Trav's Thoughts

Matt Millen was always a favorite player of mine. He was a great linebacker in both Oakland and San Francisco. He's got 4 Super Bowl rings as a player.

Millen was a terrific pronouncer because he was honest and he brought tremendous knowledge to calling a game. He was never one of those who relied on the "when I played" or the "look at what a personality I am" style of pronouncing. He was better at being the everyman than John Madden.

Unfortunately, Millen was terrible as President and CEO of football operations for Detroit. He put together the team that went 0-16 this year. But I watched him on the Football Night pregame show and he took full responsibility for his failure. I respect that.

I'd like to see him back in the pronouncing booth next year. He would be fantastic as the color guy on Monday Night Football, paired with a strong play by play man like Brad Nessler or Tom Hammond (I know Mr Hammond is on NBC).

Atlanta vs Arizona

The Cardinals capitalized early on some jitters from the Falcons. Arizona hit on a big flea flicker to take a 7-0 lead. They held Atlanta's run game in check and were in control of the game.

But Atlanta held to its game plan and eventually settled down to come back and take a 17-14 lead at halftime.

The Falcons came out in the second half as shaky as they started the game. Arizona jumped a running play, causing a fumble that the Cardinals returned for a TD to take a 21-17 lead. And then Atlanta continued to play as though they were overwhelmed by the post season.

Arizona kept it's discipline on defense and held the Falcons running game in check. That was unexpected. I made my pick based on the weakenesses in the Cardinals' defense, but they were able to overcome them and take advantage of the inexperience of the Falcons.

Congrats to Arizona. I don't know about this celebratory dumping of water on the head coach though. It's one playoff game.

Indianapolis vs San Diego

San Diego had a strong defensive first half, controlling field position and taking advantage of short fields for both of their touchdowns. The Chargers appeared to be a step quicker than Indy and the Colts looked surprisingly sluggish.

Peyton Manning caught the Chargers not paying attention with a quick snap of the ball, and hit Reggie Wayne for a TD in the second half. But other than that, SD really dominated the game with its defense. Offensively, the Chargers moved the ball well. Indy took advantage of a couple of turnovers in the endzone to hold onto a slim 17-14 lead going into the final minutes.

But I have to give props to SD punter, who kept the Colts' offense working with lousy field position for just about the entire game. That ended up giving the Chargers a short field and they were able to tie the game on a field goal with about 30 seconds to play.

In the overtime, the Indy defense just couldn't stop RB Darren Sproles. Sproles accounted for over 300 yards of offense between rushing, receiving, and returned kicks. And Indy's defense killed itself with bad penalties.

So once again, the &($%#$&)(_ Chargers knock the Colts out of the playoffs.

Warning...if you are easily offended by foul language, or if you are a Chargers fan, read no further.

FUCKFUCKFUCKFUCKFUCKFUCKFUCKFUCKFUCKING CHARGERS