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		NFL playoff report By David Zizmor January 19, 2010

	New York @ Indianapolis AFC Championship: The New York Jets kind of snuck into the playoffs in the end and everybody including me saw that they really didn't deserve to be in there. They played the Colts and the Bengals in the last two games of the season and neither of those two teams played their starters the entire way through and as a result the Jets ended up clinching against second stringers and they made it into the wild card. Now all of a sudden they come in, they beat the Bengals in the first round and they beat them pretty easily. Then they go into San Diego on the road and again they didn't win easily but they won. Now to be fair about this game while the Jets played really good football the Chargers really shot themselves in the foot in this one as well. The Jets did a great job taking advantage of the Chargers in stages and they not only hung in there but they played a good game but they didn't play a great game and I wasn't 100% impressed with their overall effort, that said the Chargers had a lot of stupid penalties, including a number of big, big personal fouls penalties that cost them 45 yards worth of penalties in the game including some big penalties. The Chargers field goal kicker Nate Kaeding who is the Pro Bowl kicker for the AFC missed three field goals but we'll scratch one of those because one was a 57 yarder at the end of the first half. However Kaeding missed two easy field goals for a guy that's going to the Pro Bowl he should make those any day of the week. If you’re going to the Pro Bowl those are gimmies and you shouldn't be missing those, those two missed field goals were really the difference in Sunday's game, because the Jets only won 17-14. Either one of those field goals would have tied it, and two would have won it. They were a big, big difference in that game. While the Jets prevailed and did a good job in playing in this one, let's not pretend like they dominated San Diego. The Chargers handed the game over to the Jets to a certain extent. That being said the Jets did win, and they get to go Indianapolis to play the Colts on Sunday and the Jets have to feel relatively confidant because they're defense is playing fantastic football and their defense was number one in the NFL this season. So their defense is really, really confident, they shut down the Bengals and Colts, and Chargers for the most part. This playoff game Sunday should be a real thriller it could go down to the wire if the Jets play up to the Colts level. Minnesota @ New Orleans NFC Championship: This is going to be a fantastic game, it's been a few years since we've had the number one and number two teams facing each other in the championship. It's always fun, one of the last times this happened was about ten years ago. This involved the Vikings when they played the Falcons. The Vikes had that amazing offense featuring Dante Culpepper, Randy Moss, Chris Carter, and they set the NFL scoring record in that playoff game that season. Everybody loved them, and the Falcons came in with Jamal Anderson and the "dirty bird" and they had that huge upset when Gary Anderson who had not missed a field goal all year ended up missing one late in the game and the Falcons ended up in the Super Bowl where they would ultimately lose and that Vikings team was one of the best teams they've had. Now this game with the Saints and the Vikings is another match up of the number one teams in the NFC teams. This one promises to be a fantastic performance; you have these number one and number two offenses in the NFC. You have the best quarterbacks in the NFL going right now with Drew Brees from New Orleans and Brett Favre from Minnesota. Then you have this great list of players who are involved in this. Aside from Brees, Favre, you have Adrian Peterson who’s running the ball for the Vikings, you have Reggie Bush and Peter Thomas, running backs for the Saints, wide receivers Marques Colston, Devery Henderson, Robert Meachem, and not mention Jeremy Shockey at tight end. Over at the Vikes you have Sidney Rice, Visanthe Shiancoe, it just should be an amazing offensive performance these teams have such great offensive players. It's really going to be fun to watch. On the defensive side of the ball both these teams are pretty solid they are not great defensive teams, they don't measure up to say the Jets in the AFC but these guys aren't slouches on the defensive side of the football. These guys aren't the 1985 Chicago Bears. These are good defensive teams. The Vikings have Jarrod Allen, Kevin Williams, and Pat Williams, and New Orleans have a lot of guys who worked together. The guys you’re going to hear about this week is the safety for the Saints, Darren Sharper and why would you hear about this guy? Because last year he was with the Vikings and in the last three or four years Sharper was with the Vikes. Before the Vikings Sharper was over at the Packers, so Sharper has a long history with guys on the opposite side of the ball and in an interview with Sharper earlier this season, he's pissed, he was really, really angry at the Vikings for letting him go and they thought he didn't have anything left in the tank. He wants to prove otherwise this Sunday in the NFC Championship game against his former mates. David Zizmor is covering the NFL Championship games this week for Sportstalk radio