Falcons Sack Pack; Jets Crush Colts
The NFL playoffs got under way Saturday with a pair of blowouts. The Atanta Falcons upset the favored Green Bay Packers 27-7, sending the Pack to its first playoff loss ever at Lambeau Field. Earlier, the New York Jets massacred the Indianapolis Colts, 41-0.
Both winning teams were boosted by sparkling performances from their youthful quarterbacks, Michael Vick of the Falcons and Chad Pennington of the Jets.
Falcons 27, Packers 7
In Green Bay, Wis., things looked perfect for the Packers. Snow falling. Packers in green and gold. Lambeau Field in January.
Only it wasn't Brett Favre making all the plays.
It was Michael Vick.
Undaunted by the storied stadium where his own coach lost in the "Ice Bowl" 35 years ago, Vick made history of his own Saturday night.
The 22-year-old improvisational genius led the Atlanta Falcons to a shocking 27-7 upset of the Packers in a wild-card playoff before a record crowd of 65,358 stunned souls.
The Packers (12-5) were the only team to go unbeaten at home during the regular season. And they had never lost a home playoff game since the NFL instituted a postseason in 1933 in going 13-0 — 11 of the wins coming at Lambeau and two more in Milwaukee.
The closest they had come was on New Year's Eve 1967, when Bart Starr knifed into the end zone with 13 seconds left to give Green Bay a 21-17 victory over Dallas in the coldest game in NFL history.
Falcons coach Dan Reeves threw a 50-yard touchdown pass on a halfback option that gave the Cowboys a 17-14 fourth-quarter lead in that game.
Favre had built a reputation as the game's greatest cold-weather quarterback, winning all 35 of his starts at home in which the temperature was 34 or below.
It was an unseasonably warm 31 degrees at kickoff. But by the time snow began falling at halftime, the Falcons had an astonishing 24-0 lead.
Favre was without Pro Bowl running back Ahman Green (knee) and leading receivers Donald Driver (shoulder) and Terry Glenn (concussion) in a futile second-half comeback attempt.
He finished 20-of-42 for 247 yards.
Vick was 13-of-25 for 117 and rushed 10 times for 64 yards, numerous times turning sure sacks into big plays.
The Falcons (10-6-1), who had backed into the playoffs after losing three of four in December, will travel to Philadelphia for a divisional playoff next weekend.
Jets 41, Colts 0
In East Rutherford, N.J., The Jets insisted they were ready for the next step, winning an NFL playoff game. They turned it into a huge leap past the befuddled Indianapolis Colts.
After barely getting into the postseason, the Jets emphatically showed they belong with a 41-0 rout of the Colts. Chad Pennington, the sparkplug of their turnaround, threw for three touchdowns, LaMont Jordan ran for two and the defense recorded its first postseason shutout ever.
New York (10-7) began the season 1-4, but won seven of its last nine to storm to the AFC East title on the final day of the season. The surge continued against the wild-card Colts (10-7), who never were in the game as the Jets recorded their biggest victory margin in the playoffs.
The Jets will be at either Oakland or Tennessee next weekend. It was their first postseason victory since 1998, when they made it to the AFC championship game, and the score matched the last playoff game at Giants Stadium, when the Giants beat Minnesota for the 2000 NFC title.
It also was the first NFL playoff game featuring two black head coaches. The Colts' Tony Dungy and the Jets' Herman Edwards, longtime friends, are the only black head coaches in the league. Edwards spent five seasons as Dungy's top assistant in Tampa before becoming the Jets' coach in 2001.
The student came out on top of the mentor because his offense was unstoppable, his defense stingy and his special teams dominant from the outset.
Pennington, the league's most efficient passer, wound up 19-for-25 for 222 yards, easily outperforming one of his heroes. Colts quarterback Peyton Manning was a miserable 14-for-31 for 137 yards and two interceptions, and his team had the ball for just 19:42 — 7:44 in the second half.