It took an all-time classic NFL play-off weekend to remind us of the league's continuing evolution

Cast aside the inevitable accusations of regency bias, this weekend's clashes were post-season games for the ages

They say that the play-offs separate the good from the great and, this weekend, the divisional round separated the good play-offs games from the classic.

Saturday’s games were thrilling, with the Philadelphia Eagles showing that 1930s trench warfare football can still beat ultra-modern, speed-based teams just when the Atlanta Falcons looked like they were emerging as dark horses for the Lombardi. The New England Patriots then despatched the Tennessee Titans in predictable fashion, the latter outplayed but also incredibly unlucky with some of the officiating.

Sunday, though, was one of the great days of play-off football. Cast aside the inevitable accusations of regency bias, these were post-season games for the ages. First we had the Jacksonville Jaguars completing their ascension to the NFL elite by knocking off perennial Super Bowl candidates the Pittsburgh Steelers 45-42 in Pennsylvania.

The Steelers had never lost two home games to the same team in the same season in their history. And then the Jags came into Heinz Field and once again dropped a defensive blitzkrieg on an offense that boasts probably the best running-back and wide receiver in the league, and a quarterback who kept making play after play even with the Jags harassing him all day.

Jacksonville were always going to live or die on the performances of quarterback Blake Bortles - could he shelve the back-breaking turnovers for long enough that his defense and running-back could win them the game? Three touchdowns for rookie workhorse Leonard Fournette, another for T.J. Yeldon and, as ever, a touchdown from their defense helped the Jags to a nervy 45-42 win, something of a collapse from a 21-0 lead but also confirmation that, on their day, Jacksonville’s lockdown defense means they can beat anyone. Maybe even the Patriots.

But that barn-burner of a game ended up serving only as the appetiser for the stone-cold classic that followed, where the Minnesota Vikings contrived to throw away a 17-0 lead, be 24-23 down with one play and 60-odd yards remaining and somehow still win.

Stefon Diggs’ 61-yard score with 0:00 left on the clock is the first-ever walk-off touchdown in regulation that the play-offs has ever seen. ‘The Miracle Of Minneapolis’ is what they called it on the radio broadcast and it is not too wrapped up in the moment to say that Diggs’ high-point catch, spin and elusive post-catch run to the end zone will go down in Vikings’ history, even if they lose next week against the Eagles or the week after in the Super Bowl.

Blake Bortles in action for the Jacksonville Jaguars (Getty)

Minnesota has never heard such noise, the raucous crowd packing the rafters of their incredible new stadium and losing its collective mind when Diggs produced an all-time classic play-offs moment. The Vikes had to leave their last home because snow collapsed the arena roof but if this team wins the Super Bowl in its own stadium on 4 February then the biggest concern will be blowing the roof off. Such noise and such excitement for a team that has been the class of the NFC all year and the composition of the final four now makes for interesting viewing.

Apart from New England, who can artificially maintain their dynasty through Tom Brady’s willingness to be paid as a middling quarterback in his quest for all-time greatness, the other teams in the Championship round are the three best defenses in the NFL.

One year does not provide us with enough evidence to say that defensive teams are dominating the league, but if Brady’s contract befitted his status as one of the greatest QBs to ever play the game then you wonder if the Patriots would still be in this group and what that says about the lack of great passers in the league.

In the play-offs it is so easy to pick the better quarterback for progress but three of the final four are guys that, if you had asked a year ago, would be considered second-string signal-callers. That strong defenses can carry mediocre QBs is nothing new, Peyton Manning’s final Super Bowl victory came with the future Hall-of-famer almost incapable of throwing the ball down the field, but Nick Foles, Case Keenum and Blake Bortles is undoubtedly the weakest quarterback trio to ever reach this stage of the season.

Tom Brady of the New England Patriots (Getty)

What they have shown is that it doesn’t matter.

Teams with the right balance can not only win regardless of who they have playing the most important position in sport, they have also shown that they can provide one of the most thrilling days of play-off football that the NFL has ever seen.

Bring us your back-up quarterbacks, load up on your defensive playmakers. It took a historically brilliant play-off weekend to remind us just how much the league continues to evolve.