1. Larry Fitzgerald is a freak. He changed that game several times over.
2. Kurt Warner – he may be old and all, but it’s hard to count him out when the chips are down. It’s not impossible to imagine him taking them a long way. Not likely, but possible.
3. This was the first time in more than 40 years that a rookie QB and coach started a playoff game together. It will happen again tomorrow. Ryan’s struggles raise real questions about what Joe Flacco will have to bring tomorrow. I don’t know what to think. Flacco is a different player than Ryan, and his team’s success doesn’t rely on him as much as it does on Ryan, so my gut feeling is not to rule him out. Or maybe that’s just because I like the Ravens.
4. So Edgerrin James isn’t entirely washed up after all. He wasn’t world class, but he was a heck of a lot better than he had been in a while. I also got a real sense that the offense was using him in a way that better suits his not inconsiderable talents. That big smile he was wearing all day was reason to believe that this team just might not be a total write off – we know how dangerous he can be if he is right and motivated.
5. All that being said, I find it really, really hard to believe in Arizona.
6. If I was a lesser man I’d go on about how Peyton Manning didn’t look very MVP-like today, or how he didn’t come through in a big game again, but I am better than that. Sure, his numbers were pretty good. He just didn’t come through when he needed to. He’ll have a while to reflect on what happened, I guess.
7. The thought of a team that was once 4-8 winning a playoff game makes me kind of ill. The thought of them winning again is enough to make me puke. Sadly, it could certainly happen. After all, they have now won five in a row with their lives on the line.
8. I said that if I had to pick one team to go al the way it would be the Colts. They made it as far as the first day. I’m not sure why I bother sometimes.
9. Darren Sproles kind of made Tomlinson’s injury status irrelevant, didn’t he?
10. It appears that home field advantage is worth the fight. At least it was today.
