2. In case you forgot to keep score during the NFL's Rematch Weekend, Denver was the only team to beat its divisional round opponent (New England) in both the regular season and the playoffs. Indianapolis, Washington and Chicago, all of whom won in the regular season, lost in the playoff do-over. Told you it would be tough to beat a good team twice in the same season.

3. Don't cry for Carolina. Nick Goings may play third string for the Panthers, but he's no slouch at running back. Goings had five 100-yard games in the second half of last season. That's more than DeShaun Foster and Stephen Davis combined to produce in the past two years.

4. If Eric Mangini's reported four-year deal to coach the Jets really does approach $3 million per year, that's precedent-setting big money for a first-time head coach with just one season of experience as an NFL coordinator.

5. If we all could recast our NFL MVP votes two weeks into the postseason, how in the name of Paul Tagliabue could we do anything other than vote for Carolina's Smith?

Media Buzz

Let's me get this straight. The perfect-season Colts are gone? The Bears' "greatest defense ever'' turned sieve-like against Carolina? And the resurrected Patriots didn't even get a shot to knock off Indianapolis in the playoffs, in the divisional round or otherwise?

In other words, the topics we spent most of the season's second half dissecting in microscopic detail amounted to next to nothing once the playoffs actually started.

You think we in the media will learn from our mistakes of premature prognostication next year? Are you kidding? We won't even remember what we whiffed on by Super Bowl week.

Crystal Ball

1. I think it'll take a while before Eric Mangini gets the hang of the head coaching game in the NFL and closes the gap between the Jets and his former team, the AFC East rival Patriots. And I'm talking a couple of years.

2. If it's Seattle versus Denver in the Super Bowl, I'm guessing this time Mike Holmgren won't choose to let Mike Shanahan's Broncos score late in the game in order to get the ball back with enough time to mount a comeback. Not that in my book it was the wrong call in the Packers-Broncos Super Bowl, Mike.

3. If NFL MVP Shaun Alexander plays on Sunday, I like the Panthers' Goings to out-rush him by at least 40 yards.

One More Thing

So Troy Polamalu did intercept that pass, the NFL says? Well whaddya know? It only took the league a day to admit what everybody watching the game knew almost instantly. Get ready for another round of "How-can-we-fix-the-officiating?'' hand-wringing in the NFL this offseason, because the divisional round was not exactly a showcase for the league's men in black (and white).

And while I'm on the topic, here's another thing about the Asante Samuel pass interference call Saturday night in Denver that made no sense: That was an uncatchable ball that Jake Plummer fired way over the head of receiver Ashley Lelie. Watch the replay again. Even if he was untouched, there's no way Lelie makes that catch and stays in bounds.

And the more I see replays of Denver cornerback Champ Bailey and where he lost control of the ball -- about the 2-foot line -- on his 100-yard interception return against New England, the more I'm certain he couldn't possibly have fumbled it forward as he did without the ball breaking the plane of the goal line over the pylon for a touchback.

Two more instances of the NFL's officials blowing a big call last weekend? The zebras giving Bears running back Thomas Jones a touchdown in the right front corner of the end zone when he didn't come close to breaking the plane before he fumbled, and the officials ruling that Samuel didn't get his feet down in bounds after intercepting Plummer in Denver.

Both calls were reversed after replay showed them to be obviously wrong, but that doesn't mean the refs get brownie points for needing the bail out.