Outside of the normal storylines, Home-team futility, falling favorites and accusations of official incompetence, I think the biggest story of the NFL playoffs so far has been the relatively low-quality play on the field by all teams, not just the losers in the first round.
The NFL Playoffs are marketed as the "best of the best", there's no month-plus gap between games that leads to Big Ten style Rust or dubious bowl tie-ins that ensure two mediocre teams take the field. These are supposed to be the 'best of the best' putting it all on the line with no prize for second.
What does that get us?
Jake Delhomme turning the ball over five times in a loss to Arizona.
Tennessee forgetting how to run the ball.
Eli Manning throwing up lame duck after lame duck against a Philly defense that will never be mistaken as one of te league's elite (although they are above average)
No LaDanian Tomlinson and a fish-out-of-water Charger's team looking ineffective against the Steelers.
The sad reality is that we're looking at the possibility of a Baltimore/Arizona Superbowl. Only slightly better would be a Baltimore/Philly tie pitting two anemic offenses against each other in a game that could be won by a score of 2-0. Not that I have anything against Ray Lewis or Baltimore, of Brian Dawkins and the Eagles, its just that I want to see great plays when I watch the NFL.
Part of the reason is the insular nature of NFL offensive coordinators. NFL offenses are stuck in the 70's. There's no innovation or outside-the-box thinking, just one-back, two-wideout "pro-sets" running the same plays with different names. Unlike College Football (where all of the real offensive genius lies) NFL defenses basically prepare for the same schemes every week, with only minor changes and tendencies and better players at key positions. Sure, the Steelers may run the ball more than Arizona, but when you watch them line up what's the difference? Where's the empty backfield set and the short passing game, moving the ball down the field? The no-huddle offense designed to tire out some of these (admittedly) great defenses?
All in all it leads to boring football played by Millionaire's with which the fans have only a passing interest. Need proof? At most NFL games its been conceded that tailgating is as much (if not more) a part of the game as the game. The Stupid Bowl has become an orgy of 'Pimp n' Ho' balls, office pools, wagering, advertising, and general partying with very few paying more than fleeting attention to the game. A large part of the reason for this is due to the fact that the game itself is typically not very good.
Now that the College Football season is wrapped up with an orange and blue bow on top I'm starting my sports transition to College Hoops. With pre-season out of the way and conference play beginning in earnest its nigh time to begin getting an idea of how my bracket's going to look come March. Oh sure, I'll watch the NFL Playoffs and the Stupid Bowl out of some sense of sports obligation, I will probably also enter into friendly bets with friends and family concerning the score. At the end of the day, however, I'm not going to care about who wins or loses. The eventual winner will be the one who played the least terribly throughout the playoffs.
Where's the attraction in that?
