For a Wild Card weekend that had built up tremendous hype and excitement, it’s fair to say we were all disappointed. Other than the Sunday Night game between the Commanders and the Buccaneers, the average difference of scores between the other 5 games was a mighty 17.6 points. I think we’re all ready for the Divisional Round to wash way those mediocre Wild Card games.
Starting off, the Houston Texans beat the Los Angeles Chargers in an extremely defiant performance. I had the Chargers winning this game but the execution wasn’t there from the Bolts. LA’s first two drives were promising but when you are forced to take field goals, it keeps the opponent in the game. The Texans showed up late in the 2nd quarter but they were flat out dominant afterwards. After such a productive regular season, it definitely sucks for Justin Herbert to lose in the fashion that he did and I feel Herbert was doing too much. He made uncharacteristic throws and the stats weren’t pretty either. Herbert had an abysmal 13.0 quarterback rating, a 43% completion percentage, and 4 interceptions which was more picks he threw than the entire regular season (ESPN). It was going to be a tough task against a stout defense and Herbert didn’t rise up to the task. For the Texans, they played a brilliant game for 31 minutes of the game but what worries me is that they were scoreless in the first 29 minutes of the game. The defense kept them in it but moving forward, the Texans need to start faster so they don’t dig themselves into an early hole. They did a really nice job of stopping LA’s run game and J.K. Dobbins was completely shut down. This was one of the better games for the Houston offense as the run game got going and the pass game was decent. When Joe Mixon gets going, the Texans play so much better and his big numbers were huge in this one. Overall, it was a solid victory for the Texans as they beat Jim Harbaugh’s Chargers 32-12.
The second game of the Wild Card schedule arguably could’ve been worse. The Baltimore Ravens ran the Pittsburgh Steelers out of their stadium and punched their Divisional Round ticket quite easily. Baltimore led 21-0 at halftime and it was a total waste of money for any Steeler fan who bought tickets because there was no competitiveness in Mike Tomlin’s team. I wish the Cincinnati Bengals had made the playoffs instead because it was ugly watching Pittsburgh in this one. The Ravens had the football for almost double the time the Steelers had it and it was an absolute run game exhibition by Lamar Jackson and Derrick Henry. Baltimore almost had 300 rushing yards and they pounded the run against a very good Pittsburgh defense. Jackson had the second most carries he’s had all year and it feels like as this team goes deeper, we’ll see Jackson using his legs more. Their read option run play is overpowered and it fooled everyone on the Steelers defensive line, including TJ Watt. This was a fantastic win for the Ravens and they did it without Zay Flowers too. Going back to the Steelers, they’re in a constant cycle every year as they always finish with a winning record but nothing comes out of it. I want them to start Justin Fields next year, fire Tomlin, and hire an offensive head coach. It’s time for a change in Pittsburgh and something major has to change. It was a deserving win for the Ravens as they won 28-14 against a Steelers team who lacked fight.
The blowouts kept escalating and in the third game of the playoffs, the Buffalo Bills beat the Denver Broncos 31-7 on Sunday afternoon. This was the playoff game that I was 100% sure the Bills would win and they ended up winning emphatically. Buffalo bullied Denver in this game and it was a mismatch. The Bills had 2x the first downs the Broncos had, more than 2x yards than Denver, and the time of possession was 41:43 to 18:17 minutes in favor of the Bills (ESPN). After the Broncos first drive in which they scored a touchdown, Buffalo owned the rest of the game. The Bills’ depth on offense is a valuable asset they have and they get production from everyone. Even though Denver’s season ended in a blowout, there is a ton of optimism for this young team from the Mile High City.
Moving on to the 4th game of the weekend, it was the first NFC one. The Philadelphia Eagles beat the Green Bay Packers 22-10 in an ugly win for Philly. Despite 4 turnovers and a miserable performance by quarterback Jordan Love, from the Packers, it was close for the majority of the game. The Eagles need to get their head in the game because they’re not winning the Super Bowl if they play like this again. If I’m Nick Sirianni, I’d just keep giving the ball to Saquon Barkely because he’s the only one they’re getting production from right now. The pass game is out of sorts and Jalen Hurts needs to start playing like a top 10 QB. It was sluggish from both teams in this one and a boring game with 7 combined punts.
The next game was by far the most exciting one of the weekend as the Washington Commanders beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 23-20 in a Sunday Night thriller. I don’t even know where to start with this one. For Commanders fans, there’s two words. Jayden Daniels. He is a stud and his coolness in tight games is a sight to behold. He made a couple huge throws and was successful on the ground in the key moments. He faced duress all night from the Bucs defensive line but Daniels only took 1 sack. Out of 15 third downs, Washington made 8 of them, a 53% success rate (ESPN). The thing that made the difference in this game was 3rd down and 4th down. Dan Quinn had trust in the offense on 4th down and while the Commanders only converted ⅗, it set the tone for the game. Another important aspect of the game was the receiver battle. The Commanders’ cornerback Marshon Lattimore was torched all night against Mike Evans and Lattimore really struggled. Terry McLaurin had a big game for Washington and he took advantage of a subpar Bucs secondary. This was an extremely evenly matched game but at the end of the game, the little things made the difference. Washington had no turnovers and it was a smooth job by them with the mechanics but Tampa Bay had a fumble lost on an off-timing play and they were forced to take a field goal when they messed up the timing of the snap. This late in the season, mistakes like this can’t happen and ultimately, that’s what cost Baker Mayfield’s team.
The last game of the Wild Card slate of games was the Minnesota Vikings against the Los Angeles Rams, a game won 27-9 by the Rams. This was as good of a performance for the Rams that we’ve seen this season as they manhandled the 14 win Vikings. Their defense stifled Minnesota and limited Sam Darnold to a 13.6 QBR (ESPN). Darnold has had a terrific season but after Week 18 and the Wild Card, I noticed some glaring mistakes. His pocket awareness is not great and he holds the ball for way too long. Darnold is also not a big scrambler and that makes him very vulnerable to sacks. The Rams had 9 sacks and each of those sacks averaged to 9.1 lost yards (ESPN). The offense did enough too and it was a complete performance from Sean McVay’s team. They’re a dangerous team down the stretch and a Super Bowl run could be in their horizon.
We had six games this past weekend but only one of them kept us on the edge of our seats. Now that the 1st round of the playoffs is complete, the Chiefs and Lions are waiting in the Divisional Round for the remaining 4 teams. Will we get any upsets in the Divisional Round?