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USA TODAY's Sean Leahy looks at the superlatives for the NFL's wild-card weekend: Worst choke: The Saints were huge favorites even as they traveled to Seattle as a wild-card qualifier. But the New Orleans became the fifth straight defending champion unable to win a playoff game in a 41-36 loss to Seattle, which won the NFC West with just a 7-9 record. Best start: The Packers sent a message for the menacing tone they'd take toward Eagles QB Michael Vick on Sunday from the first snap. Desmond Bishop sacked Vick for a loss of 9 yards, the first of three sacks in the Packers' 21-16 win.louis vuitton outlet Michael Vick and the Eagles lost to Green Bay on Sunday.CAPTIONBy Nick Laham, Getty Images Best kick: Nick Folk booted a 32-yard field goal as time expired to clinch the Jets' come-from-behind 17-16 road win against the Colts. Folk's kick came 53 seconds after Adam Vinatieri nailed a 50-yard field goal to give the Colts a 16-14 lead. Best QB: Green Bay's Aaron Rodgers claimed his first career playoff win with three TD passes in a 21-16 decision in Philadelphia. Rodgers was 18-for-27 with 180 yards passing and a QB rating of 122.5. Best defense: The Ravens limited the Chiefs to just 161 yards -- including 25 in the second half -- during a 30-7 road win. Best matchups: The Ravens' win against the Chiefs and the Jets' win against the Colts set up AFC divisional playoff pairings of the Ravens-Steelers and Jets-Patriots. The AFC will showcase two of the NFL's fiercest rivalries during the divisional round. Sweetest revenge: The Jets defeated the Colts at the site of their loss last season in the AFC title game. Jets coach Rex Ryan had said in the days before the game that he considered the matchup against Indianapolis QB Peyton Manning "personal." Best kickoff return: After the Colts took a 16-14 lead with 53 seconds remaining, the Jets' Antonio Cromartie -- filling in for dinged-up kick returner Brad Smith -- returned the Indianapolis kickoff 47 yards to the Jets' 46-yard line to help set up a game-winning, walk-off field goal. Worst kicking: Philadelphia's David Akers missed two field goal attempts (including a 41-yard attempt after the Eagles recovered a muffed Packers punt in the first quarter) in the loss to Green Bay. Akers' two misses (the other was from 34 yards) were crucial in a game the Eagles lost 21-16. Best play: Seattle's Marshawn Lynch busted loose for a 67-yard, game-icing TD run that clinched a 41-36 win against the Saints on Saturday. Lynch evaded about eight would-be tacklers en route to the end zone. Biggest surprise: Packers rookie RB James Starks ran for 123 yards -- after only running for 101 in three previous games -- in the team's 21-16 win at Philadelphia. Worst performance by Pro Bowl WR (1): Indianapolis' Reggie Wayne -- who had 111 catches in the regular season -- was held to just one catch for 1 yard in Saturday's 17-16 loss to the Jets while being matched primarily against New York CB Darrelle Revis. Worst performance by Pro Bowl WR (2): Kansas City's Dwayne Bowe was not targeted at all by QB Matt Cassel in the 30-7 loss to the Ravens. The NFL's TD receptions leader this season with 15 scores, Bowe started the game but never registered in the box score.chanel outlet Worst playoff record by veteran QB: Indianapolis' Peyton Manning fell to 9-10 all-time in the postseason in the loss to the Jets. It marked the seventh time in 11 playoff trips that Manning lost in his first playoff game. Worst playoff debut by QB: Kansas City's Matt Cassel threw three INTs while completing just nine of 18 passes for 70 yards in a 30-7 loss to the Ravens. Cassel had a passer rating of 20.4. Worst road playoff record: The Saints' loss in Seattle kept them winless in franchise history on the road during the playoffs. Sloppiest team: The Chiefs committed five turnovers in a 30-7 loss to the Ravens. Best renaissance: Seahawks QB Matt Hasselbeck -- who didn't start the regular season finale in part because of a balky hip -- threw four TDs in the 41-36 win against New Orleans. It was his first game with four TD passes since Oct. 11, 2009. Worst misstep: Philadelphia TE Brent Celek caught a pass from QB Michael Vick on a two-point conversion attempt with 4:02 that would have trimmed the Packers' lead to 21-18 ... but Celek was flagged for having stepped out of the back of the end zone before catching the ball, and the Eagles failed to convert. Worst coverage: Saints S Roman Harper got burned several times in the 41-36 loss at Seattle. Harper got exposed on a 7-yard TD pass by Seattle TE John Carlson in the second quarter when Carlson fell at the line of scrimmage, then got up and emerged uncovered in the end zone to haul in the scoring pass. Worst no-show: Saints RB Reggie Bush had just 12 yards rushing on five carries in the 41-36 loss at Seattle. Bush was limited by a leg injury. And when backup Julius Jones (head) had to sit, the Saints -- already without RBs Pierre Thomas and Chris Ivory -- had to use recent signee DeShawn Wynn. Worst playoff performance: The Chiefs set an NFL record with their seventh straight postseason defeat in the 30-7 loss to the Ravens. Kansas City hasn't won a playoff game since Jan. 16, 1994. Best 31-year-old RB: The Jets' LaDainian Tomlinson rushed for 82 yards and two TDs in the team's 17-16 win at Indianapolis. His rushing performance equaled the total rushing yards (82) he recorded in his four previous playoff games. Worst drop: Packers QB Aaron Rodgers appeared to hit WR James Jones in stride for what could have been a 63-yard TD reception with 31 seconds left. But Jones dropped the pass, which could have put Green Bay up 21-3 at the half of their win in Philadelphia. The Green Bay Packers have selected twice in the first round of plenty of NFL drafts; 14 times, in fact. Their history shows how difficult it is to strike gold even picking so high. But it's hard to do any better than general manager Ted Thompson in 2009, when he selected B.J. Raji at No. 9 overall and Clay Matthews at No. 26. Let's start by acknowledging the obvious, that Matthews and Raji are early in their careers and need to stay healthy and playing at a high level for several more years before landing 2009 among the Packers' best all-time drafts.ugg boots for clearance But let's also acknowledge that both already are performing at or near an elite level and are the biggest of several reasons for the Packers' jump to No. 2 in the NFL in points allowed this season from No. 7 last year. They're the kinds of players great drafts are made of, and, if their current play holds up over time, they'll probably push '09 into the top 10 Packers' drafts and rival 1957 for the best of the franchise's 14 shots at two first-round picks in the same year. That 1957 draft was one of three consecutive drafts conducted by personnel man Jack Vainisi that rank as the top three in team history and provided a core of outstanding talent for Vince Lombardi's championship teams in the '60s. In '57, Vainisi and coach Lisle Blackbourn selected Paul Hornung with the first overall pick and Ron Kramer with the fourth. Hornung is a Pro Football Hall of Famer who probably was the key player on Lombardi's teams through '65, in which time they won three NFL championship games and lost in another. Kramer was a freak athlete on par with the top tight ends today. He was an outstanding runner who averaged 16.0 yards a catch over the best four-year stretch of his career. He's not in the Hall of Fame because of his undistinguished first four seasons in the NFL, but he was as good a tight end as there was in the game from 1961 to '64. The drafting of Raji and Matthews could form the keystone of the Packers' defense for many years if they stay healthy and hungry. Raji had a bland rookie year. In the off-season, defensive coordinator Dom Capers moved Raji from defensive end to nose tackle in his 3-4 scheme, and the decision has proven inspired. The move into the middle of the line has allowed Raji to be his disruptive best. There was no indication in training camp he was going to take off, but take off he has in the second half of the season. He probably deserved to go to the Pro Bowl. Matthews, in the meantime, went from a strong rookie to an elite player this year. His pass rushing deservedly gets most of the attention, but he also blows up the occasional running play. PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Lovers of bone-crunching defensive football, the AFC has just the game for you: Ravens-Steelers III. The NFC has a juicy one upcoming, too: surging Green Bay at Atlanta. The Packers discovered a running game Sunday in beating the Eagles 21-16, the third road victory during wild-card weekend. Shockingly, the only home winner was Seattle, which beat defending Super Bowl champion New Orleans on Saturday. All four games next weekend are rematches: the Jets are at New England in the AFC, the Seahawks at Chicago in the NFC. Aaron Rodgers threw for three scores and sixth-round draftee James Starks, who had 101 yards rushing during the regular season, powered through NFC East champ Philadelphia for 123 yards. Earlier, Baltimore set up what figures to be a crunching third meeting with AFC North rival Pittsburgh when it beat the Kansas City Chiefs 30-7. Baltimore and Pittsburgh finished tied atop the division at 12-4, with the Steelers holding the tiebreaker and getting a bye. They split two smashmouth games during the season, with the Ravens winning 17-14 at Pittsburgh in Week 4, the last game of Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger's suspension. The Steelers took the rematch in one of 2010's showcase games, a 13-10 outcome that turned on safety Troy Polamalu's sensational forced fumble. A veteran playoff team that has won four of its last five postseason road games, the