The Week That Was Wild Card Weekend in the NFL

There is definitely still a buzz in and around San Diego about the way the Chargers advanced to the divisional round of the NFL Playoffs on Saturday.

It's not a hangover. It's an actual buzz. The city, the county, hell maybe all of southern California are still drunk off of what was quite possibly the greatest game ever played (in San Diego).

And it's too bad that when games this good happen--when there is so much surrounding the game, all the little intricacies and dramas, storylines and arcs--it's too bad that professional journalists have a deadline of a few hours after a game to get their work in, because there's so much to talk about, that often--in the best games--professional journalists become mediocre.

These beat writers and sports columnist always fall short in the biggest of games.

Take the Union-Tribune's two sports columnists. Nick Canepa and Tim Sullivan were so excited and so for a loss for words that they decided to write about everything in their two columns. There was so much to say that the two writers were constricted by their inch counts.

Even the great Michael Silver was dumbfounded and his piece was a mash-up of three different columns (at least that's what it read like).

This game will probably go up there in the annals of Chargers as one of the great ones--right up there with the win over Miami in 1982, or the two wins in the 1994-95 NFL playoffs that sent San Diego to the Super Bowl (a 22-21 win over the Dolphins and a 17-13 victory over Pittsburgh).

But if the Chargers continue to roll and somehow reach Tampa, Florida on February 1, this game should not be seen as the beginning of an incredible run. That win came on Dec. 4, against the hated Raiders, on a Thursday night, when San Diego was 4-8 and the season looked like it was over.

That game won't be remembered, because it was just another blow out.

But the win on Saturday--take it from the professionals who struggled to write about the game--no words can be used to really describe it. And no words are really needed.

To the rest of the weekend:

• Arizona Over Atlanta: It's nice to see that franchise get a home playoff game and win. And it's was nice to see that wiley vet--the former NFL MVP and grocery store bagger--Kurt Warner, flex his muscles and get that team the win. And I was totally surprsied about how much Edgerrin James played after what he said about the Cardinals on Friday. I guess the lesson is throw the team under the bus and then get more carries.

• Sunday Games: Were boring. But I will tell you that Cam Cameron has got to be assistant coach of the year (if the award exists), taking a rookie quarterback (who played Division I-AA football at Delaware!!!) and making him a playoff winner. And everyone has to be excited to see the Philly-NYG matchup next week after the Eagles disposed of the Vikings.

Extra Point:

Of all the guys that NBC could have hired to embellish its football coverage on Football Night, it hired Matt Millen. Does anyone even believe a thing that comes out of his mouth, regardless if it's football related or not?