The Wild Card Round was full of teams lucky to be in the playoffs, three of them whose luck in an interconnected way showed itself in Week Seventeen. A pretty wild weekend of football began with the Seattle Seahawks (9-8 and lucky to be that) vs. the St. Louis Rams (8-8, thanks to resting Eagles and a spotty Jets), and the third time was not the charm for the Seahawks, even at home. St. Louis let them stay in the game, the questionable Seattle defense holding them to less points than the Jets did, but the Seahawks fell yards short of forcing OT. This set-up a match-up with the beatable Atlanta Falcons because ...
The third time (and 31 points) was the charm for the Minnesota Vikings (8-8, but in thanks to Carolina losing last Sunday) , who shot up to 17-0 in Green Bay, but ultimately won because of repeated Green Bay foul-ups. After scoring those seventeen points in last than a quarter, they only scored fourteen more points vs. a questionable GB defense (guided by a fired Jets' defensive coordinator, fired in part because of the Jets' defensive woes last year).
Seven of them came after a failed chip shot field goal was quickly followed by an interception (one of many) because of a misplayed running route. The high/low (depending on one's perception) point of the game came near the end of the Half where Green Bay couldn't score from First and Goal, in part because Brett "this is how we became 1-4" Favre for some reason tried tossing a pass four yards from scrimmage (penalty), when he was right near the first down marker. The chip shot was missed. Viks at Philly next week.
This was on Sunday, after the Colts did the expected and blowed out the Broncos (hit and miss much of the year), though the latter managed to score some garbage time (the Second Half, since it was 35-3 at Half Time) points. Colts at New England next week. The game of the weekend came the night before (ending around 12:03 today), the N.Y. Jets (10-6, but in thanks to the Bills losing last Sunday) vs. the San Diego Chargers (12-4, so like the Colts in straight away, but overachieving ... and their coach always eventually lost in the playoffs).
The Jets Defense showed up, though so did their recent tendency to get penalties, which is going to kill them sooner or later. And, it showed up in the Fourth Quarter, even though it did blow a ten point lead. The two just unfortunately melded at just the wrong moment. Clinging to a 17-10 lead because of various miscues, the Jets had a dramatic goal line stand at the end of regulation ... and blew it by roughing the passer, the QB, who just threw a desperation Fourth Down throw around the 21yd line with around :11 left. The penalty made it First and Goal at the 1, and the tie was assured.
In fact, the win seemed basically assured as well, especially after they won the toss. The Jets Defense did hold, but the Jets Offense went three and out. And, San Diego got into medium range field goal range ... WIDE RIGHT! Given more chances than they rightly deserve, the Jets drove into field goal range themselves, but their kicker missed a 33 YD attempt at the end of the first drive of the game (typically, it was long, but not productive). This was a 28 YD attempt and had to be re-kicked because a time out was called right before it was kicked.
It was a closer kick, he wasn't a rookie like the San Diego kicker (nor did he have SD's coach bad karma to deal with), and it was GOOD! 20-17 ... re-match at Pittsburgh next week. One team of the four that I was rooting for won, but if this would be the case, this is how it should go. Well, maybe without me so unnerved at the end of regulation, etc. But, that's okay, since they won and all.
Baseball Note: Meanwhile, it appears the Mets overpaid for Carlos Beltran, who is getting what amounts to (maybe) a couple million more to leave a team where he had a good year and seemed to be comfortable to play for the um NY Mets. Hey, I like them, but don't know if I'd want do such a switch if I was him. Anyway, the team (pending a physical) appears to be ready to spend lots of money for two players, who at the end of the day give them some cred. Still, the team is rather flawed ... so the net result is somewhat questionable.
OTOH, the signing of Miguel Cairo, the former NY Yankee back-up infielder, was a good pick-up. He's a trustworthy role player, one any borderline team like the Mets desperately needs. The Mets also trade away one of their extra back-up catchers (Vance Wilson) for a decent sounding prospect, who will be missed (good guy, dependable), but so is the remaining back-up (who also has some first base experience). So, it was worthwhile.