These were considerably better games than last week's, and the Pats-Ravens was shaping up to be a classic before Joe Flacco's interception on the final possession. Of course, the horrifying reversal of the Dez Bryant touchdown - whether or not it was technically the right call - not only negated one of the big-time plays of the last decade, it deprived us of a chance to see an Aaron Rodgers drive with the season on the line. While NFL commissioner Roger Goodell seems to have escaped with his tenure (if not his dignity) intact after his handling of the Ray Rice incident, perhaps the current state of the NFL rulebook is sufficient grounds to can his ass.
• Dez Bryant's catch (and I don't care what the rule says - it was a catch in any kind of real-life understanding of what constitutes one) was one of the great plays of the last decade. It was 4th-and-1 with the Cowboys down five and 4:42 left in a playoff game. Sam Shields' coverage was good, but Tony Romo put the ball up, and Bryant - a Hall of Fame-level receiver at the peak of his powers - snatched it over Shields, who actually got a hand on it, and brought it in before having the ground jostle it loose a few yards down the field. What a courageous play call and big-time play when the stakes were highest. What a shame it didn't count.
• That said, I felt almost certain the Cowboys would lose when, up 14-10, DeMarco Murray took a handoff with only daylight ahead of him, and Julius Peppers, who had no chance to make the tackle, was able to get a hand on the ball and strip it. Peppers didn't even seem to hit the ball hard, but Murray didn't have it tight enough, and Green Bay recovered and cut the lead to 14-13 on the next drive. This was only early third quarter, and the Cowboys later extended the lead to 21-13, but I couldn't shake the feeling that bounce was a window into the teams' respective destinies.
• Even by Troy Aikman's standards, his suggestion the Cowboys attempt a 49-yard FG on the 4th-and-1 that resulted in the Bryant overturn was shocking. It's amazing he and Jimmie Johnson (who opined Saturday that a third-down Cam Newton interception caught 44-yards down the field was in fact worse than a punt because opposing teams score more often after interceptions than punts generally) won two Super Bowls together.
• Maybe broke-ass Joe Montana only shows up during the playoffs (when the pizza is free), but what a contrast to his host. Put in context, Manning's 4.6 YPA (it was 3.7 before garbage time) with those weapons at home against a middling Colts defense is on a par with his performance in last year's Super Bowl. Maybe Manning was playing hurt, and he's far past the peak age for quarterbacks, but the poor postseason results have to affect his legacy. Give me Tom Brady's or Montana's careers over Manning's, and for one game when the stakes are highest, I'm taking peak Aaron Rodgers, Steve Young and probably a few others without thinking twice.
• Dan Herron has 18 postseason receptions so far and will have at least one (and possibly two) more game(s).
• Andrew Luck managed only 6.2 YPA and threw two picks, but both were of the third-down, downfield variety, i.e., short punts, and the Broncos were the best YPA-against defense in the league. It's obvious Russell Wilson is one of the league's great quarterbacks already, but aside from maybe him and Rodgers, I don't think there's anyone else I'd rather have in real life for 2015.
• Despite playing hurt and on the road, Romo had 10.1 YPA, only four incomplete passes, two touchdowns and no interceptions. And that includes Bryant's catch being ruled one of those incompletions. The Cowboys certainly did not lose because of Romo, and they might well have won had they called more pass plays.
• Wilson got 12.2 YPA and threw three TDs and no picks against a game Panthers defense, beating it down the field after Carolina stuffed the run. Cam Newton, before the game-sealing pick six, actually played decently under the circumstances, and the Panthers were surprisingly consistent moving the ball. In fact, the Seattle defense seemed good but ordinary and didn't resemble the suffocating unit that destroyed the Broncos in the Super Bowl last year. If Aaron Rodgers looks like he did in the second half, I think he'll give them trouble.
• The Patriots ran 13 times for 14 yards in a 35-31 win. While Tom Brady passed for 367, it was at a modest 7.3 YPA, so you'd think New England would have scored less. But when you count Julian Edelman's 51-yard TD to Danny Amendola, that number jumps to 418 yards on 51 attempts (8.2 YPA.) It was a tough game, a bad matchup and one the Ravens had their chances to win. But now that the Patriots have passed this test, I think they'll have an easier time the rest of the way en route to winning the Super Bowl.