The NFL playoffs are set and there were a couple of surprises on Sunday in the AFC field.
The day began with Denver and the New York Jets needing just to win to make the playoffs. The Jets took care of business, beating down the hapless Oakland Raiders. But the Broncos, in one of the most shocking developments of the day, blew a 13-0 lead at home and lost in overtime to San Francisco, 26-23.
That game, combined with Cincinnati’s loss to Pittsburgh and Tennessee’s loss to New England, sent the Kansas City Chiefs to the playoffs. The Chiefs beat Jacksonville, 35-30.
The Broncos choke job completed a shocking fall from grace for the team, led by alleged genius Mike Shanahan. Denver started the season 7-2. Then, in the midst of a four-game losing streak, Shanahan changed quarterbacks, benching Jake Plummer in favor of rookie Jay Cutler. The Broncos went 2-3 in Cutler’s five games as a starter.
Two of the NFC’s playoff teams laid major eggs in the season’s final week. Dallas suffered a humiliating loss to Detroit - especially humiliating because the Lions could have secured the first pick in the draft with a loss. Chicago was hammered by Green Bay on Sunday night with quarterback Rex Grossman throwing three interceptions and earning a Blutarsky-like quarterback rating of 0.0.
The playoffs start next weekend with Indianapolis hosting Kansas City and Dallas hosting Seattle in the Saturday games. The Giants go to Philadelphia and the Jets travel to New England.
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