I love the NFL playoffs almost as much as I would love college football playoffs, but that’s another article. Wild-card weekend consisted of great play and great story lines. We all rooted for the NFC’s Washington Redskins as they played in the memory of their fallen teammate Sean Taylor in Seattle. The Seahawks, however, proved too much and won 35-14.

In Tampa Bay Michael Strahan and the New York Giants defense had a lot to deal with in the Bucs’ offense. The game was close early, but Eli Manning and the Giants were too good and ultimately won 24-14.

Meanwhile, the AFC gave us two great games. The surging San Diego Chargers played host to the Tennessee Titans. The playoff game wasn’t as dramatic as the regular season game, but the Chargers defeated the Titans with well-executed play in the second half for a final score of 17-6.

The most exciting game of the weekend belonged to the Jaguars and Steelers. It was a tough and hard fought game that Jacksonville pulled off with a 25-yard field goal to win 31-29.

The Divisional round of the playoffs does just that, divides the best from the rest, and the Green Bay Packers were definitely best. Behind budding star running back Ryan Grant, the Packers won easily over the Seahawks 42-20.

In Dallas the stars were out only to watch what they thought could not happen. The Giants defeated the shocked Cowboys, 21-17. Even more shocking, Terrell Owens didn’t blame Jessica Simpson.

On the AFC side of things, poor Jacksonville had to play the 16-0 Patriots in New England. Jacksonville played very well, but this is New England’s year and they showed it winning 31-20. The Indianapolis Colts then played host to the Chargers. The Colts had every reason to win, but miscues haunted them. A fourth-down interception nailed the Colts’ coffin and a 28-24 win for San Diego.

The AFC title game was reasonably close, but just like every other game the Patriots have played this season, the final result was a New England “W.” A full team effort launched the Pats to yet another Super Bowl beating the gutsy Chargers 21-12.

The chilly NFC title game was played in subzero temperatures but that couldn’t cool off the Giants. They handled the brilliant Brett Favre and Packers well and defeated them with a field goal in overtime 23-20.