It’s been a long NFL season, and now that the wild-card-round of the playoffs is over, the season is getting shorter and shorter. At the start, 32 teams were competing for a shot at the Lombardi Trophy; now, only eight remain in the hunt. The Houston Texans, Baltimore Ravens, Buffalo Bills, Philadelphia Eagles, Washington Commanders, and the Los Angeles Rams all advanced to the divisional round of the playoffs. Let’s see how they made it this far.
The Texans beat the Chargers 32-12
The 4th-seeded Houston Texans played a home game against the 5th-seeded Los Angeles Chargers, and for some reason, the higher-seeded team, the Texans, were considered underdogs by the Vegas Sportsbook. Boy, did they get that wrong! Although Houston trailed 6-0 in the first quarter, they erupted in the remaining three quarters. They scored 23 consecutive points before the Chargers managed to score another touchdown. All of the Texans’ main guys stepped up. CJ Stroud finished with 282 passing yards and a touchdown. Joe Mixon rushed for 106 yards and one touchdown, and Nico Collins caught seven receptions for 41 yards and a receiving touchdown. The Texans defense played came up big in this win as well. Houston’s defense caught four interceptions off Justin Herbert, including a pick-six by Eric Murray in the second half. Herbert threw more interceptions in this game (4) than he threw in the entire regular season (3). The Texan’s next opponent is the Kansas City Chiefs, the team with the best record in the AFC and coming off a first-round bye week.
The Ravens beat the Steelers 28-14
This game wasn’t even as close as the score indicated. The 3rd-seeded Baltimore Ravens dominated the 6th-seeded Pittsburgh Steelers from the get-go. The Ravens jumped out to a 21-0 lead led by the dynamic rushing duo of Lamar Jackson and Derrick Henry. Jackson rushed for 81 yards and Henry for 186 yards and two touchdowns. Despite Jackson’s rushing attack, he started things off with his passing. In the first half, he threw for two touchdowns. The first pass was a 15-yard completion to Rashod Bateman, and the second was a 5-yard completion to Justice Hill. Along with his 81 rushing yards, Jackson finished with 175 passing yards. The rest of the offense went to King Henry. In the first half, Henery rushed for an 8-yard touchdown. In the second half, he broke away for a 44-yard score. The Ravens will play a highly anticipated game against the Buffalo Bills next. During the regular season, the Ravens manhandled the Bills, winning 35-10. We will see if the outcome is different in the rematch.
The Bills beat the Broncos 31-7
The 7th-seeded Denver Broncos fooled the viewers in this game. Their rookie quarterback, Bo Nix, got off to a blazing start. His first pass was a completion on a third-and-8 snap that went for 19 yards, and his second was a 43-yard touchdown to Troy Franklin. Fans thought this game would be a high-flying and exciting match-up, but it was the total opposite. For the rest of the game, the 2nd-seeded Buffalo Bills showed why they’re the 2-seeded. They completely dominated the time of possession and the game. Buffalo’s offense had the football for 41:43, and the Broncos had it for 15:53 as the Bills won 31-7. Josh Allen looked like a superhero as he always does. He finished with more than 300 total yards. He passed for 272 yards and two touchdowns and rushed for 46 yards. With the win, the Bills became the first team since 2012 to finish with at least 250 yards through the air and 200 yards on the ground in a playoff game. As I mentioned earlier, the Bills’ next game will be a highly anticipated game vs the Ravens in a rematch, where the Ravens dominated them. We’ll see if the Bills can get their get back in the divisional round.
The Eagles beat the Packers 22-10
The 2nd-seeded Philadelphia Eagles took control of this game on the first kickoff. As soon as the 7th-seeded Green Bay Packers received the ball, they fumbled it, and the game was pretty much over after that. Three plays after the Packers turned the ball over, Jalen Hurts completed an 11-yard pass to Jahan Dotson, giving the Eagles a 7-0 lead that they never relinquished. In his first game back from being concussed, Hurts finished with 131 passing yards and two touchdowns. Saquon Barkley also did some damage. Although he didn’t score a touchdown, the NFL rushing leader had an impressive playoff debut, finishing with 119 rushing yards. In contrast, Jordan Love experienced one of the worst games of his career; he threw for 212 yards and three interceptions and got sacked twice. The Packers struggled to get their offense going against a formidable Eagles defense. The team’s only highlight came from running back Josh Jacobs, who finished with 81 rushing yards and one touchdown. Next on the schedule for the Eagles is the surging Los Angeles Rams.
The Commanders beat the Buccaneers 23-20
This game was undoubtedly the highlight of the wild-card-round. The 6th-seeded Washington Commanders managed to upset the 3rd-seeded Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who were the winners of the NFC South. Jayden Daniels, the expected winner of the Rookie of the Year award, certainly did not play like a rookie. In the regular season, Daniels led his team to five game-winning drives, two that ended in last-second field goals and three others in which he threw a touchdown pass on the final play from scrimmage. In his first playoff game, he did the same thing. He led his team to another game-winning drive, this one ended with Zane Gonzalez kicking a 37-yard field goal that clanged off the right upright and went through as time expired. Yes, the game-winning drive was impressive, but Daniels made a few impressive plays leading up to that. At the start of the fourth quarter, the Buccs held a 17-13 lead and on a fourth-and-two snap, the rookie found Terry McLaurin in the back of the end zone to give the Commanders a 20-17 lead. Daniels finished with 268 passing yards and two touchdowns in his first playoff start. He also led the team in rushing yards with 36. This was the Commanders’ first playoff win since the 2005 season, and Daniels became the first rookie quarterback to win a road playoff game since 2012. Next for the Commanders is the NFC’s top seed, the Detroit Lions.
The Rams beat the Vikings 27-9
Based on the record of the two teams, this would be considered an upset. The 5th-seeded Minnesota Vikings finished with a 14-3 record and looked amazing throughout the regular season. Meanwhile, the 4th-seeded Los Angeles Rams finished with a 10-7 record and looked ok throughout the season, mostly because of injury. Since the Rams won, it looked like an upset, but if you follow football, it’s clear that the Vikings had it coming. Their quarterback, Sam Darnold, had an MVP-caliber season, but he had never faced a situation like this before; he had spent most of his career on the bench. In contrast, the Rams’ quarterback, Matthew Stafford, has already won a Super Bowl. Stafford didn’t have an outstanding game, but he did enough to win. He finished with 209 yards, two touchdowns and most importantly, no turnovers. On the other hand, Darnold was under constant attack. The Rams pass-rush overwhelmed the Vikings, recording tying nine sacks on Darnold, including two by Kobie Turner. This impressive total ties the record for the most sacks in a single playoff game in NFL history. The Rams’ defense also held the Vikings to only nine points, matching Minnesota’s lowest-scoring performance of the season. The Rams will compete against the Eagles in their next playoff game en route to Super Bowl LIX (59). The divisional round kicks off on Saturday, January 18, with a thrilling matchup between the 4th-seeded Texans and the top-seeded Chiefs at 4:30 p.m. The first round of the playoffs was just a taste of what’s to come, and as teams edge closer to their championship dreams, we can anticipate some unforgettable games. Who knows, we might even witness some instant classics. It’s going to be an electrifying weekend.
