Here are 10 things that I took away from the second day of the playoffs.
1. The Minnesota Vikings will be playing the New Orleans Saints next Sunday. It's nice to finally have a playoff opponent.
2. I will never understand the need for a swimming pool inside a football stadium.
3. The Jacksonville Jaguars sport an energetic, fast, talented, young defense but they sure do a lot of chirping. I suppose energetic, fast, talented, young defenses tend to do that.
4. It's real tough seeing the Jaguars moving further in the playoffs with Blake Bortles throwing the football like he did yesterday. At least he did some good things when he ran with it.
5. The Panthers-Saints game showed again that answering touchdowns with field goals doesn't work. Simple math does that as well. The Panthers moved the ball better and controlled the ball longer than the Saints but kept having to settle for field goals (4) and a missed field goal. If the Panthers get seven rather than three even once on those scoring opportunities, they win. If Graham Gano makes that first short attempt that he missed then he can win the game at the end. The Panthers win this game if they simply finish their scoring opportunities in the end zone. The Saints were much better at doing what they had to do with their scoring opportunities and they are going to Minnesota.
6. Drew Brees is a brilliant, accurate quarterback but the windows into which he had to throw against the Panthers were huge. The Vikings defense can't give him similar windows next Sunday. You can't make things easy for any quarterback let alone one of Brees' ability.
7. In only his second season, Michael Thomas is already the best receiver that Brees has had on his team.
8. Other than Thomas, the simple, beautiful act of catching the football took a break this weekend.
9. The Carolina Panthers are now officially for sale.
10. By the time they take the field Sunday evening it will feel like a month has passed since the Vikings played a football game.
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