Playoffs seem easy to predict.  After the games end, it seems obvious.  How would the Patriots, littered with hustle players, not destroy an over-matched Broncos team?  How would a defense as potent as the 49ers succumb to an exhausting Saints offense?  In retrospect, everybody is an analyst.  The truth is, this is one of the most exhilarating sports weekends I can remember.  San Francisco and New Orleans fought it out in a game that rivals any playoff performances in recent memory.  The winners were as clear as Drew Brees’ birthmark.  The football credo is that defense is the key to success.  The inevitable struggle is discovering a defensive identity in the playoffs.  The Patriots made an undeniable statement about congesting running lanes and bringing strong pressure.  The Ravens continued there identifiable intensity with the dominance of a defense prepared to eat you and your children whole.  The sure tackling of the 49ers combined with the pressure of the Smiths makes them a nearly impossible matchup.  But in reality, we’ve been trained to predict.  I can’t imagine the last time there was a football game that wasn’t preceded with Keyshawn Johnson or some foolish former athlete giving me their decision on who will win.  If I have to listen to Cris Carter stutter his pick again, or Boomer deliver some incoherent narrative about Buffalo or San Francisco, I’ll shoot myself with Bill Cowher’s gun.  Nobody cares or values Terry Bradshaw’s opinions and the sooner we embrace the unpredictability of football the sooner we settle with our inept vision of football’s future. Not to mention that all of you fantasy football playoff owners that had either Drew Brees or Aaron Rodgers to go all the way this year, it’s going to be a long postseason for you. Never accept the “obvious” as reality…lesson learned!

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