Divisional Round Surprises

Author:
SI Staff
Publish date:
Jan 15, 2007

Divisional Round Surprises

Indy's Run Defense

The NFL's worst-ranked run defense in the regular season has been anything but in the playoffs, holding the Ravens to 83 yards on the ground, a week after shutting down Larry Johnson and Kansas City.

The Rags to Riches Saints

Repeat after us. The Saints are one win away from the Super Bowl! The Saints are one win away from the Super Bowl! You gotta be surprised by that after last season's 3-13 showing by New Orleans.

Rex Grossman

Good Rex/Bad Rex is still standing, and so are the Bears. Moreover, Grossman's clutch third-down pass in overtime set up Chicago's game-winning field goal.

The One-And-Done Chargers

OK. No one should be surprised that a Marty Schottenheimer-coached team is out of the playoffs so quickly, but the way in which they bowed out had to raise some eyebrows. Four turnovers -- including a pivotal fumble on an interception return -- by a team that had only 15 turnovers in the regular season? Those miscues, some killer penalties and two bad decisions by Schottenheimer were just as costly as Nate Kaeding's missed field goal in the final minute.

Andy Reid's Gaffe

Facing 4th and 15 from his own 39 and trailing 27-24 with 1:56 remaining, Eagles coach Andy Reid opted to punt instead of go for it. The Eagles never got the ball back.

Peyton Manning's Passing

The surprise isn't that Peyton Manning had a poor passing day against the Ravens -- trust us, he's had worse than Saturday's two-interception, touchdownless, 39.6 passer rating outing. That the Colts won for a second straight week despite his shortcomings is something that's going to take some getting used to.

Baltimore's Porous Defense

Trailing 12-6 with 7:36 remaining, the NFL's No. 1 defense couldn't stop a run-heavy, clock-eating, 13-play drive in which Dominick Rhodes carried the ball 10 times. The Colts capped it with a field goal and less than 30 seconds to go.

The AFC Title Game Pairing

Tony Dungy's and Bill Belichick's frosty relationship doesn't figure to get any warmer with a trip to the Super Bowl on the line. First one to smile, loses.

Divisional Round Surprises