Games to Watch - Wildcard Weekend Paul Joyce, Fantasy Football Senior Staff Writer Jan 2, 2004 | More

Well, it was all wrapped up, nice and neat with a bow on top… or so the Vikings thought.  After coming out on the wrong side of a 4^th-down touchdown pass, an on-side kick, and an interference call, they were still up by 5 with time running out.  Consecutive sacks on 2^nd and 3^rd down and all that was left was to ask Josh McCown to put his finger on the ribbon so they could finish tying the bow.  Instead, McCown threw a second 4^th-down touchdown pass and used that finger to snuff out the Vikings playoff season.  What a game to watch!  So what if it wasn’t in last week’s GTW article.  If you’re a Vikings, Packers, or Seahawks fan, you were certainly watching and if you’re a football fan, you should’ve been.

This week there are 4 games and they’re all on national television.  Obviously you’re not looking here to actually get an idea of which ones are worth your time.  These guys are playing for an expense-paid trip to Foxboro, Philadelphia, Kansas City or St. Louis.  They’re all worth your time.  In the post-season version of Games to Watch, it’s all relative.  Let’s see if we can predict which must-see games are muster-see than the others…

Top Shelf

Denver at Indianapolis                               Sun. January 4 @ 4:30pm ET on CBS

Summary:  Week 16 rematch.

Hot Tip: Clinton Portis will make up for missing this game two weeks ago.

It’s tempting to re-use the Indianapolis write-up each week.  They’ve been in GTW all year long and it’s easy to write about the explosive Indy offense.  However, in the past few weeks, the Colts have shown just how beatable they are.  In week 16, the Colts pulled up lame while Denver’s back-up RB Quentin Griffin piled up 136 rushing yards and the Broncos embarrassed the Colts 31-17.   Last week, the Colts needed a last-second field goal to cap a comeback victory over the Houston Texans to wrap up the AFC South.  This week it’s Denver again, and they’ll be dealing with Clinton Portis rather than Quentin Griffin.  It looks like they’ll need that explosive offense to keep up with their defense.  One thing’s for sure, it’ll be fun to watch…

Also on Tap

Dallas at Carolina                                        Sat. January 3 @ 8:00pm ET on ABC

Summary:  Two teams that appreciate playing this weekend more than any other teams.

Hot Tip:  The duo of Stephen Davis and Deshaun Foster should cause some trouble for the Dallas D, especially later in the game.

Before this season, the Cowboys posted back-to-back 5-11 seasons.  The Panthers were 7-9 last year and 1-15 the year before.  These two teams definitely understand what it means to be playing this weekend.  They’ve both come a long way to be here. 

Like we said above, all of the games are must-see and we could just as easily be talking about the Titans-Ravens game here.  They’ve got plenty of recent history and everyone knows the players, but something just tells me that this Cowboys-Panthers game is going to be great.  Both teams have great defenses and great coaches.  The team that makes the most of its offensive chances and is able to take advantage of opportunities will take this one.

Oh by the way, don’t forget to check out the other two games too…