No, it was not a drunken, hearken-back-to-college-days kind of weekend. Mine involved my family staying inside as a 50 degree weather change froze our cars solid, while watching the cutest almost-two-year-old in the world (my niece) run around. Oh, and watching four crazy NFL playoff games. Of course.

The first game of the weekend: Seahawks-Redskins. Seattle won this game 20-10. But for the stat geeks that permeate sports talk on radio and TV, riddle me this, Batman: how did the Seahawks fumble the ball 5 times (losing 3 of them); lose the time of possession battle by four-and-a-half minutes; and lose the turnover battle 3-1, yet still win the game? How? Because Seattle is not that good. Sure, they lost the MVP of the league (Shaun Alexander) to a concussion on the first drive of the game and still won, but the Seahawks might have lost to every other team that played this weekend. Well, except the Patriots. More on them later...

This one was ugly from start to finish. The key play of the game was Mack Strong's (who?) 3rd down, 32-yard run that led to a Seattle field goal and a 10-point lead with 2:58 to play. This came after the Redskins drove 76 yards in 4 plays to cut the lead to 17-10, then recovered a fumble on the kickoff, but missed a field goal. How do you spell ugly? Seahawks-Redskins. Oh, and the aforementioned Mack Strong? He had just 17 carries all season, but his 3 carries for 40 yards included the key play of this game. Crazy.

The other NFC contest, Carolina-Chicago, the final game of the weekend, was far more entertaining than predicted. From Carolina's 2nd play from scrimmage (a 58-yard touchdown pass to Steve Smith) to the missed extra point that gave Chicago the chance to tie the game (twice) in the final minutes, this one had it all. Did someone say this would be a defensive battle? Carolina racked up 434 yards in total offense against the 2nd-best defensive team in the league. Heck, Smith's 218 yards receiving were 38 more than Chicago normally gives up through the air to an entire team.

The entire Rex Grossman vs. Kyle Orton debate was moot by the end of this game. It didn't matter who the quarterback was, Chicago was not winning this game. But while we're on the topic, did anyone outside of Chicago believe that Grossman was going to lead the Bears on a game-tying drive on either of the Bears' last two possessions? For that matter, did anyone in Chicago believe it? Or anyone on the field? Key play in this game? Either Steve Smith's first touchdown catch, one of his 6 catches for 1st downs, or his 2nd touchdown catch. One of his 12 catches anyway. Would triple-teaming this guy work?

The AFC games were both shocking for their own reasons. First, the two-time defending champion New England Patriots imploded in Denver. Kevin Faulk fumbled, leading to a Denver touchdown. On the ensuing kickoff, Ellis Hobbs was hit by the kicker (the kicker!) and fumbled, leading to a field goal. Tom Brady threw an inexplicably awful pass that was returned 100 yards by Champ Bailey. Only Ben Watson's hustle prevented a touchdown, but one play later Denver put 7 on the board. Adam Vinatieri-usually known as Mr. Clutch Kicker-missed a field goal. Troy Brown fumbled a punt. 7 more points for Denver. 24 points off 4 turnovers. The Patriot defense played well enough to win this game, but New England didn't have a chance because the offense and special teams kept giving the ball to Denver.

The shocking thing about this game was how the Patriots' key performers from their Super Bowl teams made the mistakes that doomed them. Throughout their historic playoff run, which included 10 straight wins and 3 Super Bowl rings, it's been New England's opponents who usually fell apart. But their magical journey came to an end Saturday night.

Finally, the Steelers-Colts game featured the craziest final five minutes and thirty seconds in playoff history. It was so crazy, I won't even talk about how Pittsburgh-the consummate running team-passed on 7 of their first 10 plays, scoring a touchdown. Or how the Colts-who two years ago let punter Hunter Smith sit in a lounge chair on the sideline for two straight playoff games-punted on their first four possessions. Or how the Colts' 15-play, 96-yard drive before the half ended with a field goal, thanks to a Steeler goal-line stand. Or even how Peyton Manning-with the Colts down 21-3 and 6 seconds remaining in the 3rd quarter-waved off the punt team with the Colts on their own 36-yard line (they made the 1st down and scored a touchdown two plays later). Nope, I'm not talking about any of this. Instead I'm focusing on the see-saw of emotions for players and fans that had everyone talking when this one was over.

Down 21-10 with 5:33 remaining in the game, Manning threw wildly over the middle and Troy Polamalu intercepted the pass. Game over? Not on your life. The Colts challenged the play, arguing that even though Polamalu caught the ball, took one step, rolled on the ground, and had both knees hit the ground, it shouldn't be ruled a catch because his other knee knocked the ball out of his hands. Shockingly, the referee agreed, and Indianapolis kept the ball. (The next day the NFL admitted the call was incorrect.) Four plays later the Colts were in the end zone. Reggie Wayne hauled in Manning's two-point conversion pass and niftily dragged both feet, cutting the lead to 21-18. Indianapolis forced a Pittsburgh punt with 2:42 remaining, and had all 3 of their timeouts left. Surely the Colts would march the field and either tie or win this game.

On 4th-and-16 Manning was sacked at his own 2-yard line with just 1:20 left. Definitely game over. But since the Colts still had all of their timeouts, the Steelers couldn't kneel on the ball. Instead they handed off to Jerome Bettis for the game-clinching score. Hold on there fella. The Bus had the ball knocked out of his hand by Gary Brackett. Nick Harper-who earlier in the week had been stabbed in the leg by his wife-scooped up the ball and took off for the other end zone. Must be game over, as the Colts were about to win on defense. Enter quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, who made an incredible shoestring tackle at the 42-yard line. Pittsburgh fans nervously rejoiced. Colts fans knew victory was in their grasp.

Manning moved the Colts to the 28-yard line in two plays. But back-to-back incompletions left the Colts with 4th down and only 21 seconds on the clock. Out trotted Mike Vanderjagt, who has the best field goal completion percentage (87.5%) in NFL history. Two years ago he made every field goal he attempted. Overtime was imminent.

Not so fast. Vanderjagt's kick wasn't even close. The 12-year-olds in the Punt, Pass, and Kick competition would have fared better. Game over. Really. Steelers win. How shocking was Vanderjagt's miss? The cameras caught players and coaches from both sides with the same bewildered expression, all mouthing the exact same thing: "He missed it."

The Patriots and Colts-who were destined to square off for round 3 of their playoff rivalry-are gone. There will be no 3-peat for the Patriots. And the Colts' brilliant season, which included a 13-0 start and comparisons to some of the greatest teams of all time, is over. Instead they'll spend the offseason and most of next season being asked about missed opportunities and how they still can't win when it matters.

Meanwhile two teams-the Steelers and Panthers-have a chance to do what just one team in NFL history has done: win three straight road games to advance to the Super Bowl. Now that would be the perfect way to end this crazy NFL year.

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