NFL: Looking Back at Saturday’s Wild Card Games
Posted on | January 4, 2009 | No Comments
Half of the NFL‘s Wild Card weekend is in the books. And boy were both games a surprise.
I wrote yesterday how the tow underdogs – the Cardinals and the Chargers – had a chance for very specific reasons. And those things are what propelled both teams to victory.
The first match-up of the day featured the Atlanta Falcons at the Arizona Cardinals. The Cardinals have been sleepwalking through the past several weeks. They have played probably the worst football out of all the playoff teams.
The Falcons, on the other hand, have been the media’s darling. They are led by the media’s darling quarterback, Matt Ryan.
So, this game looked like it was going to be lopsided in the Falcons favor. Well, it didn’t quite turnout that way.
Kurt Warner, Edgerrin James, and the rest of the Cardinals players came to play. And play they did. That’s why the Cards won the game.
They did it with balance, and they did it with good defense too.
Meanwhile, the other media darling, the Indianapolis Colts and quarterback Peyton Manning, were penciled in by all the experts to advance to next week’s divisional playoffs. The Chargers, who had gone into the game winning four straight games, weren’t given much of a chance.
But the Chargers came into the game ready to play. And the Chargers got an incredible game from back-up running bacn Darren Sproles. And the Chargers nipped the Colts in overtime.
So now both the Cardinals and the Chargers will move on to play next weekend. They are both the #4 seeds so they will have to wait and see what happens in today’s football games in order to find out who they will play.
In the NFC, if the Eagles win today then the Cardinals will play the Carolina Panthers. If the Vikings win today then the Cards will play the New York Giants.
In the AFC, if the Dolphins win today then the Chargers will play the Tennessee Titans. If the Ravens beat the Dolphins then the Chargers will have to play Pittsburgh Steelers.
Related posts:
- NFL: Previewing Saturday’s Wild Card Games
- NFL: Looking at the Wild Card Games
- NFL: Looking Back at Sunday’s Wild Card Games
- NFL: Reaction to the Second Day of the Wild Card Playoffs
- NFL: Previewing Sunday’s Wild Card Games
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