Well that was a weekend. I think generally you're lucky if a couple of the wild-card games are decided in the final minute. We had four of them, in which (a factoid I saw somewhere) the winning team trailed in the final two minutes in each. Amazing, and a reminder of just how fine the line is between wins and losses. Let's get to it.
L.A. Rams at Carolina: People were still finding their seats when Puka Nacua had scored 2 touchdowns in this one, making it look like the Rams were not only going to cover the huge road spread but turn it into a laugher before halftime. But their offense cooled off (Matthew Stafford hit his throwing hand at one point, maybe a factor) and Bryce Young, to his credit, started making plays; something about a big deficit has the Panthers saying, yeah, maybe we'll pass the ball, and Young has some ability to make accurate throws. The go-ahead touchdown in the final minutes was a truly beautiful drop-in-the-bucket throw to Jalen Coker (huge game), and his final pass attempt (after the Rams took the lead back) was also very good, but his receiver dropped it.
Panthers used Chuba Hubbard a lot more than Rico Dowdle in this one; didn't see that coming. Hubbard was very good, fantasy and otherwise, with 2 TDs, not starting in any leagues because he hadn't scored or totaled 40 yards in a game in more than a month coming in. Carolina's go-ahead score set up by a defensive stop and a blocked punt, but it seemed like they left the Rams too much time, even more so after they turned in one of worst defensive efforts I've seen on the Rams' final drive -- no pressure on Stafford, little to no coverage on his receivers. LA's winning 71-yard scoring drive took 7 plays, no third downs, and the only missed connection was a drop. Watching with a friend in a bar he was losing his mind -- why are they not blitzing? Stafford passes went for 7, 10, 6, 18, drop, 11, 19-yard touchdown.
If you're a Rams fan (I know there are a few here), you're glad to win, but not a pretty ending, and not a defensive effort to be too thrilled with. But offense looked good, and maybe that will be enough. I see they're favored by 4.5 in Chicago next week, which you don't often see in the Divisional Round.
Green Bay at Chicago: Well damn. If you thought the Rams-Carolina game was all one team early, how about this one. Packers drove for 85- and 87-yard touchdowns on their first two possessions. They scored another touchdown when Ben Johnson decided to go for it on 4th and 5 from his own 32 in a 14-3 game in the first half, which can best be described as unusual. Packers missed a long field goal to end the first half, but this game was over. Right? No, the Bears went on a couple of field goal drives (including a clutch 51-yarder by Cairo Santos, as he did in the regular-season, and the Green Bay offense stopped doing anything. But a remarkable Matthew Golden touchdown (Green Bay sure does use a lot of wide receivers...) made it 27-16 with 6 minutes left. Now the game was over.
Only it wasn't, with a missed extra point, touchdown drive for the Bears (including a 4th-down conversion from Caleb to Odunze that might be one of the more amazing throws you'll ever see, seriously), missed Green Bay field goal, and a blown coverage on DJ Moore putting the Bears ahead. (If you recall Denver's fourth-quarter barrage of points to beat the Giants this season, this fourth quarter was like that.) Jordan Love led the Packers downfield (there was a very near-miss to Christian Watson that would have won the game), but some dubious clock management cost Green Bay an extra play and that was it. Green Bay fans are hurting today; a pretty insane ending to this one. Lots of dislike between these fans, teams and coaches, I need to at least mention the postgame handshake that Ben Johnson didn't even stop running for. I know there's some back-and-forth history but that seems like the kind of thing where, I don't know, maybe stop and shake hands anyway. Karma and all. But Bears win, and it's gonna be a tough offseason for the Packers. Not their first heartbreaking playoff loss over the years.
Buffalo at Jacksonville: The first take I saw on this ripped Trevor Lawrence, and he did throw a couple of interceptions (the game-ender was tipped, but it was an unnecessary force to a well-covered receiver). But I thought it was at least as significant that there wasn't much doubt that Josh Allen was going to be able to move the offense down the field to retake needs as necessary, which he kept on doing, with completions and tush pushes and throws to open receivers making big catches downfield. Better quarterback yesterday and that was good enough. Parker Washington stepped up big for Jacksonville, as expected and as he'd been doing down the stretch. It was a little weird the games that they didn't use him much; good player. Not much happening on the ground for Buffalo, as expected, while Jacksonville will presumably be fielding some questions about why Travis Etienne and Bhayshul Tuten combined to carry it just 14 times but for over 118 yards; maybe run it a little more? It seems there was more production to be had in that area.
