The 2007 NFL Football Playoffs: How did we got to Super Bowl XLI?
The top 12 teams of NFL Football got the invite to play at the 2007 NFL Playoffs.
From the AFC Conference; the Indianapolis Colts, the New England Patriots, the Baltimore Ravens, the San Diego Chargers, the Kansas City Chiefs and the New York Jets got the invite and play in the playoffs for a chance to represent the AFC in Super Bowl XLI.
From the NFC Conference; the Chicago Bears, the New Orleans Saints, the Seattle Seahawks, the Philadelphia Eagles, the Dallas Cowboys and the New York Giants were invited to play in the post season and play for the NFC Conference's one single spot in Super Bowl XLI.
Whoever comes out of the AFC will face the one remaining team in the NFC at Super Bowl XLI and play for the biggest prize in all of American sports.
The AFC Conference is regarded as the stronger side of NFL Football these days. With teams like the New England Patriots, the Indianapolis Colts, the Baltimore Ravens and the Pittsburgh Steelers under one group, the AFC will just be stronger and stronger in the next five years or so. This year, the AFC's playoff seeding was as follows:
Yep, the defending Super Bowl XL champions, Pittsburgh Steelers, failed to make it this year. The Chargers and the Ravens, both earning the top two playoff spots in the AFC, had a first round bye as the rest played to determine which team will move on. The no.3 Colts hosted the no.6 Chiefs while the no.4 Patriots welcomed the red hot Jets at Foxboro.
On the other side of things, the NFC Conference probably had the most exciting playoff match-ups, with it being the weaker conference and having almost identical NFL Football teams under its wing.
Unlike the AFC which has powerhouse teams like the Colts and the Patriots ready to pound on their playoff rivals for blowout wins, this league doesn't have any NFC team that can really be called a powerhouse.
The top-seeded team in the NFC, the Chicago Bears, are susceptible to upsets because of inconsistencies at the quarterback position while the Dallas Cowboys, one of the favorites to win the Super Bowl a month ago, just kept on losing and losing the last couple of weeks heading to the playoffs, dropping them from no.2 all the way down to no.5.
Yep, the NFC is one frantic conference without any clear favorite whatsoever to win the division. Nevertheless, this side of the NFL Football playoffs gave us more excitement and drama just because of the way this conference shaped up to be this year. Besides, the NFC do have the controversial Terrell Owens from Dallas.
The NFC Conference playoff seeding was as follows:
The Bears and the Saints, with the top two seeds in the conference had the first week of the playoffs off. The no.4 Seahawks, last year's NFC Champions, hosted the no.5 Cowboys while the then struggling New York Giants, still struggling even after earning the last seed in the NFC playoffs, visited probably the hottest team in NFL Football the past few weeks heading to the playoffs, the no.3 Philadelphia Eagles.
The Philadelphia Eagles could very well has been this year's NFL Playoffs Cinderella team, rallying for the playoffs and earning home field advantage in the first round without franchise QB Donovan McNabb.
However, the same can be said of the New Orleans Saints, who just brought back NFL Football to New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina left the city in ruins; the Indianapolis Colts who just can't find the way to be as dominating in the playoffs as they are during the regular season; the New York Jets finally having starting quarterback Chad Pennington healthy after years of dealing with injuries; the Dallas Cowboys who found gold when they decided to replace veteran quarterback Drew Bledsoe with Tony Romo, now an icon in Dallas, Texas.
Yep, all these storylines did come to play in the NFL Playoffs. In the end, it was the Indianapolis Colts who were crowned Super Bowl XLI champions, beating the Chicago Bears, 29-17.