by Don It's Wildcard Weekend in the NFL and there are some interesting matchups to open this year's playoffs.  The NFC East has once again risen to the top of the pile with three of four teams making it to the post season.  Peyton and the Colts could finally be starting their march to the Super Bowl, but they've got much work ahead of them.  Chad Pennington and the Jets look to bust out against division rival New England.  Kansas City and Seattle are in from the west to try and complete their own paths to glory.  From here on in, every team left controls their own destiny.  So let the games . . . BEGIN!! There were some good games this weekend, check the post mortems on them below each preview.

Chiefs vs. Colts Final Score: Colts 23 - Chiefs 8      Some would say that Kansas City backed into the playoffs, but they did manage to win their game this past weekend while Cincinnati, Denver and Tennessee all took losses to eliminate themselves from contention.  The initial reaction to this game might be, "Well, they have to go into Indy to take on Peyton and the Colts, so it's been nice but so long Chiefs."  But hold on a minute.  The Colts sport the worst rush defense in the league and they are going against the second best running back in the form of one Larry Johnson who has rushed for 1789 yards this season.       Herm Edwards has to be licking his chops right now while Tony Dungy has to be scrambling to find a solution for a running defense that has more leaks in it than a dyke in Holland during a thunder storm in spring time.  Conversely, Edwards and the Chiefs have to find a way to stop Peyton Manning and his corp of receivers.  Who do you cover: Marvin Harrison, Reggie Wayne and/or Brandon Stokely?  And if you do manage to cover up the passing game, Joseph Addai will likely pound the ball down the throat of your defense.  The running back out of LSU has quietly rushed for 1081 yards in his rookie season averaging almost 5 yards per carry.  So slowing down the the Colts can be problematic, but if there is a wild card team Indy didn't want to see, it's the Chiefs, who are built to exploit the lack of run defense.  Keys to winning for the Chiefs:  Offense: ball control - pound the ball with Larry Johnson and keep Manning and the Colt offense off the field.  Defense: Keep the passing game in check by getting pressure on Manning and flushing him out of the pocket.  Watch for the middle screens to Addai if you do start getting pressure on Manning. Keys to winning for the Colts:  Offense:  Protect Peyton, give him time to find his receivers - offset the passing game with solid rushing from Addai.  Defense:  Put a bunch in the box and contain Larry Johnson and the Chiefs running game - use that to also pressure Trent Green and keep any hope of a passing game in check as well. Post Mortem: Well, the Chiefs certainly tried to get the running game going early with Larry Johnson, but the Colts were up to the task and held Johnson to just 32 yards on 13 carries.  In fact, the Colts defense played lights out all day holding the Chiefs to no points and just 16 yards total offense in the first half.  Furthermore, Kansas City was only able to muster 126 total yards of offense for the entire game.  The only real break in the Indy defense came late in the third quarter when the Chiefs put together their only decent drive of the day going 60 yards on 8 plays capped by a Green to Gonzalez 8 yard TD pass and a 2 point conversion to make the game a contest at 16-8.  The Chiefs defense didn't miss out on giving their offense opportunities.  Ty Law intercepted two passes while another was intercepted by Jarrad Page.  Manning didn't have his most impressive game ever - passing for 268 yards, 1 TD and 3 oskies, but the Colts running game was able to throw enough balance to keep the game under control.  Joseph Addai and Dominic Rhodes put up 190 yards rushing between them.  Ultimately Tony Dungy was able to come up with the scheme to stop Johnson on the ground at to hold Trent Green to 107 yards passing and 1 TD.  Indianapolis also intercepted him twice and sacked him four times.  The Colts now go to their old hometown of Baltimore to take on the Ravens and their top ranked defense.

