Divisional Round Thoughts

Three thoughts from each of this past weekend's games:

49ers 36, Saints 32
- I think it's possible to win a Super Bowl with Alex Smith as your quarterback. I would never have acknowledged that possibility before Saturday evening, but he had to take the 49ers down the field twice in the last 5 minutes, and he did it both times.
- It's good for Gregg Williams that his contract ran out at the end of the season. That spares him the humiliation of being fired after letting Alex Smith take his team down the field for touchdowns twice in the last 5 minutes. The second one was especialy egregious. The 49ers have wasted 40 seconds to get 15-20 yards, and you send two straight all-out blitzes, even though you have proven that you cannot cover Vernon Davis one-on-one, and Brett Swain almost just got behind your defense for a backbreaker. You sit back, and best case San Francisco gets to try a long field goal attempt.
- What an indictment of the Mike Nolan and Mike Singletary coaching regimes, that Jim Harbaugh was able to come and and not just achieve a winning record, not just win his division, but win a playoff game over a team that many had pegged as the best in the NFC entering the playoffs.
- (bonus) If the Saints never see the Pacific Coast again in January, it will be too soon. Between Beast Mode in Seattle last year in the first round and The Catch II in San Francisco this year, that's 2 years in a row the Saints lost a road game they were favored in to the NFC West division champion.

Patriots 45, Broncos 10
- The Patriots finally won a playoff game, and they barely had to break a sweat to do it.
- The Patriots haven't played a team that finished the season with a winning record since they lost to the Giants (at home) in week 9. In related news, they have won 9 straight, including Saturday night's blowout.
- I'm not sure even this allows John Elway to go into the 2012 season with anyone other than Tebow as his starting quarterback. In fairness to Tebow, he deserves the chance to show what he can do after a full offseason's work with the coaching staff, something he did not get last offseason.

Ravens 20, Texans 13
- Ugly, ugly, ugly game. This is why Ravens fans don't trust either quarterback Joe Flacco or offensive coordinator Cam Cameron. Flacco completed only 51.9% of his passes, and Cameron allowed him to throw it 27 times, including multiple times on their second-to-last drive (not counting the kneel down drive at the very end) which resulted in 2 incompletions and gave the Texans an extra chance at a tying drive they should never have had.
- The Texans had a heck of a season. If they can retain Wade Philips and keep Matt Schaub, Arian Foster, Andre Johnson, and Mario Williams healthy for a full season, they could make some serious noise next season.
- If Joe Flacco cannot complete greater than 65% of his passes next week against the Patriots and their pass (lack of) defense, it may be time to admit that he cannot get the Ravens over the hump.

Giants 37, Packers 20
- An absolutely embarassing performance put on by Green Bay's receivers/tight ends/backs and defensive backs. Giants receivers were running free, Hakeem Nicks must have been invisible, and the sheer number of drops was staggering.
- Eli Manning has arrived. It's funny to say that about a Super Bowl winning quarterback, but this season, and especially the last 4 games (2 regular season and 2 playoff) he has been outstanding. Whereas you could (and many did) make the argument that Eli was a supporting piece during the 2007 run, he is unquestioningly leading the charge this season.
- Green Bay has to fix their defense. Their lack of a pass rush all season was astounding when you compared it against their play down the stretch in 2010.

Finally, one last bit of trivia. In the AFC (but not the NFC) this season, the top 2 seeds will square off for a spot in the Super Bowl. In the 22 seasons (counting this one) the NFL has had a 6-team-per-conference playoff format, that has happened just 8 times (36.4%) in that conference, and the #1 seed is 4-3. In the NFC, it has happened 14 times (63.6%), and the #1 seed is 9-5.