Bittersweet Endings

It was a pretty crazy weekend in Football. For those of you who missed the games here is a quick rundown: Seattle beat Washington 35-14, Jacksonville surprised Pittsburgh 31-29, the NY Giants won versus Tampa Bay 24-17, and San Diego finished off Tennessee 17-6.

The weekend kicked off with Washington heading to Seattle. After all the Redskins have endured this season with the death of Sean Taylor, the team really turned around their season to prove they deserved a playoff spot. They locked in their spot with a 21 point win; they also fell from the playoffs with 21 point loss. For those of you who aren’t NFL fans that was Sean Taylor’s number, coincidence? The game itself was all Seattle in the first half, when the tables turned the Redskins looked like they may pull out a win. In just 2 ½ fourth quarter minutes Seattle watched their 13 point lead turn into a one point shortage. Seattle responded with three touchdowns to finish what playoff hopes the Redskins had left. Seattle’s conquest means they battle the Green Bay Packers 3:30pm ET this coming Saturday.

In game two of Saturday’s line-up the Jacksonville Jaguars faced the Pittsburgh Steelers. These two teams are well matched, but I believe that Jacksonville is shaping up to be the new Pittsburgh. Their defense looked solid, and running game is far superior to the majority of teams in the NFL. With these factors and with Pittsburgh having some key players out with injuries, the Jaguars kicker Josh Scobee was able to steal the win with a 37 seconds left to play field goal. So this coming Saturday at 8pm ET the Jaguars will try and put the first dent into the Patriots perfect season by knocking them out of the playoffs.

Had you turned on your TV Sunday and just watched the first quarter of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and NY Giants game, you would have expected to turn back in an hour and see Tampa Bay dominating the game. The Giants never picked up a first down. However, the tables turned and Tampa’s inexperienced offensive line didn’t stand a chance verse the Giant’s fired up defense. It was obvious the Tampa Bay starters had been rested before the playoffs, they did not perform nearly as well as they had for most of this season. The offense looked sloppy, and the defense just couldn’t stop what was one of the most impressive performances we have seen Eli Manning give. The Giants were ready for this game, and if they continue to perform this way, no team should dismiss facing them in the playoffs. The Giants performance led them to a 24 to 14 win over the Buccaneers, and that put the Giants at 8-1 on the road. This Sunday they stay on the road and head to Dallas 4:30pm ET.

Capping off the weekend was the San Diego Chargers victory over the Tennessee Titans. It’s been thirteen years since San Diego has won in the postseason, and they fought through the rain to get there. The Titans started strong with two field goals and kept the Chargers to zero at the half. When the Chargers returned to the field they were ready to play and held the Titans to just those first six points. LT secured the Chargers victory with an air-born touchdown that had to be reviewed on video to insure it was indeed a touchdown. So the Chargers took the win 17 to 6 over the Titans. Next Sunday at 1PM ET The Chargers will take on the Indianapolis Colts, and try to defeat them for the second time this season.