Bye week, then Bye-Bye

This past weekend, four well rested NFL teams took the field, the #1 and #2 seeds in both the NFC and AFC. Three of them lost. First the Tennessee Titans turned the ball over once too often, and lost to the Ravens. Then the Carolina Panthers turned the ball over six times and were slaughtered by, of all people, the Arizona Cardinals. Then the New York Giants blew a bunch of scoring opportunities to lose to the Philadelphia Eagles, which sets up a rematch of the 1948 NFL Championship Game. Better late than never. It does say something about the Cardinals that it's taken them 60 years to make it back to the big game. But the Pittsburgh Steelers took care of business, eliminating the other half of my Super Bowl pick, the San Diego Chargers. The Chargers were lucky just to make it this far. After 12 games, they were 4-8, and in a locker room meeting, LaDainian Tomilinson told his teammates, "We aren't giving up. We aren't the Raiders." No, they aren't, but it took an epic collapse by the Denver Broncos to let the Chargers make the playoffs at 8-8. I'm really not looking forward to Steelers-Ravens; that game should be called the Ugly Bowl. And one last note: the Atlanta Falcons were 11-5, but they had to go on the road to Arizona to play the 9-7 Cardinals, and lost. The Indianapolis Colts were 11-5, and had beaten the Chargers, but still had to go to San Diego to play the 8-8 Chargers, and lost. Once again, it is time to revamp the playoff system.

Strange but true: the New York Giants general manager Jerry Reese now says they are open to taking Plaxico Burress back if everything works out for him. Let me just say:

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

Do they really need his infantile behavior ruining team chemistry? No, but as Sunday's loss to the Eagles shows, they need a deep threat to stretch the field. Note to Jerry Reese: that's what the draft is for. The Giants have everything else, so use your number one pick on the best wideout you can find. If you really want an idiot for a #1 receiver, there's that Chad Ocho Whatever guy in Cincinnati. At least he hasn't shot himself lately.

But he'll be back. Why do I think Plax will be back? Some way, somehow, he will beat the rap. He will be appropriately repentant, and after doing the requisite bowing and scraping, he will back in the NFL. But I always thought it would be for another team. One of the things I always liked about the Giants is that they were the opposite of the Cowboys; they never led the league in felonies. As Inspector Clouseau would say, "Not any more!"