Byzantium's Shores: chronicling the misadventures of an overalls-clad hippie

It's funny to see the things I post, most of the time as a throw-away thought, that end up bringing a bunch of hits from search-engine results. Such is the case with my brief mention last week of the NFL playoff commercials, featuring actor Don Cheadle. I'm assuming that people are looking for a place online to view these ads. I've looked too, and I haven't found them yet. If anyone locates them, I hope you drop me a line.

As for the football games themselves, this was a hell of a weekend. We had history, on several fronts: the second and fourth largest playoff comebacks in history, the Packers' first ever playoff loss at home, the latest chapter in the miserable history of the Cleveland Browns, what is sure to be the first of many Michael Vick playoff games, and Jeff Garcia's coming of age in San Francisco. All that, and a pretty impressive old-fashioned blow-out to kick it all off.

:: I've noted at several points this year that home-field advantage in the AFC is an almost guarantee of not making it to the Super Bowl. The way the Jets are playing, I think that the Raiders may learn this the hard way. I'm not sure when the last 9-7 team went to the Super Bowl, but the Jets could very well do it. I certainly think they're capable of beating any of the three teams still alive in the AFC.

:: I finally got to watch Michael Vick play, and he is definitely impressive. His improvisational style of play reminds me of Steve Young in his prime and Randall Cunningham early in his career, in the way he very quickly scans the field and, if his receivers aren't open, he takes off. But Vick is more physically gifted -- by several factors -- than Young or Cunningham, which makes him even more dangerous than those guys were when they went on the run. As long as no conservative coach comes in and tries to force Vick into being a pocket-quarterback, he could end up being one of the most exciting players in years.

:: There's not much I can say about the Steelers-Browns game or the 49ers-Giants game that hasn't been said elsewhere, except to note the lack of fundamentals that doomed the Browns and Giants. In the former case, it was the lack of a running game and therefore the ability to control the game's tempo. In the latter case, of course it was the multi-faceted botching of that field goal attempt. I don't know if I've ever seen more fundamental breakdowns on a single play: you had a bad snap, a holder who forgot that he could have just spiked the thing to get another shot, and ineligible men downfield. On the FOX postgame show the Giants were pretty well roasted for the breakdown on that play, but Jimmy Johnson had the best comments when he noted that the "ineligible receiver" penalty didn't involve a single lineman, as is usually the case, but four or five guys who should have known better.

:: I don't recall the exact date, but it's fitting that the 49ers' and Steelers' comebacks yesterday fell roughly on the tenth anniversary of the greatest NFL comeback of all time, when the Buffalo Bills rallied from a 35-3 third-quarter deficit to beat Houston in OT, 41-38. That game was played in the wild-card round in January, 1993.

:: A few stats from Sunday's two games are in order. The four teams scored a combined 19 touchdowns, with only 5 of those being rushing TDs. The four quarterbacks were a combined 84 for 178, 1469 yards, 13 touchdowns, and 5 interceptions. These four gentlemen, each of whom played valiantly, combined for a passer rating of 133.5. (Results courtesy this calculator.)

What a weekend.