Well, we were one win away from going 4-0 picking the home teams over the weekend. The Jets shocked the (everybody join in) "Red-Hot Chargers" in the final divisional playoff game of the weekend.
The Chargers had won 11 consecutive games. I know there's no way people will be able to remember this next post-season, but let's try to file this note away somewhere after watching the (everybody join in) "Red-Hot Cowboys" and "Red-Hot Chargers" lose: Being hot in the NFL doesn't mean squat. Yeah, it's preferred because being red-hot means you're, you know, winning. But it has no carryover to the next week. None. Nada.
Being at the Metrodome yesterday, there's no question in my mind the fans and the dome played a major role in that game. As Tony Romo said after the game, the crowd noise allows the Vikings "to do what they're schematically built to do," which is get great jumps off the ball and beat up quarterbacks.
Had that game been played at Dallas, I think the Cowboys would have won. Yeah, there was a 31-point difference between the teams. But that's how powerful home-field advantage can be in the NFL.
I'm always amazed to see how well the whole "no-respect" card works on athletes.The Vikings went with it leading up to the Cowboys game. This is a team that has Brett Favre, a great defense and was at home.At least some of us were yelling that from the rooftops last week. But several Vikings, and even Chilly, went with the "nobody-expected-us-to-win" angle after Sunday's beatdown of the Cowboys.
Hey, whatever works, I guess.
Now, on to this weekend's games. The Colts host the Jets, and the Saints host the Vikings. Oh, by the way, being cold also means squat in the NFL, since both the ice-cold Colts and ice-cold Saints beat up on the Ravens and Cardinals, respectively over the weekend.
The Colts and Saints also overcame the most key injuries of all the playoff teams. The Vikings and Jets had the leastamount of injuries to overcome.