The opening day of the 2011 NFL playoffs was marked by upsets. The first and clearly most shocking was the Seahawks 41-36 victory over the defending champion New Orleans Saints. The win was sealed by one of the great runs you will ever see courtesy of Patriots cast off Marshawn Lynch. The champs were 10.5 point favorites in that game and while not it's not the biggest playoff upset we've seen, it's certainly one of the biggest in recent memory. That said, maybe we should have seen it coming? As CSN Philly's Reuben Frank tweeted after the game, dome teams playing outdoors are now 16-50 in the playoffs.
↵The other game was less of an upset, but still a bit of a surprise. The Jets, who I actually noted might play better on the road than at home, beat the Colts with a last second FG from Nick Folk. Less than a minute before that kick, Adam Vinatieri had booted what appeared to be the game winner for the Colts, but Antonio Cromartie returned the ensuing kickoff to midfield to give the Jets a very short field to get in Folk's range. Another great stat from Roob as far as that one, Mark Sanchez finished with the lowest QB rating for a winning QB since.... Mark Sanchez last year.
↵Moving on to today's matchups, the Chiefs host the Ravens at 1pm on CBS. The Chiefs are home underdogs in that game despite the fact that they've lost just one game at Arrowhead and have played fantastic there all year.
↵The Eagles host the Packers at 4:30 on FOX in a game that pits the NFC's top ranked offense versus the NFC's top ranked defense. You've got two great QBs, great young playmakers on both sides of the ball... It's the premier matchup of the weekend. Let's hope the game lives up to everything it looks like it can be.
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