NFL Playoffs - These Are the Champions

What an interesting weekend of games we had!  Both went pretty much how I expected, although the scores were slightly higher than I expected.

AFC - New York Jets at Indianapolis Colts : As expected, the Jets defense gave the Colts fits in the first half, but they made adjustments during halftime and came out swinging.  Unlike the Ravens game, the Colts actually fell behind, trailing by eleven points late in the second quarter.  After that, though, it was all Colts.  Manning and company moved the ball very effectively, even though Jets' Derrelle Revis clung tightly to star receiver Reggie Wayne.  The #1 wideout only caught three passes in the game, but Manning simply turned his attention elsewhere, mostly to Pierre Garcon and Austin Collie, who each had over 100 yards receiving.  Manning ended up with over 350 yards passing and three touchdowns with no interceptions.  Sanchez wasn't picked off, either, although he only mustered 257 yards and two touchdowns.

Sanchez's stats are the big surprise.  After focussing on a running attack during most of the season and postseason, the Jets switched tactics and passed more.  It worked early, as their first touchdown (which gave them the lead 7-3) was a 80-yard bomb to Braylon Edwards.  Their second touchdown was set up with a 45 pass play to Jerricho Cotchery and completed with a 19-yard pass play to Dustin Keller.  Those were the main highlights, as the two running backs couldn't gain fifty yards each.  The Jets couldn't get into Colts territory offensively in the fourth quarter.  The closest they came to a score in the third quarter was their first drive, which got to the Colts 34-yard line.  The field goal missed, though (a chronic problem during these playoffs), and the Jets were shut-out in the second half.

NFC - Minnesota Vikings at New Orleans Saints:  This one was definitely an instant classic!  No team ever led by more than seven points, the teams mostly exchanged scores, and the game went into overtime.  This was great!

Performance-wise, it wasn't as great.  Truthfully, the Vikings dominated the Saints in all ways except the score.  They lost because they dominated in one other crucial stats - turnovers lost.  Just like in the 2000 NFC Championship, where the Vikings came in 15-1 yet lost to an clearly weaker Atlanta Falcons team due to turnovers, the Vikings repeat the problem ten years later.  The Vikings fumbled six times, losing half of them to the Saints, and Favre was intercepted twice.  On the other side, the Saints turned the ball over only once, a Reggie Bush punt recovery that gave the Vikings excellent field position.

The Saints offense gained less than 300 yards; their 28 points in regulation were assisted by excellent field position due to the Vikings turnovers.  On the other hand, the Vikings offense churned out nearly 500 yards in the loss.  The Vikings clearly had the better offense and defense, they just couldn't hold onto the ball.  Adrian Peterson, who suffered many fumbles in his first two seasons, lost the ball twice, but the Vikings got both of those back.  The passing game suffered all of the turnovers, as receivers Berrian and Harvin lost two of the fumbles and Favre lost the other.  Even when the Vikings recovered their own fumbles, though, they lost field position and momentum; most of their non-scoring drives were stalled or stopped by turnovers or fumbles.