Great weekend of games. I think whether your team (if you had one playing) won or lost, and whether you're happy, sad or angry, at least it can be said that we got four really good matchups and four games with plenty to talk about. Since everybody is doing it and some things have been said 100 times and will be said 100 more, I'll try to come up with something a little bit different on each. It's got to be possible.

Ravens at Patriots: A lot of back and forth and big plays from both sides in this game, but I find myself locking in on two inexcusable moments at the end, one from each team. The first was Joe Flacco's interception. Flacco played a great game and it sure looked like he was going to march down the field and win things at the very end. So it was crazy that he went for it all into double-coverage and threw a pick. A gift to the Patriots, who looked pretty gassed on defense. The other unthinkable element is that Baltimore actually got another chance to attempt a Hail Mary into the end zone from midfield that had a very reasonable chance of being completed. It was almost like nobody realized the Ravens still had a timeout; the Patriots took a knee on third down and players from both sides were shaking hands and embracing out there. Instead Baltimore was thisclose to winning the game, a completion which if it happened might have never been lived down in New England. It's not often you see a team take three knees when they can't actually run out the clock.

Fantasy-wise, the emergence of Danny Amendola is one of the more interesting things and something to watch over the remainder of the postseason. That and the disappearance of the Patriots running game, although it should resurface against the Colts this week, what with Jonas Gray going for 200 in the regular season. Although it will probably be Blount this week. Probably. For Baltimore, well, their defense came up small in Foxborough. Most likely it will be better next year. Big question is what the backfield looks like, with Justin Forsett seeming to wear down and the other running backs showing little.

Panthers at Seahawks: Kind of the game most expected, a defensive struggle with Seattle's defense making big plays at the end. The stat about Seattle being the first Super Bowl champion to win a game the following postseason since 2005 was impressive. Another great performance from Russell Wilson, another member of Seattle's secondary stepping up, and what looks like another Super Bowl run from this team. Maybe Andrew Luck is the quarterback you build a team around today, but Wilson isn't too far behind.

Fantasy-wise, it was an impressive game from Cam Newton, and in general a really impressive second half of the season from the Panthers, starting with Jonathan Stewart. I remember talk early on that Ron Rivera was on the hot seat. I think if the Panthers can just finally free themselves of the running back committee that really has only seemed to hurt Stewart's momentum over the years, they could build on this next year. Another wide receiver or two, obviously, would also be a big help. The offensive line could be better. But in general, a better season from Carolina than you maybe would have expected.

Cowboys at Packers: I don't want to talk too much about the play because everyone has already said all that needs to be said, and will be doing so for the next few days at least. Or forever. The Calvin Johnson rule was stupid from the day it was first called and it's stupid now, and I guess this is the play that will get the league to take another look at it. Big-time star makes a tremendous athletic play and the ground causes a fumble, only in this case it's not a completed catch. Stupid then, stupid now. If you were watching the Colts-Broncos game, you saw a Joshua Cribbs fumble that could have also changed the game reversed, because the ground caused a fumble. Only difference was that one was a reception and one was fielding a punt. Did I mention it's a stupid rule?

As for everything else, the big takeaway I had was wondering why there weren't more throws of that nature to Bryant. Fantastic player and I'm sure Green Bay was focusing their coverage on him and whatnot, but to only send 5 passes his way all game is nuts. I'm sure Dallas and their fans are most upset about that reversal, but realistically the Packers may very well have won the game even if Dallas had scored right there. A bigger question to me is why Dallas, up 21-13, didn't manage to do a little more on offense against an ordinary Packers defense, including more shots taken with Bryant. Should have won.

Fantasy-wise, does Davante Adams' big game mean Green Bay considers moving on from Randall Cobb? Of course, Cobb had an even bigger game, with clutch reception after clutch reception. But you can't pay everyone. That's the interesting thing to watch in the offseason. Of course, Dallas has some big personnel decisions to make too. They definitely need another receiver, Terrance Williams' productive finish notwithstanding.

Colts at Broncos: Apologies for blowing my own horn but I honestly didn't know why so many were so sure the Broncos were going to win this game. They weren't right for the second half of the season, not just Peyton Manning but their defense, too. Andrew Luck is like Aaron Rodgers (when healthy) in the sense that if you can cover his receivers he can move around and beat you with his legs. He lost a rushing touchdown yesterday on a holding penalty that was completely unnecessary; he'd have scored had his center not felt the need to grab the defender. It's a dynamic and talented Colts offense with Luck and his various receivers and yes Dan Herron, and they're going to dominate the AFC South for probably as long as Peyton Manning's Colts did. They need help in the trenches on both sides of the ball and probably another running back, but it will be tough for anyone else to catch them for a little while in that division.

As for Manning. I of course think of Brett Favre, who had that fantastic 2009 season which ended with a thud in the NFC Championship Game, and he was going to call it quits there. But the Vikings flew some players down to Mississippi to change his mind and gave him a $20 million check or whatever, and he came back for one more year. And 201o was a disaster, and clearly he should have called it. And I think Manning, maybe, knows the likelihood of 2015 going similarly for him should he happen to come back. It's a long season. If you're only playing to win another Super Bowl, you have to get through quite a lot to get to that point. And when you can't even win with a bye against a young upstart team, that should be a sign that it's over. I think Manning knows this, I think he will think strongly about hanging it up.

So, those were the four games. Now we've got two for all the marbles, and the home teams are favored. But a pair of pretty dangerous quarterbacks are on the other side of these games. Green Bay seems to have the better all-around team of the two challengers, but it's facing the better defense of the home teams, plus Rodgers is hurt. The Colts have a great young quarterback, but they're facing a head coach who's stopped a lot of such players over the year, and their defense isn't good enough to stop the Patriots, particularly on the ground.

First thought is that the home teams will win, and if a road team can sneak one out, it's Green Bay. But an immobile Rodgers, which he largely is, works against that premise. Let's think about it for a few more days and hammer down those picks at the end of the week.