NFL Wild Card Recap: The 5 Most Interesting Things from This Past Weekend

Now that the Wild card round of the NFL playoffs are over let's look at some of the interesting points from the games.  

1. The only home team to win was the 7-9 Seattle Seahawks. 

Really? Who would have predicted that to happen?

Sure, it was a possibility that no teams would win at home given the fact that each game featured the better team on the road, but to have Seattle be the only team that won? Are you kidding me?

This was the first time a team under .500 won a playoff game in the history of the National Football League. Not only did they win, but they outgunned the New Orleans Saints, the defending Super Bowl champions, perhaps the most potent offense in the NFC.

Matt Hasselbeck threw for twice as many touchdowns as Drew Brees while the Seahawks had almost double the amount of rushing yards as the Saints.

The Saints extended the streak of defending Super Bowl champions not able to win a playoff game to five years.

Seattle's next stop is Soldier Field to face the Bears, and there is one thing I guarantee won't happen: 400 yards of offense by the Seahawks for two straight weeks.

2. Green Bay had a 100-yard rushing game from a running back for only the second time all season.

Green Bay was supposed to be a one-dimensional offensive football team. The Packers had only had a running back rush for over 100 yards once all season (Week 5 versus Washington in a loss)—that is, until yesterday.

Welcome to the NFL, James Starks!

Who is James Starks? Starks is a rookie running back from the University of Buffalo (I didn't even know that was a college) who before yesterday had only 29 rushing attempts all season.

On Sunday, Starks rushed for 123 yards on 23 carries against an Eagles defense that had only given up 100 yards to a running back twice all season (Adrian Peterson and Matt Forte).

If Starks continues to rush the ball as he did yesterday, this Packers team becomes a whole lot more dangerous for the rest of the playoffs.

3. After losing to the Jets, Peyton Manning's career playoff record is now 9-10.

Some experts consider Peyton Manning the greatest quarterback of all time. Almost everyone considers him in the top five. After Saturday's loss to the Jets, Manning's record is now below .500 in the playoffs, not a record one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time should hold.

Manning has been in the playoffs 11 of his 13 seasons and has failed to win a playoff game seven of those 11 times. The year that Manning won the Super Bowl he had four more interceptions than touchdown passes and a 70.5 quarterback rating—not exactly a great postseason performance.

Not only is Peyton Manning not the greatest quarterback of all time, he isn't even the best quarterback in the NFL right now. Tom Brady has been in the playoffs seven times in his career, four less than Manning, yet has only one fewer touchdown pass.

Brady has only failed to win a playoff game in one of his seven trips to the postseason and has won three Super Bowls to Manning's one.

Oh, and by the way, Brady's career playoff record is 14-4, which is slightly higher than .500.

4. The Ravens only gave up 25 yards of offense in the second half against the Chiefs.

The Ravens defense stepped up on Sunday against the Chiefs and showed the entire country what a championship defense looks like. The Ravens held the Chiefs to 161 yards of total offense. They held Matt Cassel to 70 yards through the air and caused him to throw three interceptions.

In the second half, the Chiefs only had one possession that lasted longer than one minute; it only gained 31 yards, they turned the ball over on downs. The other five possessions lasted a combined 15 plays and gained negative six yards. The Ravens defense also caused five turnovers, three interceptions and two fumbles.

This is the Ravens defense everyone remembers and the defense that helped them win their only Super Bowl. The difference this year is they actually have a very good offense.

5. In all four games, the team that won out-rushed its opponent by an average of 60 yards.

There is a famous quote by Ben Franklin that states, "But in the world nothing can be said to be certain except death and taxes."

In regards to the NFL, my theory states, "The only thing certain is if you win the rushing battle, you will win the game." Wild Card Weekend proved my theory correct, as all four teams that won also out-rushed their opponents.

It is a simple formula: If you run the ball, you control the clock and you wear down the opposing team's defense. If you run the ball effectively, you open up your passing game which in turn will help you rush the ball even more effectively. Control the ball, control the clock, control the game.

Don't believe my theory? Check this weekend's games and the rushing stats afterwards. The four teams left battling for a chance to make an appearance in the Super Bowl will have out-rushed their opponents, guaranteed.