Behind The Scoreboard - Claude Vinson


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Behind The Scoreboard
By Claude Vinson

Roads en route to Super Bowl

If “Wildcard Weekend” could be termed indeed “wild,” the football world perhaps could not have envisioned just what the first round in the divisional playoffs would look like. One would have to do a good imitation of Gomer Pyle to get the “Surprise! Surprise!” down pat.

First, the Baltimore Ravens gave ole number 52 (Ray Lewis) yet another chow hall pass by shocking Denver 38-35. It was the divisional matchup which the city that had laid claim to Peyton Manning had already put into their account. Sometimes it is wise to check what the opposition is planning. When Joe Flacco, Ray Lewis and a few other Ravens had finishing acting out Poe, they had sent the Broncos packing via two overtimes.

Lewis, whose retirement had been blazing across the media for weeks, called on his cohorts to send him and his career out in style. They responded and after it was all over, and the Ravens had moved on to knock on yet another door, the man who Lewis and his brethren had shunted aside, met, after a long wait, in a dank, cold locker room away from the prying eyes of the media. Just Peyton Manning, his family and Lewis were there. No one knows exactly what was said but it was probably something along the line of one future legend wishing another future legend well, classily and appropriately, face to face.

It is known that one disgruntled former Denver fan (Peter Tebow, sound familiar?) tweeted how gleeful he was that Peyton Manning and the Broncos had lost.

The other surprise came with the ease in which the San Francisco 49ers turned back the Green Bay Packers, 45-31.

All of that was on Saturday and now this was Sunday. There were two more roads which were running towards Super Bowl XLVII – one through Atlanta and Seattle and another through New England and Houston. A funny thing almost happened to the Falcons on their way to the forum; they almost didn’t make it. They had to call on every string and sinew to stop the Seahawks and their rookie signal caller from denying their shot at a chance to play for all the marbles.

At Foxboro, there was not much doubt from the first quarter that the Patriots knew which way they were going. The dour, always somber, Bill Belichick calmly directed the Patriots to yet another try for the first of two titles.

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