The regular season is over and the long anticipated playoffs have finally arrived. Teams are one step closer to the goal of being champions and the road to the Super Bowl started this past weekend. Wild Card Weekend consisted of six games, two on Saturday, three on Sunday, and one on Monday night.
Saturday started with the 11-6 Chargers visiting the 10-7 Texans in the 5v4 seed matchup of the AFC. The Chargers, led by rising star QB Justin Herbert came into this game favored despite being on the road. They opened the game strong, kicking two field goals to lead 6-0, but the Texans responded to go into halftime up 10-6. Houston carried this momentum to the second half in a big way, scoring 13 unanswered points including a pick six off of Herbert, just one of the four interceptions he threw in this game. This was too much in the end for the Chargers to come back from, with the final score being 32-12 Texans.
The second game on Saturday featured an AFC North rivalry between the 3 seed Ravens and the 6 seed Steelers. The Ravens and potential MVP Lamar Jackson were heavy favorites at home, as the Steelers had lost 4 straight games prior to this meeting. As expected, the Ravens came out flying, scoring three touchdowns with three different players in the first half to lead 21-0 at the break. The Steelers played a little better in the second half, but it was not enough to overcome Derrick Henry’s 186 rushing yards and 2 touchdowns as the Ravens won 28-14 to advance.
Sunday’s slate started early at 1 pm EST with the 7 seed Broncos visiting the 2 seed Bills in Buffalo. Not many people had faith in rookie QB Bo Nix and the Broncos, but they surprisingly jumped out to a quick 7-0 lead thanks to a 43 yard strike to Troy Franklin. The game quickly flipped, however, and MVP candidate Josh Allen led his team to a comfortable 31-7 win to advance and play the Ravens next weekend.
Eagles vs Packers followed as the first game of the NFC playoffs. There were some questions coming into the game about Eagles QB Jalen Hurts and his concussion injury from the previous game, but any doubts were put to rest with ease as the Eagles played a mistake free game and forced Packers QB Jordan Love into throwing 3 picks. Saquon Barkley recorded 119 rushing yards in his Eagles playoff debut.
The Sunday night game consisted of two exciting teams in the NFC: the 12-5 Commanders and the 10-7 Buccaneers. The Commanders, led by Offensive Rookie of the Year favorite Jayden Daniels, had surpassed expectations this season in a big way, but they faced a tough test in the first round against Baker Mayfield and the Bucs. The game was back and forth, easily the best game of the weekend, and it was a gutsy fourth down touchdown to Terry McLaurin that was the difference that helped the Commanders upset the Bucs and move on to play the Lions.
The last game of this six game wild card weekend took place on Monday night in Arizona due to the wildfires in LA. The Rams faced the Vikings in what was expected to be a close game. However, the Rams came out with aggression and dominated the 14-win Vikings team, as QB Sam Darnold looked like he was seeing ghosts for Minnesota. This win sends the Rams to Philadelphia next weekend to take on the Eagles.
The wild card slate kicked off the 2024 NFL Playoffs in a big way, with upsets occurring and star players taking over games. It sets up four big games next weekend in the Divisional Round, with teams gaining more and more confidence of reaching Super Bowl LIX.
