The funny part is the weekend started with a whimper, with the first 20 minutes of the very first playoff game playing into the fears we all had - the 12-5 Rams, the team that came a blown special teams day in Seattle away from being the #1 seed, just dominating the 8-9 Panthers that lost their win-and-in game and still made it in. The Rams went right down the field, traded a few punts and then went right down the field again and went up 14-7. They were up 17-7 late in the half after a turnover with the chance to go up 24-7 before getting the ball back to start the 3rd quarter to make it 31-7. We were all mentally doing that same math. Somehow, gratefully so, we were all wrong.
What transpired next in Carolina, their maligned defense holding serve and forcing a turnover on downs, them scoring a quick TD with their more maligned QB playing above his size. Them making Stafford erratic, fit with standout perfomances from relative unknowns (Mike Jackson with a legacy day at corner) and rises of youngsters like Jared Coker. The Panthers hummed their way to leading in the 4th quarter twice, with Bryce Young having the best game of his career. They were a fake playoff team by resume, but so real by performance, with that crowd in an underrated atmosphere of Bank of America stadium leaning in. I remember hitting my main group chat with a "this game's awesome" when the Panthers took their first lead of the 4th quarter. It stayed amazing.
Of course, I texted that same thread "can't all be classics" when I think the Packers scored to make it 14-0 and it seemed were going to hide and run for the Bears. Well, they didn't run far enough and I was proven way, way wrong in the best way. I'm not going to do the running play-by-play summary of each game, nor give a run down of the group chat, but needless to say the weekend was incredible, but also in teh way that sets football apart.
What I love most about football compared to maybe any other main American sport is the scoring is so staggered and varied that there are so many routes to a close game, and we saw them all. We saw a big comeback (Bears over Packers). We saw a quasi-defensive struggle (49ers over Eagles). We saw a game that was just close and tight from start to finish (Bills over Jaguars). Hell we even saw the rare "blowout that was in reality a close game for 75% of it" (Texans over Steelers). There were different flavors, and different energies - the cold of Chicago, the bright sunlight of Jacksonville, the winds in Philadelphia. That is a football weekend.
We saw also so many stories come and go as well. The rise of Caleb Williams in a msot Caleb Williams way, from the sprayed passes in teh first half to one of the great passes of all time on that 4th and 8. The genius of Kyle Shanahan somehow mustering 23 points out of career #4 receivers (and, admittedly Christian McCaffrey) against the defending champs still sporting a Top-5 defense. The peerless performance from the Texans defense. The as peerless performance of Josh Allen, in a game where he needed to be every ounce of perfection that he was. All of it was intense, amazing.
This is waht football is suppsoed to be, four games (and yes, I'll keep ignoring those two disasters - anyway, SNF and MNF playoff games weren't a thing until five years ago...) all played close, lowest score of any team is 19, highest score is 34 - no offense too dominant, no defense too dominant. This is the football I've dreamed of, and for one weeked in 2026, after a regular season where i probably watched less football than ever (not intentional, just a factor of travel), the playoffs got me wrapped all back in.
**quick aside on the Harbaugh and Tomlin firings. These hit me hard, especially in combination with what I assume is Aaron Rodger's presumptive retirement. These three figures have been a constant part of my football fandom since nearly after I became a real die-hard football fan. Hell, specifically Tomlin and Harbaugh came to prominence in 2008, when a rookie Harbaugh and 2nd year Tomlin led what probably were the two best teams that season that played three classics, reignited defense, and rivalries in general. They were my muses in a way. They were also just so good, so professional, so dignified for so long. I've long spoke of my love for the Ravens, and while some of that extends back to the Billick years, it's really about hte Harbaugh years. I still think what could've been had they not lost the 2019 Divsional in ridiculous fashion - granted, that was probably karmic payback for Harbaugh winning the 2008 Divisional in Tennessee in equally ridiculous fashion. For Tomlin, he was the consummate coach, and yes we can clown him for the Marvin Lewis-esque run from 2017-2025, with the six straight one-and-dones, but these were not teams worthy of doing any better. With worse coaches they would've done worse, and that probably would've been good for the Steelers long term.
Anyway, this is the end of an era in a way, but also the true beginning of one. Rodgers, Tomlin and Harbaugh were my last links the 2000s NFL (and I guess the still weird Philip Rivers cameo). That was the NFL I was born into, and the era of the NFL that changed it maybe for good - the passing heavy, the aggressiveness, the way the game looks different. Put it this way, watch a game from 1985 and 2005 and 2025, the games from 2005 and 2025 look way more similar than the games from 1985 and 2005. The years don't perfectly work in my analogy, but anway, the reason that is somewhat true is Harbaugh's Ravens and Tomlin's Steelers and Rodgers Packers. An era of NFL football, probably the most impactful, meaningful era since the 1970s, died over this past week. We should memorialize it, we just will come August 2032 (Rodgers HOF enshrinement) and subsequent Augusts.**
