Wildcard weekend Saturday round up

NFC - Eagles 14 @ Cowboys 34 -- It's been 14 years but it was worth the wait. The Cowboys finally break their miserable streak and win a post season game. And what a win. The score looks impressive, but even that doesn't do it justice. The Cowboys chalked up 10 more first downs than the Eagles and given the explosiveness of the Cowboys in this game, that's saying something. They executed in all facets of the game and the Eagles didn't. Compare the 3rd down totals for example. Eagles 2/11 (18%), Cowboys 9/16 (56%). As predicted, the Eagles abandoned the run. McCoy and Weaver shared the prize for most carries on their team with 5 each. That's pathetic. The end result is a one dimensional offense that modern defensive co-ordinators have little trouble dealing with. They can dial up the pressure and let their pass rush loose, safe in the knowledge that gap soundness can be relaxed just a touch. The result was four sacks and not a lot of offense from Philadelphia. Their best play was when Michael Vick entered the game and on his first throw he sent a laser pass to Jeremy Maclin, who took it 76 yards for a TD and the longest play in Eagles post season history. And it was a laser. Whatever Vick lost while he was incarcerated, he's gradually getting it back. Next year is going to be a good year for him. Meanwhile, Tony Romo was going wild with 23/35 for 244 yards and 2 TDs. But the real star was Felix Jones. 16 carries for 148 yards and a TD, including a 73 yard dash that is now the longest run in Cowboys post season history. He also made one catch, for 30 yards, which involved tearing off down the sideline at break neck speed before vaulting a poor excuse for a tackle and then tippy toeing a few more yards until he finally went out of bounds. It was, as Sterling Sharpe is fond of saying, 'a thing of beauty'. And so was my pick! AFC - Jets 24 @ Bengals 14 -- Ask yourself a question. Knowing that your opposition for the next game a) has the best (and the only true shutdown) cornerback in the league & b) is very fond of exotic blitzes, and bearing in mind that you have three very good running backs and an O-line that is pretty dominant, would you prefer to run the ball a lot or pass it a lot? If you said pass then you can read the mind of the Bengals coaching staff. And you're also an idiot. The Bengals went 18/36 for 146 yards, 1 TD and 1 Int. They have a perfectly good (possibly even exceptional) 3 man rushing attack and their O-line has man handled people in the run game all year. Yet they are now out of the post season due to their inexplicable desire to be ranked among the more pass happy teams of the pass happy NFL. The Jets are the opposite. You get the feeling that their Head Coach Rex Ryan doesn't care whether it's pretty or not, a win is a win. And that's what they got. It was ugly, brutal, down in the trenches football (love it!) and it did indeed get them a win. Sanchez attempted just 15 passes (less than half as many as Palmer), but he completed 12 and clocked 182 yards (36 more than Palmer) for a TD and crucially, no INT. And as the Bengals stuck doggedly to one back, despite having two others to spare, the Jets shared the wealth between Shonne Greene (21 carries, 135 yards, 1 TD) and Thomas Jones (15 carries, 34 yards, 1 TD). The result was a bruising ground game that went hard for 60 minutes and set up some great play action for Sanchez to exploit. Throw in three sacks for the Jets (to the Bengals 0) plus a forced fumble and an interception for Darrelle Revis, who held Chad Ochocinco to just 2 catches for 28 yards, and you have yourself a recipe for a playoff win. The Jets advance and rightly so. They were the better team, with the better gameplan, and they've earned every last bit of praise that they'll receive in the run up to their next game. Including my thanks for making it 2 out of 2 for my Saturday picks!