Drama, drama, drama this weekend in the playoffs starting with one quarterback not playing due to an injury, ending with another quarterback playing injured, and a whole lot more happening in between.
Saturday's games -
Christian Ponder - The Vikings Quarterback, he who stayed strong in the pocket against the Packers the week before, was ruled inactive less than an hour before the game against the Packers this week due to elbow bursitis. What? He was going to miraculously recover from this injury acquired in that previously mentioned game overnight? I suppose the Vikings were hoping. Ponder tried. He got out on the field and threw some passes, but it was "evident" he wouldn't be able to play, and since this ain't your 70's football any more, he was ruled inactive and in went the back-up. A man who hadn't thrown a pass in a game since 2010. No way Terry Bradshaw would have sat on the sidelines during a playoff game due to an inflamed elbow. But in this new football era players are worth more, more medical knowledge is known, like getting head butted over and over isn't good long term, and thus players are removed from the game. Or not.
Joe Webb - The back up quarterback thrown in at the last moment started out looking like he might accomplish something, but alas, no. He could run and trading off with Adrian Peterson worked the first two times, but the Packers defense wasn't about to let anyone do what Peterson had done to them the week before. Poor Joe Webb hadn't a chance.
Tony Dungy - Before the game, after viewers had just watched Vikings coach Leslie Frazier smile secretly while talking about Webb, Dungy had me believing this kid would actually pull off a miracle.
Venue - One indoor, one outdoor. Football should be played in the elements. What's the matter with these Texas teams? I watched Friday Night Lights. What's going on with the indoor stadiums?
Cincinnati/Texans - Neither quarterbacks, Matt Schaub nor Andy Dalton, looked like playoff quarterbacks, especially in the first half. Fortunately for Schaub the Texans had a better defense.
Sunday
Colts/Ravens - Let's see...the Colts head coach Chuck Pagano was the Ravens offensive coordinator last year. The Ravens defensive coordinator this year, Jim Caldwell, was the Colts head coach last year. The media was all over that as if it would prove to somehow impact the game. It didn't.
Bruce Arians - The Colts offensive coordinator, who also stepped in as the Colts head coach while Pagano was treated for his cancer, was taken to the hospital several hours before the game for flu like symptoms and never made it back. Instead the quarterback coach called the plays.
Andrew Luck - He had a good run for his first year, but losing Arians and playing against a top notch defense in the playoffs were too much for the rookie.
Ray Lewis - The retiring 17 year linebacker came out of the tunnel on to his home field for the last time roaring, dancing, and motivating his teammates to kick ass, and by god it might just work all the way to the big game.
Redskins - The drama with this team started during the week with replays of coach Mike Shanahan answering questions about a game RGIII was injured in. In explaining why his quarterback came back into the game when he probably shouldn't have, Shanahan inadvertently (?) put the blame on the team's head doctor. The doctor, Dr. James Andrews, took offense to it and this week came out with his own statement refuting Shanahan and saying he never saw the kid. My opinion? RGIII put himself back into the game. Either way Dr. Andrews didn't look so comfortable out on the field. When RGIII was taken into the mysterious, little shed near the bench on Sunday Andrews went inside and immediately came back out. Thrown out? When RGIII went down for the last time on the field Andrews was out there, but he was on the outer circle and not down on his knees examining the injury. I wonder how good his contract is with the team.
RGIII - Unlike Ponder, the Redskins quarterback played with his injured knee wrapped in a brace. The big question that everyone is now asking, after the fact, is who made this decision? Because in the final minutes of the game on Sunday the center snapped the ball low and RGIII twisted his knee in trying to pick up the ball. Before that he hadn't played up to par, but he looked the same to me as the last time I watched him play; in a game he lost to Pittsburgh. Sometimes you're hot and sometimes you're not and perhaps the injury was a factor, but... So now we have an injured quarterback who chose to play hurt, who ended up more damaged then when he started, and the questions are swirling. Why was he even in the game? Why did Shanahan let him play? Uh, because this is football and Shanahan is old school and RGIII himself told the coach he could play. I understand it, but unlike the situation with Ponder, the Redskins had a decent back-up quarterback who had already proved his worth earlier this year. Why not try him first and have RGIII as the backup just in case? As it is now the Redskins are done and RGIII is hobbling with an undisclosed injury.
Russell Wilson - Meanwhile, my pick for Rookie of the Year (several weeks back), is the only one still standing. Wilson came in, took charge, stayed cool in and out of the pocket, and even helped Marshawn Lynch score a touchdown by tackling a defender. He showed poise, determination, and confidence on the field. And he gets to play another week.
Seattle - They are the little team that could just make it all the way up the hill to New Orleans. They have to get through Atlanta first, but this team is riding a high with this win, and as crazy as Pete Carroll is about winning he is infectious and certainly motivating.
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