And then there were four
by Ivette Ricco, President of Femmefan.com

January 11, 2004

2003 NFL Division Playoffs

The feeling was unmistakable, the rush, the high, and then the sigh of relief. Yes football's familiar and addictive sensations were undeniable this football weekend.

Even if your team is out of the playoffs (I completely understand how satisfying sour grapes taste) if you love football you had to relish the football feast served up in the divisional playoffs. This weekend was football Nirvana. Excellent competition with no blowouts and 4 games that hung in the balance until it was time for the fat lady to sing. The fat lady had to wait until the final whistle to utter a note.

Cardiac Call.

The best of these four contests in my opinion was the Rams vs. the Panthers on Saturday.

The lead changed hands as often as JLo changes lovers and the Rams made a dramatic comeback in the fourth quarter to tie the game. The Rams scored a touchdown, a two-point conversion, and recovered an onside kick all within a three-minute time frame. With the ball on the Panthers 15 yard line and 24 seconds left in regulation, what does Martz do? He does something very un-Martz-like and elects to kick a field goal to send the game into OT. This call will be a hot topic on St. Louis talk shows for months.

After 60 minutes of nerve-wracking play I was ready to get this thing over with. But the drama continued. The Cats won the toss and moved the ball to get in field goal range. The games appeared over as the Panthers successfully kicked the field goal. But wait - the refs throw a flag and the Cats are called for a delay of game!

Call the cardiac unit; the old ticker is pounding like a son of a witch. Okay, calm down, the Cats have a second shot at it. Whoa Nellie, the usually reliable Kasay misses on the second try. By now football fans all over America are racing around their homes trying to hit the john and grab a snack before the action starts again. This is the marathon of all games.

The Rams have another opportunity to win the game with a field goal. No problem, right? Wrong. Jeff Wilkins misses it!

Holy crapola, I've lost track of where I am and who I am, I do know that the game goes into double overtime! The Cats have the ball again and on the first play of double OT (after intercepting Marc Bulger), DelHomme sails the ball down the middle of the field to Steve Smith who eludes Jason Seahorn for the winning touchdown. Thank gawd.

How cold was it?

The Pats and the Titans played in what can only be described as frigid weather.

I had to throw blankets over me, put on some gloves and sip on some brandy just to get in the mood. Mind you I'm sitting comfortably in my Northern California home with a nice fire burning and the sun shining brightly outside.

The Pats and the Titans played a methodical and tactical game. This game pitted two very well coached and balanced teams with neither team dominating the action. The Titans had an opportunity to win it or tie it at the end but McNair's pass to Drew Bennett on 4 th and 12 was dropped. The Pats hung on to win it 17-14. The Pats have now won 13 in a row, and will welcome the red hot Colts to New England on Sunday.

Peyton Place - anywhere he hangs his hat is home.

In another outstanding performance co-MVP Peyton Manning (right) picked apart the Kansas City Chiefs with 304 yards and three touchdowns in a 38-31 victory. The Colts made the Chiefs defense look like a sieve as Manning led the Colts on scoring drives on six of their first seven possessions.

It was the first time in NFL history there were no punts in a playoff game. In all the Colts gained 434 yards and the Chiefs 408.

Tony Dungy is headed to his first AFC Championship game with one of the NFL's top offenses and a defense that proved just good enough to beat the Chiefs in Kansas City . Tony and his young Colts will now face the Pats and Bill Belichick's defense for a chance to represent the AFC in the Super Bowl.

Packers pack it in.

As Jimmy Johnson noted on Fox's pregame show, he was taking the Eagles in this game, but Favre's humanity touched him. It was hard not to root for the Packers at the end of this season given the personal twist to Favre's season. The Eagles on the other hand are the proverbial bridesmaid and never the bride. The number one seed Eagles vs. the number four seed Packers, sounds like a slam-dunk, right?

Not so fast. Things looked pretty glum for the Eagles early on. McNabb fumbled the ball, and before you could say Rush Limbaugh the Packers were up 14-0. Could they be repeating their annual season ending choke?

The fleet feet of McNabb (left) managed to keep drives alive and set up plays, but the Pack continued to dominate the game with the running of Ahman Green and the solid play of their defensive line, sacking McNabb 8 times during the game.

With the score 17-14 in favor of the Packers and only seconds to play, McNabb connected with a do or die pass on 4 th and 26 to Freddie Michell, giving the Eagles new life and tying the score at 17 all to send the game into overtime.

The Eagles won the coin flip but were stopped on offense by the aggressive Packer defense.

Then Brett Favre-lous took the field in what could have been the next chapter in the Packers "magical" post-season ride, but on the first play, Favre felt the blitz coming and threw a high pass down the field. Safety Brian Dawkins intercepted it and returned it to the Green Bay 34. Five plays later the Eagles kicked the winning field goal winning 20-17 in another fantastic finish.

The Conference Championships will be played on Sunday January 18.

Here are my picks:

AFC Championship Game - Colts at Patriots:
Conventional wisdom says pick the home team. The Pats are 13-0; at home they are playing great team football and have Bill Belichick, coach of the year, at their helm.

The female instinct in me says go the other way. Go with the hot hand of Peyton Manning and the under appreciated coaching of Tony Dungy.

Pick Colts

NFC Championship Game - Panthers at Eagles:
Conventional wisdom says go with the homies, and McNabb.

My female instincts say the Panthers will upset the Eagles at home.

Pick Panthers.

 

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