This was one of the worst officiated games I've seen. Little things, throughout. Bad spots, time and again. The absurd ruling before the half that the Jaguars got the ball snapped and spiked in time; not in the game I was watching, seemed like the clock operator was helping the home team (moot point because Jacksonville missed the field goal, but still). The play where Josh Allen was evaluated for a concussion, which obviously would have changed the outcome of the game had he been ruled out, occurred in part because the refs didn't get around to blowing the whistle until a couple of Jaguars had bounced off his prone form even though his forward progress was long stopped. A couple of debatable defensive holding penalties. Anyway: not a very well-called game, for either team. But Buffalo moves on.
Quick note on the Buffalo receiving corps. Josh Palmer missed the game, while Gabe Davis left with a knee injury. So yes their receiving corps was thinned somewhat. But are they worse? Brandin Cooks made a huge catch late, as he did in another recent game. Tyrell Shavers had a big catch, even Keon Coleman had a big reception. Just because we know the names Palmer and Davis doesn't mean the team won't be fine without them. And I clearly owe an apology to Khalil Shakir, who I initially had on my RTSports roster but replaced shortly before; kicking myself for that today. Anyway. Entertaining game, and I think Jacksonville should feel good about their future.
San Francisco at Philadelphia: The fourth wild-card game of the weekend decided in the final minutes. I think this one goes down as a missed opportunity for Philadelphia, which for various reasons didn't score as much as they should have. Missed extra point, settling for field goals, a couple of drops by A.J. Brown. They sure love letting Dallas Goedert score touchdowns and throwing to him on fourth down when there are four defenders around him, weird that they spent last offseason looking to get rid of him. San Francisco also had some miscues but another huge receiving game from Christian McCaffrey and a cool trick-play touchdown, plus an out-of-nowhere 111-yard game from Demarcus freaking Robinson, and the 49ers move on.
On the downside, the Niners lost George Kittle to an Achilles injury, which is probably going to factor into next week's outcome (I see they're a 6.5-point underdog at Seattle). The Eagles, well, their offense was off for most of the year. Sounds like A.J. Brown will be gone one way or another, and Philly needs to reboot its offense in a way that maybe involves more than just 3 players each week. That was a pretty banged-up 49ers defense that they just scored all of 2 second-half field goals against.
L.A. Chargers at New England: Guess it was inevitable that one game would be an out-and-out disaster. Where to start. First, we can move Jim Harbaugh up the list of coaches who can't be trusted when it comes to injured players. There was enough evidence (not practicing Wednesday or Thursday) with Omarion Hampton that nobody should have been rostering or starting the guy in any playoff competitions, especially with the Chargers a likely loser. But why Hampton was even active to play 2 snaps is a reasonable question I assume somebody asked Harbaugh. And then there's the key early series where the Chargers got a tipped pass for an interception that set them up with first and goal at the New England. A chance to jump out to a 7-0 lead and maybe seize momentum. But LA's first-, second- and third-down plays were Herbert scrambles. I assume something else was drawn up, but Herbert scrambling and getting crushed by two defenders were what we got. Fourth-down was a ball sailed over Keenan Allen's head. That was as close as the Chargers came to a touchdown.
New England's game was pretty similar to Denver's against a number of Chargers' backups in Week 18. Pressure the quarterback, settle for field goals, don't foul anything up. Worked like a charm, although only Drake Maye and Rhamondre Stevenson (as a receiver) really helped fantasy teams. Hunter Henry OK, Kayshon Boutte too. Life as the No. 2 seed has worked out well for New England, who opened against that weak offensive effort the Chargers put on the field and next week will face tonight's winner on short week while the top-seeded Broncos have to face Josh Allen and company.
Houston at Pittsburgh: Would be hard for any Monday game to live up to four of the five weekend games, and even harder when the involved offenses are Houston and Pittsburgh. The quarterbacks aren't exciting, the running backs aren't compelling, there should be more defense than offense. I already previewed this game once so no need to dwell on it, but like most I expect the Texans to come away with a defensive struggle. Let's call it Texans 20, Steelers 13, and start looking forward to next week.