Yesterday's NFL Playoff Games

This past weekend saw the first round of the NFL playoffs. Three of the four teams I was rooting for won, including both games yesterday. The outcomes of those contests were the most meaningful to me. The early game was between the Atlanta Falcons and the New York Giants, which is the team I am rooting for the hardest in the playoffs. After a slow offensive start, New York built up and expanded on its lead, winning the game 24-2. The later contest was between the Denver Broncos and the Pittsburgh Steelers, which is one of the teams I am rooting AGAINST the hardest. Once again, "my" team in this game got off to a slow offensive start. But then Tim Tebow began to throw bombs for long gains and touchdowns and, before anyone could catch their breath, Denver had amassed a 20-6 halftime lead over their heavily favored opponent. The Steelers did come back in the second half to send the game into overtime, but that went for naught when, in the first play from scrimmage, Tebow threw an 80-year touchdown pass to Demaryius Thomas to seal the victory. The final score was 29-23.

Denver plays at most-reviled (by me) New England next week, while New York travels to good old Green Bay (my #2 favorite NFC playoff team after NY). The other upcoming games feature my AFC non-Florida favorite Baltimore at home against Houston and San Francisco at home against my preferred New Orleans. More offensive fireworks are in store, I'm sure...

...Just one post-scripted comment here about Tebow and his detractors. I am thoroughly beside myself with wonder at the expressed ignorance of the so-called "expert" analysts (especially on ESPN Radio) who continue to run him down because of his relatively low percentage of pass completions. I saw yesterday's performance, in which Tim completed less than half of his passes. But many of those incompletions were thrown away as an deliberate offensive strategy, not at all a reflection on the quarterback's accuracy. I never hear anyone bringing this fact up. But at least some sports media talking heads are finally realizing the value of Tim Tebow's versatility in the pros: you don't know if he's going to pass, pitch back, hand off, run around the end, or run straight ahead. This confusing of the defense went a long, long way toward enabling what was almost universally considered to be a weaker Denver team to pull off the big upset yesterday over last year's conference champions.