Personally I can't think of anything better to do during wintery Iowa weather - i.e. Saturday's freezing drizzle - than curl up and take in hours upon hours of excellent football!

On Saturday, I was lucky to have just that privilege. Due to that lovely ice falling from the sky and coating the roadways, the CYO basketball tournament was pushed back a day so instead of venturing to Remsen for some high school basketball, I got to watch a couple pretty exciting playoff games.

In the first NFC wildcard - Atlanta at Arizona - I have to be honest that I was not sure what the outcome would be. When the Packers are in no way involved, I enjoy cheering for the underdog and so I had decided on the Cardinals for this contest. I realized that Matt Ryan might have some rookie nerves in his first ever NFL playoff game - which showed up on his first pass of the game. In clear contrast to his NFL passing debut - a 60+ yard TD pass - Ryan tossed an interception in the noisy University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale. Between the noise from their towel-waving fans and the experience of 37-year-old Kurt Warner, the Cardinals had the edge in Saturday's contest, taking the 30-24 victory.

Another host underdog - in my mind and many others - on Saturday was the San Diego Chargers in the evening AFC wild card game. I have always liked the Chargers - probably because of their amazing kicker Nate Kaeding, a UofI alum - but even without LT, the Chargers proved that they too could 'upset' the NFL MVP Peyton Manning and his Indianapolis Colts.

I was really excited on Saturday night when San Diego got the 23-17 OT win, partly because that meant all of the NFL superstars that have really dominated the scene as of late are out of the playoffs. The Patriots dynasty fell when they failed to win the division - and can you imagine their disgust at losing the AFC East to the Dolphins? The Cowboys got slaughtered in week 17 to miss out on a wild card - giving the Eagles a chance after the two battled with the Giants in a competitive NFC East all season. And of course, now the Colts and their MVP QB were out of the picture.

Thus making the upcoming Super Bowl even more exciting. A brand new face in the AFC gets the chance to emerge.. although I have to admit I believe this year the NFC might be the superior league.

Oh - on Sunday the Dolphins lost (sorry Tom!) and the Vikings lost. I listened to most of the Vikings game on the radio while working on some wrestling stories at the office. I missed the Miami game due to the CYO tourney in Remsen but from the looks of the score, I saw the most exciting minutes of that game in the first quarter.

So the divisional weekend is next and I am just excited for another weekend of four football games and - of course - to see the outcome of this crazy season!