Since the current playoff system was introduced in the NFL, never have all four home teams won in the Divisional Round. When the Packers ran out onto Lambeau Field late Sunday afternoon, all three of the previous home teams had already won this weekend.
The Green Bay Packers obliged history by losing to the New York Giants. And in a most uncharacteristic fashion.
So, let’s take a look back at the weekend that was.
Broncos-Patriots
The late Saturday game wasn’t much of a contest: a real disappoint-ment after the thriller earlier in the day. There’s no question that the Patriots were the better offense -- we all knew that going in. But while the Bronco defense is better than New England’s, it wasn’t good enough to slow down Brady & Co. The notoriously poor Patriot defense, meanwhile, was sufficient for the lesser task of stopping the Broncos. Or perhaps it was the Patriot offense that stopped Denver’s offense. After all, it was the worst possible scenario for the Broncos, a team built to run. But it’s hard to be a run-first team when you’re down by 14 and 21 early. No contest.
Texans-Ravens
Houston fans have to wonder what might have been. What might have been with one fewer interception? What might have been if their starting quarterback had stayed healthy? Or his back-up?
The Texans performed heroically through their season of setbacks, and they did an impressive job in their two postseason games, as well. They almost pulled off the upset in Baltimore, but they simply made too many mistakes… something of a theme among losing teams this weekend.
Meanwhile, were the Ravens’ pants even regulation NFL gear? They looked like dancers out there.
Saints-49ers
This was one for the books. This was the kind of loss that will give New Orleans fans nightmares for weeks to come. New Orleans coaches and players, too.
It was a classic match-up of offense-vs.-defense, and the defense was winning -- as it so often does in the postseason. For 55 minutes, San Francisco had made the game their kind of game, had kept the score low, and had largely contained the explosive Saints offense. And then, with just five minutes left to go, New Orleans took their first lead of the game, and a Saints’ win suddenly seemed inevitable. It just looked like it didn’t matter how far or how long New Orleans was behind: they could burst out and score at will. That’s what it looked like.
But then the final five minutes turned into a scoring-fest and a terrific battle of nerves. Through it all, I honestly expected the Saints to prevail in the end. They were the hot team, they were the scoring machine, and they were the guys with all of the playoff experience. But you have to be impressed by what Alex Smith and the 49ers managed to do.
So now what to make of the Saints… They won it all at the end of the 2009 season. They looked like they had what it took to repeat in 2010, but then were upset in the playoffs on the road against the unlikely Seahawks. They were the hottest team going into the postseason at the end of 2011, but with that one nagging question hanging over them: Could they win on the road?
And they couldn’t.
It’s hard to think that won’t play into their team psyche in 2012. They’ll have to secure home field advantage, or else they’ll walk into someone else’s place in January and feel like they’re walking under a ladder or across a broken mirror.
For all of that, though, the Saints’ fans are some of my favorite people right now -- although I don’t know any of them personally. I wish I did, for they are the ones who would understand: they are the ones who know exactly how we feel right now. Such high hopes dashed. So much potential squandered by turnovers and mistakes. Such a bitter taste in our mouths on this momentous weekend.
Giants-Packers
Green Bay is a profoundly Catholic city: how ironic that the Packers should be buried by a Hail Mary.
Well, the last play of the first half can hardly be considered the fatal blow against a good team like the Packers. And yet, in my own mind, the game was in question even earlier than that.
Make no mistake, I was very confident heading into this game. If both teams played their best ball, I was certain we’d win.
That didn’t happen, though, did it? Both teams didn’t play their best ball.
I felt sure we would win when we took the field and kicked off to new York. I felt sure we would win when we held the Giants to a field goal on the opening drive. I felt sure we would win when I saw our offense move like a machine down the field, even though it ended in only three points. I even felt sure we would win when we gave up the big play that allowed the Giants to go up 10-3.
But when McCarthy opted for an onside kick, then I stopped being sure.
It was a 10-10 game in the second quarter and we were playing at home. What gives? That’s just too cutesy, it seems to me, for a superior team. That’s what the underdog does. That’s what the insecure team does.
It may be, though, that our fate was sealed even earlier than that questionable coaching call.
I hate to mix the events of a mere game with real-life tragedy, but it’s hard not to wonder about the effect of the death of Joe Philbin’s son. With due respect to the New York defense, our offense just never looked in sync. No rhythm. No balance. Poor concentration. Lots of mistakes. Lots of drops. They just weren’t themselves.
Ironically, of course, the fear going into the postseason was that our defense would be our Achilles heel. But not so. The defense played rather well with the ugly hand that was dealt them throughout the game. It was the offense -- the conspicuous strength of this team all season long -- it was the offense that failed so miserably.
We’ll write a more suitable epitaph on the 2011 season as a whole later. It’s too early right now, though, and the emotions are too raw.
It’s hard to believe, and it’s very hard to live with this bad taste in my mouth.
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