I grudgingly admit the Cowboys-Packers game was a great one, and I say "grudgingly" because it was nearly derailed by poor officiating, worse announcing and even worse coaching. The reason I know it was great is I was so exhilarated afterwards I wasted time watching the first quarter of the Steelers-Chiefs live - at 1:00 - 2:00 am Portugal time before catching the last three in half an hour via the condensed version Monday morning.

• I had actually looked most forward to the Seahawks-Falcons game because I thought it was the most interesting test of the weekend: Would Seattle's experience, coaching, defensive history and great quarterback be able to overcome a strong one-dimensional team on the road?

After a convincing opening drive, the Seahawks answered it quickly with a resounding "No." Carroll coached a terrible game, uncharacteristically punting and settling for field goals when he should have been aggressive, and even squandering a minute at the end of the first half. It was as if Carroll were the last person on earth to realize his defense was no longer the 2013 version.

• Relatedly, who knew Earl Thomas was the NFL's true MVP every year?

• A great quarterback can make up for a mediocre offensive line, but the Seahawks unit was below the level for which that's possible.

• The Falcons offense reminds me of the Patriots when Rob Gronkowski is healthy. They have one unstoppable weapon they no longer overuse and get the ball out of Matt Ryan's hand immediately to a wide variety of capable targets. Likewise, they have two backs who can work in the passing game or do damage on the ground. And Ryan looked every bit the MVP in his 17th game too.

• The Falcons YTD defensive metrics aren't good, but it's a unit that improved as the year wore on. I'd take them over the Packers or Cowboys defenses in a heartbeat, though I realize they had the benefit of facing a terrible offensive line this past week.

• John Lynch is a poor man's Jon Gruden, and I am not particularly a fan of Gruden. Captain Obvious with enthusiasm and little insight.

• The Patriots covered the spread, thanks to Brock Osweiler's late pick, Dion Lewis' return and Will Fuller dropping a TD, but New England uncharacteristically turned it over twice in the first half, allowed the Texans to extend a drive on a roughing penalty and Lewis' return gave Houston's defense an extended break along with the turnovers and roughing call. Plus Osweiler throwing picks - and Bill O'Brien making cowardly punts - was priced into the line.

• Speaking of which, O'Brien punted on 4th-and-4 from the Patriots 41, down 17-13 in the third quarter. As a 16-point dog, the Texans needed to cash in on every opportunity to win, and O'Brien simply chose not to avail himself of one. There were 3-4 other nearly-as-egregious instances too which others have documented.

• So much for Andy Reid off the bye and the Steelers being bad on the road. Actually, it's Ben Roethlisberger who's bad on the road - and he wasn't great Sunday, with no TDs, one pick and a near pick to Dontari Poe on the first play from scrimmage.

• As for Reid, the Chiefs had a great first drive, but the Steelers destroyed them on both sides of the line of scrimmage. Alex Smith was under pressure all game, Roethlisberger often had time and Le'Veon Bell had holes through which to run. For some reason, the Chiefs barely ran the ball at all.

• It was strange seeing pass-rushing linebacker Justin Houston, fresh off a multi-game absence, getting isolated one-on-one against Antonio Brown on two key plays, including the one that sealed the game.

• Because I watched the condensed version of the game, I didn't see the replay of the hold on the Chiefs initially successful two-point conversion at the end of the game, but if it weren't irrefutably clear in slo-mo, the ref never should have thrown the flag in that situation. Refs should always err on the side of omission, not commission, and that's even more true when the stakes are highest.

• Jason Garrett opted for a 50-yard FG on 4th-and-2 on the Cowboys' first drive. Dan Bailey made the kick (not a sure thing), but Garrett, like O'Brien and Carroll, failed to appreciate the situation even at the time, i.e., you didn't have to know the Cowboys would come up short by three points to realize getting seven instead of three might be important against Aaron Rodgers. Moreover, Garrett has arguably the best line and short-yardage back in the league as well as a mobile quarterback - the best personnel for which one could ask to get two yards. It was a key moment - and not the only one - from which Garrett shrunk.

• Dez Bryant is still one of the league's elite receivers. The Cowboys need to go to him even when they're not down a couple scores.

• Dak Prescott made a bad decision - the pick at the line of scrimmage in the second half - and he's played in hitter's counts all year, but he's obviously poised to be a star quarterback for a long time.

• The best thing that happened to the Packers was losing all their running back depth. It's forced them to keep the ball in Aaron Rodgers' hands as much as possible and protected Mike McCarthy from going into a shell with leads.

• Still, McCarthy managed just that during an awful sequence reminiscent of his worst atrocities in the Seahawks game two years ago wherein he gifted away a roughly even-money Super Bowl berth.

With the game tied at 31, the Packers had the ball 1st-and-10 at the Cowboys 35, with two minutes left, thanks to out-to-lunch Jason Garrett bizarrely not realizing he needed to use his timeouts in front of the two-minute warning. McCarthy calls a run play to Ty Montgomery for a two-yard gain, forcing Garrett to use a timeout.

At this point, McCarthy is in long field-goal range, but Garrett still has two timeouts, and Dallas' offense has been shredding Green Bay's defense all quarter, i.e., being up three (assuming Mason Crosby makes the long kick) and leaving Dallas 90-plus seconds is not the outcome for which to aim. For starters, Crosby might easily miss, the Cowboys get great field possession and make a short drive to win the game. But even if he makes it, with 90 seconds the Cowboys were favorites to get into range for their quality kicker and perhaps (though Garrett is such a coward it would never happen) score a TD. No, it's far better to play for the first down, run the clock to zero and seal the game with a shorter kick.

But McCarthy, instead of putting the ball in Rodgers' hands, predictably runs it, tossing the ball five yards into the backfield to Montgomery, and the entire Dallas defense is there to bottle him up. Now McCarthy is in big trouble because it's 3rd-and-13, and they're in fringe FG-range at best. On third down, the Packers should have aimed to get 6-7 yards, but Rodgers, under pressure, throws incomplete, and now Crosby has a monster kick that if he misses very likely ends the Packers season.

Somehow, Crosby heroically drills it - it actually looked like a wounded duck to me, but it went 56 yards - and McCarthy is spared two self-inflicted playoff exits in three years.

Of course, the Cowboys get the ball back, easily get to the Packers 40 with a timeout and 48 seconds left, but they spike the ball to stop the clock, giving away a precious down for no reason whatsoever - they had a timeout and were only five yards outside Bailey's comfortable range. But now the Cowboys need to get 10 yards on two downs instead of three, something they were unable to do.

The rest, including Rodgers' and Jared Cook's amazing throw-and-catch, is history. But the players - and fans - deserve better.

• One last note on Rodgers - his throw to Cook came two plays after he was drilled for a sack after which he calmly and immediately called the last timeout. Prescott was poised all year and all game, but Rodgers' poise is supernatural.

• People like to mock kickers, but Crosby had arguably the greatest kicking sequence of all time, given the stakes. He saved McCarthy's tenure with the first kick, then playing with house money, calmly drilled two 51-yarders (not remotely gimmes) to win a road playoff game.