NFL Wild Card '11 What I Learned

• The Saints ain't what they were last year.  At least the defense isn't.  The only story of the Seahawks-Saints game was the utter lack of defense by the champs.  They made superstars out of over-the-hill guys like Matt Hasselbeck and Brandon Stokley, and they allowed Marshawn Lynch to emasculate them with one run.  Drew Brees tried like hell to keep up, but he couldn't.  And with that, score another one for the college coach rallying the guys and leading them to heights no one could have imagined.  Before I laugh at the thought of the Hawks traveling to the Windy City next Sunday and continuing their dream journey, I can't ignore the fact that of their 7 measly wins, one of them was at Chicago.  Can I rule them out for another one after how they played in this game?
• Peyton Manning may have to totally readjust his approach to football in order to succeed.  He clearly allowed the New York Jets' D to dictate everything he did.  He audibled out of passes on long 3rd downs, which are passing situations, and although sometimes those running plays that he checked to worked and they converted for 1st downs, they didn't work sometimes and the Colts were forced to end drives.  And when Manning did throw, he all but refused to look Reggie Wayne's way, all because his best receiver was being guarded by CB Darrelle Revis.  Look, Revis is very good when healthy.  But by not throwing to Wayne almost the entire game, Manning seemed to be indicating that he didn't trust his best WR to make a play when he needed to.  The season seemed to be about trust for Indianapolis, how much Manning had in guys who subsequently went down due to injury (Clark and Collie) and how much he didn't have in the weapons left over (White, perhaps Wayne).  Simply put, if Manning thought his receivers were worthy, and if he thought he himself was that damn good, he would have attempted more than 26 passes, and the Colts may have won the game.  I give almost no credit to the Jets and their garbage, overthrowing QB.  But that shouldn't be a surprise, since I carry Peyton's water.
• The Chiefs did what I feared they would do when I picked them, which is unravel at the first sign of adversity.  If Baltimore would have backed down and played scared after Jamaal Charles's TD run, maybe Kansas City could have built enough confidence to hold on to their lead and win the game.  But once the Ravens started playing tougher defense and Joe Flacco started targeting Todd Heap and Ray Rice as his reliable pass catchers, the Chiefs lost their cool and couldn't recover.  On one of Matt Cassel's picks, he held the ball forever and still drilled his throw right to the defender.  That's called shitting your pants for the world to see.  And the cheap shots throughout the 4th quarter after every whistle exposed KC as totally unprepared for the spotlight of playoff football.  The coaches weren't ready either.  Nine carries on the game for Charles??  Frustrating if he was struggling early and they didn't show confidence in him, completely mind-boggling in light of his 1st-quarter 41-yard sprint.  Maybe the Chefs can cook up a better game plan next year with a new offensive coordinator.
• And not much to say about what the Packers did to the Eagles, except to say that it's a tribute to Michael Vick that he got no help from the running game and little help from his star WRs and seemed to be limping around the whole game that he still almost won.  In fact, on the Eagles' final drive, Vick came out with a 28-yard crossing pass to DeSean Jackson that puts Philadelphia ahead if Jackson can break the last shoestring tackle and take it to the house.  Then Vick wouldn't have had to force his last pass in the corner and have it picked off by Jason's X-factor, Tramon Williams.  The Packers are as dangerous as any team in the NFC if they can continue to have a running game to balance their offense.  I'd say that there isn't a chance in hell they win that game with Greg Jennings catching 1 ball for 8 yards if not for James Starks rushing as well as he did.  And one more bouquet thrown Jason's way--he groaned at the mention of James Jones before the game, imploring him to catch a ball once in a while instead of dropping them.  Sure enough, Jones dropped a sure TD that would have put GB up big before Philly started their comeback.  Is there anything Jason didn't see coming with the exception of Seattle winning straight up?