Key Takeaways from Super Wild Card Weekend

Super Wild Card Weekend was just as advertised: 24 hours of glorious, high-stakes football. There was a lot to digest on Monday morning, including a few surprises from some of these matchups. Here are a few key takeaways from each game in the Wild Card round:

The more time passes, the more Josh Allen cements his place as a top-tier quarterback. He led the Bills in both passing AND rushing against the Colts on Saturday, throwing for 324 yards and two touchdowns and rushing for 54 yards and a touchdown. He carried the Bills to their first playoff victory in over 25 years, and that’s a feat worth celebrating. But if this team wants to make it any further in the playoffs, Allen’s going to need some serious help from the defense. They made Phillip Rivers look ten years younger, allowing the 39 year-old to throw for over 300 yards and two touchdowns.

Even worse, the Bills let Indy run the ball down their throat, and that simply won’t fly against Lamar Jackson and the Ravens’ backfield. Jonathan Taylor and Nyheim Hines ran for a combined 153 yards and a touchdown. The Bills deserve to bask in this moment, but they need to figure out how to contain the run if they want any chance of moving onto the Conference Championship.

We knew the Rams’ defense would give the Seahawks a run for their money, but we didn’t know they would completely dominate Russell Wilson and the Seahawks offense. They sacked Russ five times, hit him ten times, and intercepted him once to score a TD. And while the Rams only won by 10, it was clear they were in control of the game from start to finish. On the other side of the ball, Wilson looked nothing like the MVP candidate we watched for most of the regular season. He completed less than half of his passes, and threw for 174 yards, only 19 more yards than Jared Goff, who was recovering from a broken, dislocated thumb.

To be honest, I don’t know what to make of the Seahawks. It’s the same story every year. They play great football in the regular season; Russell Wilson puts up MVP-worthy numbers; and they look like one of the best teams in the NFC. Yet they haven’t made it past the Divisional Round of the playoffs since 2014. This year, we saw more of the same, so it’ll be interesting to see what moves Seattle makes in the offseason to build a team that can make a deeper run in the postseason.

As expected, the Bucs beat the Washington Football Team. But this game didn’t come without its share of surprises. Taylor Heinicke, the backup quarterback for the Football Team, played his guts out in the biggest game of his football career. He threw for 306 yards and a touchdown, and he led Washington in rushing with 46 yards and a touchdown. Keep in mind, Heinicke also injured his shoulder during the game, but he stayed in and continued to play at a high level.

I don’t think anyone expected Washington to win this game, but I also don’t think anyone expected Taylor Heinicke to keep this team within striking distance through four quarters of football. If I’m Ron Rivera, I’m keeping Heinicke on the roster, especially since it looks like Alex Smith’s NFL career might be over given his latest calf injury.

I alluded to this point earlier, but Lamar Jackson and the Ravens’ offense pose a real problem for the Buffalo Bills. We saw Lamar dominate the run game on Sunday against the Titans, rushing for 136 yards and a touchdown. That was more than Derrick Henry and the entire Titans backfield combined. If the Bills had problems containing Jonathan Taylor and Nyheim Hines, then they’ll have their hands full trying to stop the most prolific rushing offense in the NFL.

Plus, the Ravens’ defense played lights out against the Titans. They held Derrick Henry to 40 yards and the entire Tennessee offense to 165 yards. As much as I would love to see Buffalo make a deep run into the playoffs, I think the Ravens are going to be their toughest matchup thus far.

This was easily the worst game of the weekend. The Nickelodeon broadcast was the only thing that kept this game remotely interesting. The Bears looked as lackluster as ever. Anthony Miller was punching cornerbacks in the face, Javon Wims was letting wide open touchdown passes fall through his arms. They scored their only touchdown of the game in garbage time, so realistically, the final score was 3–21, Saints.

The Saints won handily, but they should take this victory with a grain of salt. They were only up 3–7 at the end of the first half. Also, they only managed to score one touchdown against a defense that was constantly committing penalties and shooting themselves in the foot. You can get away with scoring only one touchdown in a half against the Bears, but that probably won’t cut it against Tom Brady and the Bucs, and it definitely won’t cut it against Aaron Rodgers and the Packers.

In an absolute stunner of a game, the Cleveland Browns dominated their division rivals in the Pittsburgh Steelers, and won their first playoff game since 1994. This was the ultimate feel-good game (unless you’re a Steelers fan). The Browns traveled into Heinz Field as underdogs. They were without their head coach. They were without several key players on offense and defense. They had been called “nameless, gray faces” by Juju Smith-Schuster. And despite all this, they owned Pittsburgh for four quarters of football. Regardless of what happens against the Chiefs in the Divisional Round, Cleveland should be ecstatic with this victory.

Pittsburgh, on the other hand, has some reconciling to do. Their 11–0 start quickly turned into a 1–5 stretch that ultimately ended in a brutal defeat in their home arena. Who’s to blame for this loss? It’s fair to point a finger at Mike Tomlin for punting the ball away on a crucial 4th and 1 to start the final quarter. It’s also fair to place blame on the Steelers defense, a highly touted unit that allowed the Browns to score nearly 50 points against them. But ultimately, I think change needs to start at the quarterback position.

Big Ben looked old in this game. Yes, he threw four touchdowns, but he also threw four interceptions. We know he’s been plagued by injury over the past two seasons, and his body just isn’t able to withstand the hits like it did in the past. The Steelers need to recognize that they’ve seen the best of Ben Roethlisberger. He can’t carry them any farther, and he certainly can’t take them to a Super Bowl. It’s time for Pittsburgh to part ways with their beloved QB and look for a new young talent to build their team around.

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