NFL Wildcard Weekend thoughts

Dr. Giganto

Rams vs. Seahawks:

This game basically summed up in the Seahawks season perfectly. First pass of the game, ball bounces off Darrell Jackson's hands, interecepted by the Rams. Last play of the game, potential tying TD pass bounces off Bobby Engram's hands and falls to the ground incomplete. Gotta feel bad for Matt Hasselbeck

Jets vs. Chargers:

Keenan McCardell's TD catch was simply amazing.

Eric Barton made possible the stupidest play I've ever seen. He seriosuly almost cost his team the game. If the Jets had lost that game, all the blame would have fallen on Barton's shoulders. He's so lucky they won

Colts vs. Broncos:

wow

Packers vs. Vikings:

Ahmad Carroll is absolutely terrible. I thought it was hysterical when they said that he practices wearing boxing gloves, so that he wont hold the recievers, but then he still does it in games.

Brett Favre really should retire. He's had a hell of a career, his body has taken a beating, its time to hang 'em up. 3rd straight year he's had a terrible playoff game to end the Packers season

Randy Moss. All I can do is shake my head

*edit* I forgot that Favre's six-INT game was in 2001. So, make that 4 straight years where Favre has ended the Packers season with a terrible game

Miakal

Farve probably has a couple more decent years in him. He'll never take them back to the Superbowl but if he manages to get them to the playoffs then I think that's probably good enough.

The entire Packer team doesn't hinge on Farves shoulders.

Dr. Giganto

Peyton Manning
27/33, 457 yards
4 TDs, 1 INT

That's 13.8 passing yards per attempt. Thats fucking ridculous

By comparison, here are the yards per attempt for the other 7 QBs who played last weekend:

Matt Hasselbeck: 7.9
Chad Pennington: 8.5
Daunte Culpepper: 9.8
Marc Bulger: 9.8
Drew Brees: 7.6
Jake Plummer: 8.4
Brett Favre: 6.5

Freak

I really wish I could defend my guys here, but I can't. I'm all for taping Carroll's fingers and thumbs together during the game, even if it means he won't catch any balls -- the guy just needs to stick on his guy and leave it at that. Granted, if this was last year (pre-rule-change), he probably would have had a sensational rookie campaign.

I don't even care about the picks Favre threw, after watching that bail-out gutless shit he pulled in the red zone. Anyone else and the media would have been all over him when he threw it away like that, instead of at least trying to take it in Elway-style. I have never once in my life questioned Brett Favre's toughness, but I was so completely blown away by that play. All that said, I do think he has a couple years left in him, and as soon as the Packers get a defense they will be the cream of the NFC, or at least par with Philly. I know that's a big variable though.

Dr. Giganto

Good point about the D. With possibly the best offensive line in the NFL, and a playmakers like Ahman Green and Javon Walker, the O isnt realy the problem

I do think, however, that Favre is past the point in his career where he can consistently lead his team when things are going downhill. I emphasize "consistantly" because Favre definitely has the talent to lead a comeback from time to time, but he's more likely to have a game like yesterday, where he struggles. They were down 14-0 before they knew what was happening, and because of that they couldnt just pound it with Ahman, and have Favre make the safe throws to Javon Walker and the other recievers

He reminds me of Elway in his past couple of seasons, where he is still a very good QB, but it should be the running game that is the focus, like how Terrell Davis was the focus in the late-90s for Denver

and when I mentioned him retiring, I meant more for the sake of his body than anything else. I mean, he's always banged-up, and he's played so hard for so long that he's earned the right to chill on his farm in Mississippi and enjoy life, rather than taking a beating 6 months out of the year

Freak

I don't really see a huge decline in Brett's game, except for a handful of recent playoff outings. I mean the guy threw another 30 TDs this year, that's gotta count for something. And the Packers were down by 14 less than six minutes in. I would hardly lay that on Favre, even if he did throw a pick straight through a slowly reacting Driver. I think most Packer fans have learned over the years to hold their breath when Brett lets in fly deep, but that's part of the fun in having him to cheer for. I think that as long as he has the drive (which I'm only just questioning now), he can contribute at a significant level.

On the topic of a running game, I'm hoping the Packers draft another RB in the 3rd or 4th to replace Ahman Green in a year or two. There's a wealth of talent at the position this draft, and Davenport is either too fragile to hold up all year or will be gone this offseason as a RFA anyway.