Ravens completely shut down AFC West champion Kansas City's passing game and forced five turnovers. They won't be intimidated in the least by a trip to Heinz Field next Saturday. "It's going to be a lot of fun," said Joe Flacco, who threw for two touchdowns. "This is going to be the second time in my career that we've played them three times in a season. And those games are always a lot of fun. We're going to go up there and give it our best." The Chiefs have lost seven straight postseason games, a league record that dates back to the 1993 season. "We turned the ball over and that's not characteristic of us," Pro Bowl left guard Brian Waters said. "When we had to make plays, we weren't able to. When they had to make plays, they did. You can't turn the ball over."us a burberry outlet On Saturday, Seattle became the first team with a losing record to win a playoff game when it stunned New Orleans 41-36 behind four TD passes by Matt Hasselbeck. The Seahawks (8-9) visit Chicago (11-5) next Sunday; Seattle won at Soldier Field 23-20 on Oct. 17. Green Bay, the sixth seed in the NFC, heads to top-seeded Atlanta (13-3), where it lost 20-17 in November. In the AFC, the New York Jets improved to 3-1 in road playoff games under bombastic coach Rex Ryan by edging Indianapolis 17-16 on Nick Folk's 32-yard field goal as time expired. Those results sent both of last February's Super Bowl teams out on the first day of the postseason. The Jets (12-5) are at New England (14-2) next Sunday. The last time they met, the Patriots won 45-3 in a prime-time romp. In Week 2, though, the Jets won 28-14. That December rout remains firmly in the Jets' memories.chanel outlet online "We've been wanting the Patriots for a while now," tight end Dustin Keller said. "Ever since that game." Rodgers had TD passes of 7 yards to Tom Crabtree, 9 to James Jones and 16 to Brandon Jackson, who used a convoy of blockers on a screen pass for the winning points midway in the third quarter.buy uggs online Then Green Bay (11-6) held on as Michael Vick brought Philadelphia (10-7) close, but was intercepted in the end zone by Tramon Williams in the final seconds. The Packers have won three in a row; the Eagles finished with three straight defeats. Billy Cundiff kicked three field goals to support Flacco, but it was the savvy defense that dominated, as it often does for Baltimore (13-4). The Ravens led 10-7 in the third quarter when they stopped Kansas City on fourth-and-inches. Baltimore got a field goal out of that, then another after Ray Lewis forced a fumble by rookie Dexter McCluster. Dawan Landry's interception moments later led to Anquan Boldin's 4-yard TD reception for a 23-7 lead, and the Chiefs (10-7) were headed for that unenviable NFL record. Their last playoff victory came with Joe Montana as their quarterback. Ravens safety Ed Reed sparked the defense even as he and his family were dealing with the disappearance of his brother, Brian, who jumped into the Mississippi River as he ran from police in Louisiana. The Ravens gave Reed the game ball in an emotion-filled locker room Giffords in 2007US Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords was shot at a public event in Tucson, Arizona on Saturday. At least five were killed and several others were wounded in the shooting, including at least one of Giffords' staff. The shooting occurred at a Safeway supermarket where Giffords, a Democratic Party member who represented Arizona's 8th congressional district, had scheduled a public "Congress on Your Corner" event. Giffords was widely reported as having died after the attack, but her public relations personnel later said she was undergoing surgery. Giffords was shot in the head at close range, and according to the Pima County sheriff, Giffords, aged 40, died from the attack. National Public Radio, however, reported that there were conflicting reports about her death. Giffords was airlifted to a nearby hospital and underwent emergency surgery. A spokesperson for University Medical Center said, "She is currently in surgery. She's alive," adding that nine other shooting victims had been taken to the hospital. After the surgery, the hospital announced Giffords was alive with a single gunshot wound to the head and that she was responsive. The hospital also said that a nine-year-old was among those killed in the shooting. David Gonzales, a US Marshal, said that federal judge John Roll also died from his wounds. President Barack Obama said the shooter killed a total of five people.uggs on sale usa Peter Michaels, of Arizona Public Media, said Giffords had been speaking to several people when someone began firing randomly from around 4 feet (1.2 metres) away. The gunman attempted to flee but was tackled by an onlooker and taken into police custody. Described as in his late teens to early twenties, he was later identified as 22-year-old Jared Loughner, who used a handgun in the attack.cleara nce uggs