That is why they call it Wild Card Weekend? You just don’t know what is going to happen. Who would of ever guessed that Brett Favre would throw 4 INT’s in Lambeau Field against the NFL’s second worst rated defense. Those Minnesota Vikings even beat the Packers 31-17 in a cold-weather game. How about the Jets winning in OT or the Rams winning too for the third straight time against the Seattle Seahawks? In fact, the Vikings lost 7 of their last 10 regular season games, the worst record over the final 10 games of any playoff team in the 72-year history of the NFL. Even more revealing is that Minnesota had lost its last 15 straight games played in November or later outdoors, a streak that dates back to a win in Dallas back in 2000. The Vikes have also lost their last 3 straight outdoor playoff games by an average of 23 points before they won in Green Bay. Now they get a free ticket on Sunday to play in Philadelphia.

In one of the other games, the Denver Broncos probably should have stayed home as the Colts crushed them for the second consecutive year. Last year, they lost 41-10. This year, they were down 35-3 at the half and the final ended up being 49-24. Indy QB Peyton Manning passes his way into the record books again. He completed 27 of 33 passes for 457 yards. His QB rating was a phenomenal 145.7 and only Bernie Kosar passed more yards in one playoff game. Did I forget to mention the 5 TD’s he was personally responsible for? In San Diego, the New York Jets won 20-17 in overtime. During regulation, the Chargers were down to their last play with 4th-and-2 from the 2-yard line, when Drew Brees was forced to throw a jump ball as he was being sacked. The ball was intercepted, but Eric Barton was flagged for a personal foul penalty on the play. As he was tackling Brees, he accidentally threw an elbow into his head and that gave the Chargers a first down. Brees then hit Antonio Gates for the game-tying touchdown with 16 seconds left in regulation. The Jets Doug Brien kicked a 28-yard FG for the winning points with 5 seconds left in the first OT period.

Back in the NFC, the ST. Louis Rams beat a sorry Seattle Seahawks team 27-20. Rams QB Marc Bulger connected with TE Cam Cleeland on a 17-yard TD pass with just 2:11 left in the game for the game-winning TD. Seattle still had over 2 minutes all 3 of their timeouts left. QB Matt Hasselback led the team down the field quickly. With 4th-and-4 on the 5-yard line, Hasselback escaped the pocket and darted towards the first down, but at the last second stopped and threw a sidearm throw to Bobby Engram. Engram dropped the ball in the end zone and the Rams move on to Atlanta for a game on Saturday night. This week, in the AFC, both games are rematches from this season. The Jets are in the Steel City again, where just a few weeks ago, lost 17-6. New York actually dominated the first three quarters, but they will be on the road for the third straight week and have several key injuries. New England hosts Indianapolis for the third time in a year. The Patriots beat the Colts in the season opening week and also in last year’s AFC Championship Game. Both games were in Foxboro.

Now looking ahead to the Eagles game Sunday in Philadelphia and listening to fans calling in on WIP radio, you’d think the Vikings were the team favored. Though the Birds will be without T.O., they still have Westbrook, who they did not have last year. On the Vikings offense alone; Randy Moss is playing on a very sore ankle, Mo Williams may miss the game with a badly sprained ankle and a couple of the offensive linemen may be out or at least they will be playing hurt. All the other Eagle starters will be healthy, except that LJ Smith and Mark Simoneau will probably be both playing hurt. On defense this year, the Eagles will have Hollis Thomas, Derrick Burgess, Jevon Kearse and Jeremiah Trotter to bolster a defense that is already good. All were with other teams or on injured reserve last season. Trotter along with three quarters of the secondary all made the Pro Bowl. If the Eagles play a solid game and do not commit turnovers, then the Eagles should win the game against an inferior Minnesota team.