With All-Pro defensive back locked on the Indianapolis Colts leading receiver Reggie Wayne, Peyton Manning focused on second-year pro Pierre Garcon in last Sunday’s AFC Championship game. The muscular Garcon broke the record for receptions in a AFC Championship game catching 11 passes for 151 yards and a touchdown as the Colts defeated the New York Jets 30-17 to advance to Super Bowl XLIV. The young wide out has come a long way in a short time from his days playing Division III football at Mount Union. Garcon was drafted in sixth round of the 2008 draft only catching four balls in his rookie season. A knee injury to Anthony Gonzalez gave Garcon a chance to step into the second receiver role and #85 hasn’t disappointed.

The past few weeks having been bittersweet for Garcon who is of Haitian decent as he dedicated Sunday’s performance to the earthquake ravaged country. Growing up in South Florida, next week’s Super Bowl in Miami will also hold special significance for the 24-year-old as Garcon returns home. When the Colts run out onto field of Dolphin Stadium keep an eye out Pierre Garcon not just for his amazing story, but because he might just be the next big thing in the NFL.

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The NFC Championship for a moment seemed destined to be decided by the right boot of Minnesota Vikings place kicker Ryan Longwell. The broadcast kept cutting to the 35-year-old former Green Bay Packers kicker warming up as his teammates were moving the ball into field goal range with the score tied 28-28 with the New Orleans Saints in the final moments of the fourth quarter.

This is what Longwell worked all year for: the chance to kick the game-winning field goal that would send his team to the Super Bowl. Former Packers team mate and living legend Brett Farve had gotten the Vikings down the field to where Longwell would have to kick a 50+ yarder to win the game. Not ideal conditions for Longwell, but he had done it before with his career long being 54 yards. Time was running down and head coach Brad Childress wanted to see if he could get a few more yards to make the kick a little easier. Longwell waited on the sidelines preparing himself for what would be one of the most important kicks of his career.

The trouble is that Longwell never got the chance. The next play Brett Farve rolled out to his right and rifled the football across his body spiraling into the arms of Saints’ defensive back Tracy Porter. On the other sideline 23-year-old Garret Hartley celebrated with his team mates at their team’s good fortune. The Saints had won a number of games this season in odd fashion and Farve’s folly only furthered the idea that they were a team of destiny.

Cajun luck continued to the joy of the 70,000 Saints fans in the Superdome as New Orleans won the coin toss giving them the ball first in overtime. Hartley began taking his warm up kicks as QB Drew Brees (a Farve-like folk legend in the making in New Orleans) led the offense onto the field. The young kicker had called his father the night before the game in the middle of the night to tell him he just had a feeling he would kick the game-winning field goal from 40 yards away on the right hash mark. Hartley was only two yards off. The Saints strung together a few passes aided by a crucial pass interference call against the Vikings setting up the Texas-born kicker for a 42 yard kick to win the game.

The New Orleans Saints had never been to a Super Bowl in their 43 year existence as Hartley lined up for the kick. The entire city hung in the balance as long snapper Jason Kyle snapped the ball back to holder Mark Brunell with the young kicker waiting to strike. Brunell set the snap down perfectly and just as Hartley envisioned the night before he drilled the pigskin right through the goal posts sending the Big Easy into ecstasy. Hartley will forever be remembered for that kick and beloved in New Orleans while Longwell will always wonder about the kick he never got to take. So goes the life of a NFL placekicker.

He hasn’t played in awhile, but he is poised to be activated for the game this weekend. Deuce McAllister was one of the best players in the league once upon a time. The Saints are hoping against hope that he will reprise that role again this weekend when their team plays against the Arizona Cardinals. This team has been struggling for a long time already, having lost several games to close out the season and really not being on their game. But they did play some very dominating football for much of the season. They need to shake something up and also are hoping that they have improved a few things with the week off. The addition of McAllister could be a fantastic move that gives them an extra oomph, or just something that messes up the chemistry. We’ll see. They will have to be on their game during this game, because the Cards have been on fire. We’ll see if they can make it happen, and it’s going to be an amazing game no matter what.

Tom Brady had a tough game last evening in New England against the Baltimore Ravens. His three interceptions and a couple of lost fumbles are a big reason why the Pats lost by a couple of scores during that game. This eliminates the Patriots for this year. Does this mean that the Brady comeback is not complete? Was he perhaps too injured to get it all done in the end? Several people have suggested that Brady and the Patriots might be finished. He and his team will certainly have to adjust their style of game, particularly on offense, so that they can get back into the playoff hunt next year. They need to keep up with teams like San Diego and Indy. But with the purported injuries that Brady currently has, it’s not necessarily hard to understand that his play was so greatly compromised.

One of the most interesting things about this year’s Wild Card Weekend is that the teams have already competed once this year. This means that we have already seen a preview of the matchup and have some idea of how it could go. In the case of Philadelphia vs Dallas, we’ve seen it twice already. The Cowboys swept the Eagles, but it was a hotly contested game, just like any in the NFC East. The Pats and Ravens have already competed recently, and many people are concerned that the Patriots might have some big trouble against this team. Similarly, Green Bay and Arizona might be about to have a very difficult time against one another. Green Bay beat Arizona twice (possibly running up the score both times), but Arizona tends to hit their stride about the time of Wild Card weekend. Finally, the Jets vs Bengals will be an interesting battle of young teams that haven’t seen the playoffs in a long time. They are considered relatively weak, but we haven’t seen many of their players in the postseason before, so we’ll keep an eye on that.

Now that the regular season is over, we know who’s in the playoffs and who isn’t. In the NFC, we find that the two teams with first round bye’s are the New Orleans Saints, who came close to the perfect season, and the Minnesota Vikings who have had a great season but threaten to fall off a bit at this point. The Green Bay Packers, Arizona Cardinals, Philadelphia Eagles and Dallas Cowboys will have it out during Wild Card Weekend in just a few days. This will be greatly fun, especially when you look at teams like Dallas and Philly who competed hotly for the NFC East. But the real show appears to be in the AFC, where the two top seeds seem destined to meet up in the AFC Championship in just a few weeks, the Colts and Chargers being about as dominant as they come this year. But don’t count New England or Cincinnati out, because they have been tough throughout the year. This year, the playoffs look to be an especially exciting event, with teams that were perfect or close to perfect making their way through treacherous waters. Make sure that you’re tuning in or in the stadium for a lot of great games!