It's time for the best postseason in all of sports.
The first couple days of March Madness are always great. College football is working its way back to respectability after too many years of mediocre teams playing in bowl games with weirdly specific sponsors in the middle of January. NBA, NHL and MLB all have their postseason charms ... but let's not jive: The NFL playoffs remain the gold standard of America's postseason tournaments.
To the here and now: Don't want to jinx anything, but I just can't see how this Wild Card Weekend isn't gonna be spectacular. A Texas-based battle between two of the very best defenses in pro football. Round 3 of an AFC North war. Two generational running backs best known for their rugged style battling at TCF Bank Stadiumin frigid conditions. (You wish you could play pro football? Go stand in the way of Adrian Peterson running full speed while it's -15 degrees, then get back to me.) And the capper: A potential shootout in our nation's capital, in which many think the league's reigning MVP is less dependable than a QB who most doubted as recently as this past September. (Or was it November?) Either way, Kirk Cousins has vanquished his doubters. Now it's time to see if he can vanquish the Green Bay Packers. You like that?
Let's get to the games.
WARNING: Do NOT continue reading if you don't want to know the final scores of the wild-card games.
(2-0 this week, 10-6 last week, 162-96 on the season)
SEAHAWKS 21
VIKES 10
D. Baldwin: 2 rec, 40 yds, TD
A. Peterson: 2 fumbles
PACKERS 28
'SKINS 31
A. Rodgers: 320 yds, 3 TD
P. Garcon: 4 rec, 80 yds, TD
(Already completed)
CHIEFS 19
TEXANS 13
J. Maclin: 6 rec, 100 yds, TD
HOU D: 2 sacks
STEELERS 24
BENGALS 22
H. Miller: 5 rec, 75 yds, 2 TD
J. Hill: 95 yds, TD
Enjoy Wild Card Weekend, everybody! I hope your team wins (unless they're playing my team).
Follow Dave Dameshek on Twitter @Dameshek.