Cowboys vs. Seahawks Final Score: Seahawks 21 - Cowboys 20        This game features a couple of teams that a month ago everyone was thinking might be the teams punching it out for the NFC championship.  Now both teams have lost three of their last four games and if not for the fact that they were playing each other this weekend, both could have been watching the playoffs from home after wild card weekend.  Inconsistancy on both sides of the ball has been an issue during the last month for both teams.  Both show signs of brilliance at times and at others that they might have just attended a motivational speech given by Droopy Dog.  That said, one team will get at least a second week into the playoffs and all you need is a good run to win the whole shabang.       Everyone also gets to find out this weekend if spending a rather large sum of money to get a guy like Terrell Owens was worth it.  Here's a guy who has dropped more passes this season than anyone in the NFL, but he also leads the NFL in receiving touchdowns with 13.  Another great story for the Cowboys has been the emergence of second year quarterback Tony Romo.  He has the 5th best passer rating the the league and had his best passing yardage game to date in the final week of the season against Detroit when he passed for 321 yards, 2 TD's and 1 interception.       For the Seahawks, Shaun Alexander, despite missing six games with a broken foot, managed to rush for just under 900 yards on the season.  Matt Hasselback was a bit inconsistent throughout the early part of the season and finished up in the same fashion.  He will need to be more patient in the pocket and not force the ball too much this weekend. Keys to winning for the Cowboys:  Offense: Let Romo be Romo.  Get him out of the pocket and find receivers downfield.  Though not a running QB, he seems to do well on when he's on the move.  Defense:  Stop Shaun Alexander.  Make the Seahawks one-dimensional and force Hasselback to win the game.  Keys to winning for the Seahawks:  Offense:  Alexander running and Alexander receiving in the flat and middle screen.  Get Shaun into the open field and the second level of the Cowboy defense and he can have a huge game which will open things up for Hasselback and the passing game.  Defense:  Get pressure and containment on Romo.  Don't let him out of the pocket and force the young QB to make bad decisions.  Post Mortem:  A classic example of how fortunes can change in a moment.  Dallas had a seven point lead and the ball with just under 7 minutes left in the game and a mishandled ball by Terry Glenn at the 2 yard line followed by the ball being knocked into and out of the endzone for a safety gave the Seahawks a huge momentum boost.  After the free kick, Jerramy Stevens took a 37 yard pass from Matt Hasselbeck into the endzone for the 21-20 lead.  Dallas put together a good drive that got them to the Seattle 8 yard line.  Then on 3rd and 7 from the Seahawk 8 yard line, Romo connected with Witten on a pass over the middle that was good for a first down at the 1 with just over a minute left.  However, after an official review, the ball was moved back short of the first down by a half yard.  So on 4th down, all the Cowboys had to do was kick a short field goal for the lead.  The snap came, and the ball slipped right through Romo's hands whereupon he scooped it up and attempted to run, but was stopped a yard short of the first down.  Seattle took over on downs, ran off all but two seconds and forced the Cowboys to make a desperation "Hail Mary" pass that fell to the ground in the endzone.  The Seahawks now head to Chicago to take on the Bears.  For the Cowboys, they get to sit at home and wonder if Bill Parcels will come back for the final year of his contract and if so, will he want Terrell Owens to stick around.

Jets vs. Patriots Final Score: Patriots 37 - Jets 16      A battle between AFC East rivals in this one as the Wild Card Jets roll into Foxboro to take on Tom Brady and the divisional champ Patriots.  They met twice during the regular season with each taking away a win at the other team's home field.  Could that be what happens this weekend?  New England has the same solid offense they've had for several years now lead by Tom Brady at QB.  Is it weird that just a couple years ago we were referring to this guy as a young upstart?  Then the game in the snow against the Raiders, an upset of the Rams in the Super Bowl and now he's quickly becoming the veteran that just knows how to win.  And there is no denying the strength of playoff experience with the Pats as they've won three of the last five Super Bowls while the Jets have to go clear back to Joe Namath for their last appearance in the "Big Tuh-doo."       Chad Pennington was named comeback player of the year, as his last two seasons have been pretty rough missing out on large portions of both with injuries and while his stats won't wow anyone, he's been a steady leader of the New York offense.  He'll be looking for Laveranues Coles and Jerricho Cotchery this Sunday in an effort to keep the Jets alive to the next round.  The running game for the Jets doesn't have a premiere feature back, but Leon Washington and Cedric Houston have been a decent 1-2 punch to help balance out the offense a bit.       Tom Brady likes to spread the ball around on offense having seven receivers with more than twenty catches on the season.  His primary target has been Reche Caldwell with 61 catches for 760 yards and 4 TD's on the year.  