The two major forces in the wildcard weekend were defense and strong winds. It is said “defense wins championships”, was never so clear this year, until now. The Ravens turned in the most impressive defensive performance of the weekend. They completely shut down a Denver offense that features two 100-catch receivers and a 1500-yard rusher, not bad Ravens! The Raven defense was helped by the strong winds, which made it only possible two throw deep when Denver was with the wind only. Not that it mattered much, the Raven defense was just too dominating this past Sunday. The wind also came into play in the Eagle victory over the Bucs. The strong winds were clearly evident on a missed field goal by David Ackers. It was nice to see Andy Reid get his first playoff win against the Tampa Bay.

   There was one thing that you can say about the Bucs year after year; there are high schools with a better playbook. They replace one offensive idiot (Shula) with another (Steckel) offensive idiot! Good job Dungy! How can the Bucs be serious and go into the season with this offense, and give away two #1 picks for Keshawn? I like their idea of getting a top receiver, but with King and terrible play calling, why even bother? As long as they stay in our division, I hope they never get an offense coordinator or a good quarterback. Shawn King is just plain terrible! Happy New Year Sapp!  Anyone who listened to Nicky “the nose” should have one some big bucks this weekend. Nicky’s big play, Miami, turned out just like he said, “Mora is a loser and Smith would have a field day”. He also said “Saints and the under in a small parlay” almost, but he did say, “go small, only ½ week paycheck”. If the Saints did not celebrate too early, “the nose” would have had that one also!  

   Here are some trivia questions to try: 1) In the 1974 playoff game against the Dolphins, who caught the Stabler’s desperation pass for the victory? And what was his #? 2) Who was the Viking defensive back covering Drew Pearson on the Cowboys famous “Hail Mary Pass”? And what was his #? 3) Who was the starting Eagle middle linebacker in their Super Bowl loss to the Raiders? And what was his #? What team did he play with before the Eagles?  Answers and more trivia on Thursday. I am going to see Nicky “the nose” for sausage and peppers on Wed., I will see if he has any plays for next weekend!