Tippy Toes

Wild Card weekend started with a bang: Two exciting, close matched games that recorded 270 plays.  Over 1700 yards of offense and 139 point were produced between the four teams.  The margin of victory in each game was less than a field goal.  One game featured the second biggest comeback victory in NFL playoff history.  Another changed a team’s history.  And both games were decided by just a toe.

Playing conditions were perfect inside Lucas Oil Stadium as the home team Indianapolis Colts took on the K.C. Chiefs.   Literally, playing with bad Luck in the first half and good Luck in the second the Colts erased a 28 point deficit to defeat the Chiefs by just one point, 45 – 44.  After falling behind 38 – 10, Colts' quarterback Andrew Luck led his team on five second half scoring drives that wiped out the 28 point deficit.  During this run he threw three touchdown passes and scored another after he picked up a loose ball and plowed through the Chiefs’ defensive line like an old time fullback.  His final pass, a 64 yard TD, put the Colts into the lead late in the final quarter.  After that score, Luck was left to watch his Chiefs counterpart, Alex Smith, move his team down the field towards an apparent winning score.  As the game reached the two minute warning, Smith faced a fourth and eleven from the Colts 43 yard line.  Operating from the shotgun, Smith took the snap and lofted what appeared to be a perfect pass over the Colts cornerback and into the hands of Dwayne Bowe, his receiver.  Bowe made the catch but his left foot landed on the sideline and the pass was ruled incomplete.  The Colts historic comeback was preserved, by a toe. 

In Philadelphia,  the visiting New Orleans Saints found the outdoor weather condition to their liking as they defeated the home town Eagles on the game’s final play.  Nursing a 20 – 7 lead late in the fourth quarter, the Saints saw it gradually evaporate.  When the Eagles scored the go ahead touchdown on a pass from Nick Foles to Zach Ertz only about 5 minutes remained in the game.   Then, on the ensuing kickoff a horse collar penalty set the Saints up in Eagles territory. From there the Saints methodically moved the ball into position for a winning field goal attempt.   Just 3 seconds remaining on the clock as the game came down to the foot of newly acquired kicker Shayne Graham.  Graham’s 32 yard boot, his fourth field goal of the night, was straight and true as time expired. The Saints had a 26 – 24 victory while making history with their first ever road playoff win, all by a toe.

 Two great games.  Three point overall differential.  Both decided by just a toe…