The Patriots have a tandem sharing carries in the backfield and while neither Cory Dillon or Laurence Maroney have had 1000 yard seasons, they've rushed for over 1500 together.       The one thing that stands out in this matchup is defense.  Both teams know how to keep opponents from scoring, with New England being the 2nd in the league while the Jets are 6th in scoring defense having given up 14.8 and 18.4 points per game respectively.  Both are about equal agains the pass giving up right at 200 yds per game.  If there is a difference, it's in run defense.  New England only gives up 94 yards per game (5th in the league) while the Jets 130 per game (24th).  Bill Belichick will more than likely be hitting hard with his own 1-2 combo of Dillon and Maroney in this one.      Keys to winning for the Jets:  Offense: Get the passing game going early to spread out the Patriot defense.  Take care of the ball.  Tom Brady has been good at taking advantage of other team's mistakes on offense  Defense: Find some way to stop the run.  With the tandem at running back the Pats have, it will be tough to get either tired, so the Jets must play the run tough all game.    Keys to winning for the Patriots:  Offense: Take advantage of the poor run defense of the Jets to force them to put 8 or 9 in the box then . . . light it up downfield   Defense:  Get pressure on Pennington early and often.  Force turnovers. Post Mortem:  This one was actually than the score would indicate, though watching it, one never got the sense that the Patriots were ever not in control of this one.  Overall it wasn't a bad game for either team until midway through the 4th quarter when the Patriots pulled away.  Tom Brady passed for 212 yards and a pair of TD's while Maroney, Dillon and Kevin Faulk combined for 145 yards rushing which was almost double what the Jets were able to pull togther on the ground.  The Patriots now have their work cut out for them as they go to San Diego to take on the 14-2 Chargers with the league MVP, LaDanian Tomlinson.

Giants vs. Eagles Final Score: Eagles 23 - Giants 20      After Donovan McNabb went down with an injured knee that put him out for the season in week 11 and the Eagles at 5-5, everyone pretty much wrote off Philadelphia in terms of the post season.  Without McNabb, not only did the Eagles make the playoffs, they went 5-1 in their last six games and won the NFC East with Jeff Garcia leading the way.  It seemed as though McNabb's early exit lead to the rest of the team cinching up their pads a little tighter and playing that much harder.       As for the matchup between these divisional rivals, they split the pair of games against each other during the season.  In their first meeting in New York back in Septmeber, the Eagles blew a 17 point lead and lost in overtime 30-24 while they took the second game 36-22 in Philadelphia on December 17th.       Jeff Garcia has had a lot of success and a big part of that is the balance Brian Westbrook brings to this offense.  He brings a strong dual threat having rushed for 1217 yards and 699 receiving yards.  He is incredibly tough to handle when he gets the ball in open space.  He also takes very good care of the ball having fumbled only twice in 317 touches this season.      Tiki Barber brings some serious game himself as the #4 rusher in the league with 1662 on the ground.  He is nimble, he's fast and he takes care of the ball as well as Westbrook having only lost 1 fumble in 385 touches this season.  Eli Manning will need to step up his play if the Giants are to advance beyond the first round of the playoffs.  While Eli is 3rd in the league in touchdowns, he's 4th in interceptions with 18.  Jeremy Shockey will be a target that Manning will need to hit a lot this weekend to give the Giants a chance.  Without success in the underneath passing game, Eli will have some issues with having time to find receivers deep downfield to find Plaxico Burress.              Keys to winning for the Giants:  Offense: Ball security - good decisions from Eli Manning in the pocket and Tiki moving in open ground.   Defense: Stop Westbrook and get pressure on Garcia - lock down the receivers to give the front four time to get to Garcia. Keys to winning for the Eagles:  Offense: Use Brian Westbrook as much as possible to pull as many Giant defenders into the box as possible to open up the passing game  Defense:  Get pressure on Eli in a quick enough manner so as to prevent him from getting the deep ball to Plaxico Burress.  Locking down Shockey will go a long way toward helping this. Post Mortem:  The Giants rolled out and on their first offensive drive went 67 yards on 7 plays finishing with a 17 yard TD pass from Eli Manning to Plaxico Burress.  After that, the Giants kind of went to sleep for awhile.  They did manage to tie the game up twice, but the New York defense was unable to stop the Eagles from getting in range of a field goal on their final drive and allowing David Akers to put the ball through the uprights for the win and the right to advance to the next round of the playoffs.  Eli Manning was hot and cold all day long, however, despite all the critics, he did put together the late game drive capped by an 11 yard TD to Burress that forced the Eagles to go after another score.  Brian Westbrook and Tiki Barber both had great games for the respective teams both gaining 150+ multipurpose yards.  Now Westbrook and the Eagles go to New Orleans to take on the Saints, while the Giants contemplate whether or not Tom Coughlin will be back next season and what life will be like without Tiki.