Did you enjoy it? I mean really enjoy it, like savouring a fine wine or gourmet meal? Because that was what was on offer from the Divisional Round's four games at the weekend.
But we had no time to sit back and admire, the second course of our weekend feast was already under way, and it was quickly clear this would also be something for fans of offensive football to drool over. A 45-point first half looked to have set things up for an unforgettable duel between the reigning MVP and the New Kid On The Block, but that soon became an awesome one-man display of gridiron prowess the like of which we had never seen before.
To be fair, his supporting cast was pretty impressive, with Gore piling up 119 yards and a score and the steel-armed Crabtree adding another 119 with a series of catches that seemed to defy physics at times. But there was no denying the NFL's newest and brightest star. Colin Kaepernick took the art of quarterback play to a whole new level, not just beating the previous record for most yards running (118, by Michael Vick) but absolutely re-arranging it to the tune of 181.
Jaws were being picked up all over the country, not least on the Green Bay sideline, as San Francisco's young tyro added 263 yards through the air and two more scores to give him four in all. He wasn't quite a one-man touchdown machine, but it was a close-run thing.
Precocity
We had just about caught our breath when NFL Nation was hit by Hurricane Matty, and Atlanta were sprinting off deep into the Georgia night against an outfit that had looked well-nigh invincible in recent weeks. Suddenly, a team was out-hustling the arch hustler Russell Wilson and a 27-7 scoreline seemed to be the precursor to a triumphant play-off coronation for Matt Ryan and Mike Smith, the quarterback and coach who were a miserable 0-3 in their post-season lives together.
As I had said in my preview, "I can definitely see Wilson having a much tougher time of things and Ryan making enough plays to White, Jones and Gonzalez to make the difference." And I sat back in celebration of my own prescience as the Atlanta trio made priceless catch after priceless catch. Only, in these NFL days, nothing is ever quite what it seems and, of course, Wilson soon had the Seahawks screaming back behind another virtuoso display of quarterbacking precocity.
Zach Miller and Golden Tate hauled in 24 catches for a combined 245 yards, Lynch battled to make amends for his costly earlier fumble and, improbably, it was 28-27 to Seattle with 34 seconds to play. In his first three play-off visits, Ryan would almost certainly have wilted at seeing a Championship game dream evaporate before his disbelieving eyes but this is 2013 and we must expect new and exciting outcomes.
With three quick-fire passes, the Falcons were back in field-goal range and another "Matty Ice," this time Bryant, had the nerve and the leg to land a 49-yarder that sailed through the uprights - after yet another of those "trying to ice the kicker" timeouts from coaches that so often backfire, as Bryant missed his initial kick but was then perfect with the re-kick after the timeout.
It was one of two blunders by admirable Seattle coach Pete Carroll, who will surely also rue his decision to go for it on fourth-and-one at 13-0 down, thereby passing up on a sure three points that would have been invaluable later on. I don't know the official figure, but I wouldn't mind betting that the incidents of got-it-on-the-re-kick FAR outweigh the missed kicks, and any coach who plays Russian roulette to this extent in future is asking for another 'L'.
But no-one should begrudge Atlanta their Championship game appearance, not least for the memory of all those amazing catches and the bull-dozing running of Michael Turner (where was HE for much of the season?) and Jacquizz Rodgers.
Overpowered
Finally, having dined far too deeply on the first three courses, we still had room for more as New England repeated their surgical dismantling of Houston, who put up a brave fight for three quarters but ultimately were left with the demeanour of a classic Muhammad Ali rope-a-dope victim in the 41-28 beatdown.
When the Texans expected the right cross (or downfield pass) they got a short left (or running play); when they shaped for the left hook (or another dart from Vereen or Steven Ridley), they got fooled into taking another sucker punch (or Brady touchdown).
In more prosaic terms, Welker had six catches for 120 yards - in the first half - while Vereen found his way into the end zone three times to announce himself as another major star-in-the-making and the Patriots just had way too much offence for the gutsy but under-manned Texans, who kept throwing punches but just didn't land them often enough in this high-scoring weekend.
But plenty of teams have been overpowered by the Brady-Belichick combination in the past and we may well be looking at the best coach-quarterback combination of all time, now with 17 play-off wins together. If they go marching in to the city of the Saints and claim title No 4, it will be hard not to come unequivocally to that conclusion.
Much of the rest of the country will be rooting for a certain No 52 in Ravens colours next week, though, and the scene is most assuredly set for an epic AFC Championship contest. The NFC version may not be too bad, either.
