaining weekend so here are some concluding thoughts:

The Best of Wild Card Weekend 2014

Luck's Luck - I can't say I was thrilled with the outcome of the Kansas City-Indianapolis game (see the Worst Of), but to give credit where credit is due, how about those Colts refusing to give up despite facing a 10 - 38 deficit in the third quarter on Saturday?  I don't know that any Colts fan would consider this Andrew Luck's best performance after three poorly thrown interceptions, but the guy must have the most valuable [lack of] short-term memory of any QB I've ever seen in the pros.  It was icing on the cake that, in addition to tossing 4 TDs, he managed to pick up Donald Brown's goal-line fumble for another 6 points on the ground.  Lucky for them, coming back from 28 points down is just the kind of thing the Colts may need to get past the likes of Tom Brady and possibly Peyton Manning.

The Bizarro Saints - Dread is probably the best word to describe what we Saints fans were feeling going into Philadelphia on Saturday night.  Not only was New Orleans coming off of a 1 - 5 road record in 2013 and 0 - 5 in the playoffs all-time, they'd have to face the Eagles without Pierre Thomas, outdoors in the freezing cold, and they started things off with two nasty Brees interceptions.  If you'd told me things would end with the Saints holding LeSean McCoy to less than 80 yards on the ground while earning over 180 rushing yards themselves and handing the high-octane Eagles one of their least productive offensive days of the year, I'd have to check your head for signs of a concussion.  But triumph they did in the least likely fashion by dominating the line of scrimmage both ways, owning time of possession by nearly 10 minutes including a critical 4-minute final drive to set up the winning field goal as time expired.  Mark Ingram (or kicker Shayne Graham) probably got the game ball, but this one is pure Sean Payton for rallying his team to overcome their mental road barriers and earn one of their most resilient postseason performances of all time.

Kaepernick's Lambeau Legs (And Arms) - The 49ers-Packers game on Sunday afternoon was the most evenly matched and back-and-forth of anything we saw this weekend, even though the sub-zero temperatures did nothing to help the Green Bay tourism bureau.   But in a harsh game of inches, the edge in San Francisco's win was Colin Kaepernick once again having his way with Green Bay's defense.  No. 7 put up over 200 yards in the air and 100 on the ground including a key third-down scamper to set up the game-winning field goal.  Looks like he was watching the Saints game last night for more than just recon.

The Worst of Wild Card Weekend 2014

The Chiefs' Cruel Fate - I'll acknowledge that I risk minimizing all the Colts had to do right to win against the Chiefs this weekend, but the outcome of the game just feels so unfair to Kansas City and Alex Smith in particular.  In fact, Smith became the first QB ever to lose an NFL game despite throwing 4 TDs and no interceptions while the defense earned a +3 turnover differential in one of the most heartbreaking outcomes I've ever seen.  There's no doubt in my mind the Chiefs would be traveling to Foxboro next week if Jamaal Charles had been in the game, since his ability to sustain drives and run down the clock would have been huge in limiting Andrew Luck's possessions in the second half.  Instead, because Football Jesus clearly hates Kansas City, the Chiefs lost three Pro Bowlers and were down to their third-string running back before the final whistle blew.  In the grand scheme of things, it's just as well that the Colts are moving on since the Chiefs aren't healthy enough to win another game anyway, but what a punishing, undeserved way to end a marvelous season.

Andy Dalton, the Red Rifle Ridicule - With upsets, down-to-the-wire plays, and wild comebacks, these playoffs are certainly living up to expectations so far in 2014.  The only exception this weekend was a real stinker between the Bengals and Chargers due almost entirely to Andy Dalton.  This "Red Rifle" is the most infuriating kind of enigma.  One minute, he's shredding secondaries down the seam with A.J. Green and earning QB ratings in the 90s.  The next, he's the most ineffectual/least accurate passer I've seen beyond five yards of the line of scrimmage.  Sunday, Playoffs Andy reared his ugly head again with three awful turnovers and a QBR that barely cleared single digits.  In fact, in three consecutive postseason appearances--a feat for any young QB mind you--he has just 1 TD and 5 INTs to his name and was largely responsible for wasting yet another opportunity for Cincinnati to get out of a very long playoff win drought.  Despite the Bengals defense keeping San Diego to under 200 yards, and Dalton alone racking up 360 of his own, he continued to make ill-timed passes and bone-headed decisions that led to punts when his team was lucky.  On a related and equally unfortunate note, what was with Jay Gruden's play-calling yet again?  With Dalton throwing wounded ducks and the Bengals averaging nearly 5 yards per carry after beating the Chargers on the ground a month ago, he continued to dial up drive-killing passing plays just like he did this time last year in Houston.  Good riddance, I guess.