Bye byes

The Chicago Bears and New England Patriots earned first round byes in the playoffs after winning their respective divisions in the regular season. Both teams lost their divisional playoff games on Saturday.

Wait a minute, the official upstairs wants to review the last call on the field. (Its his right in the last two minutes of a half or a game.) Upon further review, the call on the field is reversed for one of the two teams.

Chicago was the unfortunate victim of an extra week's rest on Saturday. The Bears were overmatched by the much sharper Philadelphia Eagles 33-19 in the final game at "old" Soldier Field.

New England, on the other hand, won their playoff game 16-13 in overtime. The Patriots were well on their way to making the bye teams 0-2 as they were trailing the Oakland Raiders 13-10 with less than two minutes remaining until the call.

Oakland's cornerback Charles Woodson, coming on a first down blitz, hit Patriot's quarterback Tom Brady from the blindside knocking the ball to the ground. The Raiders' linebacker, Greg Biekert, recovered the ball at the Oakland 47-yard-line with 1:43 left.

The game appeared to be over until replay official Rex Stuart ordered a video review. Coleman ruled that Brady's arm was going forward when he was hit, making the play an incompletion.

The rule in question was NFL Rule 3, Section 21, Article 2.

The rule states, "Note 2: When a Team A player is holding the ball to pass it forward, any intentional forward movement of his arm starts a forward pass, even if the player loses possession of the ball as he is attempting to tuck it back toward his body. Also, if the player has tucked the ball into his body and then loses possession, it is a fumble. Note 3: If the player loses possession of the ball while attempting to recock his arm, it is a fumble."

New England used the call to setup a couple of unbelievable kicks from Adam Vinatieri to win the game.

Instead of being rested and ready to play after their bye, I thought that both Chicago and New England got off to a slow start and looked rusty throughout their games on Saturday.

Philadelphia dominated the over-hyped Bears defense from the first play of the game. Once Chicago QB Jim Miller left the game with a separated shoulder, the game was all but over.

Oakland outplayed New England for the first 48 minutes and 17 seconds. All the life and energy was taken from the Raiders' team once the Brady fumble was ruled an incomplete pass.

The week off leading into the playoffs may be overrated. The Eagles and Raiders both showed the benefit of carrying momentum from the previous week into their current games. I hope the Steelers and Rams are ready to play on Sunday. The Ravens and Packers will be.