The NFL does it again… With one final game remaining with the Pittsburgh Steelers taking on the Houston Texans tonight, we were treated to five outstanding Wild Card games that kicked off Saturday and continued through Sunday. Let’s go back and take a quick look at all the action that unfolded in our first weekend of NFL Playoff football.
Rams defeat Panthers 34-31
The weekend started with a regular season rematch of the Rams and Panthers, which saw one of the leagues more surprising upsets in Week 13 when the Panthers shocked Matthew Stafford and the Rams 31-28 on a rain soaked Sunday in Charlotte. Due to the competitiveness of the NFC West and the exact opposite in the NFC South, the Panthers, again, hosted the Rams. This time, with the season on the line. The 8-9 Panthers won the division and the Rams had to head east hoping for a different outcome than they experienced almost two months ago.
Many believed the Rams were head and shoulders above the Panthers, even with Carolina taking the regular season matchup, and it sure looked that way from the jump with Los Angeles jumping out to a 17-7 lead. Things changed, however, when Stafford jammed his index finger on his throwing hand following through on a pass. His passing percentage dropped substantially and multiple passes started to sail. The Rams also saw nagging injuries come back to haunt some of their better receivers.
Bryce Young was able to orchestrate a comeback and the Panthers took a late fourth-quarter lead on a Jacob Coker touchdown, putting the pressure back on the MVP hopeful Matthew Stafford. Stafford led the Rams down the field and gave his team back the lead on a Colby Parkinson touchdown with just :38 left on the clock. A dropped pass on fourth down would end the Panthers upset hopes and send the Rams to the divisional round.
Bears defeat the Packers 31-27
The Chicago Bears play cardiac kids once again as Caleb Williams makes some mind-bending throws and overcome a 21-3 first half deficit.
Bears HC Ben Johnson pushed his chips to the middle of the table numerous times in the first half, going for it on multiple fourth downs, some deep in their own territory but coming up unsuccessful. A late missed kick in the first half by Brandon McManus kept the door open for another Bears comeback in the second half.
The Bears chipped away at the deficit with two second half field goals to cut it to a 21-9 ballgame. Chicago’s defense shutting down the Green Bay offense to give their offense a fighting chance. The Bears, out of necessity came up with some odds-defying fourth down plays that would lead to Chicago touchdowns. Another missed McManus field goal kept it a 27-24 game as the Bears would drive down and score to take their first lead of the game.
Chicago’s defense would bend but not break as they would hold on to win it 31-27, making Caleb Williams the first Chicago quarterback since Jim Harbaugh to beat the Packers twice in a season.
Bills survive in Jacksonville 27-24
Buffalo came into the game as slight underdogs taking on one of the hottest offenses and quarterbacks in the league in Trevor Lawrence and the Jacksonville Jaguars.
The Bills carried a 10-7 lead into the halftime break after some questionable officiating took away a big Brandin Cooks catch that would stall out a late drive, giving the ball back to the Jags late in the second quarter. The Jaguars looked like they ran out of time at the end of the half, but the officials concluded that Lawrence spiked the ball with :01 left on the clock. Cam Little missed a field goal to thwart what could have been a 10-10 ballgame.
Buffalo would extend their lead with a third quarter field goal to make it 13-7, but were quickly answered by a Jaguars field goal to cut it back to a three point game. In the fourth quarter, Jacksonville would score a go-ahead touchdown to give them their second lead of the game making it 17-13. Midway through the fourth, Josh Allen orchestrated a touchdown drive that ended with Dalton Kincaid scoring on a 15 yard pass to make it 20-17.
Things looked grim for the Bills when the Jags went back in front with under five minutes to play on a Travis Etienne Jr. TD forcing the Bills to put together another crucial drive. However, that’s exactly what they did as Josh Allen made one of the biggest throws of the game finding Cooks 36-yards down the field to get them inside Jaguars territory. He followed that up later in the drive with a momentous “tush-psuh” to move them down to the Jaguars one-yard line. The Bills would score with just over one minute left, sending the Jags and Lawrence out needing a field goal to tie.
Lawrence would have his ensuing pass tipped and intercepted ending any hopes of a comeback and sending the Bills onto Denver for the divisional round.
49ers defeat Philadelphia 23-19
San Francisco and Philadelphia meet again the playoffs. The Eagles offense had sputtered in big spots all year, but their defense bailed them out time and time again. The game started with a huge play for the Niners as Demarcus Robinson ripped off a big play leading to a San Francisco touchdown to put them out in front 7-0. The Eagles would quickly answer with a score of their own, however, a missed extra point would leave SF in front a loom large for the rest of the contest.
The 49ers hopes took a huge hit when their star tight end, George Kittle, suffered a torn Achilles. Philly would take the lead on a Dallas Goedert touchdown to take them into the half up 13-10.
The Eagles extended their lead to six after a third quarter field goal made it 16-10. Kyle Shanahan went deep into his bag of tricks pulling out a version of the Philly Special that saw Jauan Jennings run a reversal and rifle a touchdown pass to Christian McCaffrey to make it 17-16. Another Jake Elliot field goal gave the Eagles back the lead making it 19-17, but it was short lived. Purdy led the 49ers down the field and punched in the go ahead score with a four-yard touchdown pass to McCaffrey, leaving it up to the San Francisco defense.
The 49ers defensive pressure forced a fourth and long from Philadelphia that they were unable to convert dashing their hopes of back to back Super Bowl titles.
New England shuts down Chargers 16-3
It wasn’t the dominant performance we have seen from Drake Maye all year long, but it turns out they didn’t need him all that much as the Patriots defense made Justin Herbert’s head spin all night long.
The Chargers came in with one of the worst offensive lines in the league, and that was exploited by the Patriots pass rush from start to finish. The LA defense did all they could holding the Patriots to a few field goals and keeping it close with a 6-3 halftime score and sacking Drake Maye five times in the contest
Maye would finally find a rhythm in the second half as Hunter Henry put the nail in the Chargers coffin with a 28-yard touchdown pass making it 16-3. The Chargers offensive line continued to struggle, never allowing Herbert to put a drive together and allowing more pressure that would ultimately end the game. The Patriots defensive front got after Herbert for six sacks, showing the glaring deficiencies up front for LA. The Patriots now await the winner of tonight’s final Wild Card game between the Steelers and Texans.
Comments