Written By: Bradley Wilpon
Raiders vs. Bengals
To kick off wildcard weekend we started off with a close game between the Bengals and the Raiders. The Bengals’ Joe Burrow and Jamarre Chase were on fire! Jamarre ended with 139 total yards. In the second quarter, there was an extremely controversial play in which the whistle was inadvertently blown, and after that Burrow threw a touchdown to Boyd. Although it seems that some Raiders players did stop due to the whistle, the touchdown was still called good. The game ended up coming to the last second in which Carr threw a pass to Zay Jones in hope of a touchdown but it was intercepted by Bengals’ Germaine Pratt. Bengals won, 26-19. Many NFL insiders believe that this may have been Carr’s last game as a Raider. The Raiders may have to rebuild and let go of him and let him play for a contender. They would likely get him in a package which would contain high quality picks or players so they have a solid start for a rebuild. They have honestly overcome so much this year considering the firing of their coach and arrests of multiple players on the team.
Bills vs. Patriots
In the next Saturday game, we saw an absolute blowout from the Bills. Although the Bills were favored to beat Bill Belichick and the Patriots, nobody expected it to be this bad. Josh Allen and the Bills managed to score 47 points on that top-tier Pats defense. The Bills managed to score on every possession of the first half which made them the only team to ever do so in the NFL playoffs. For the Patriots this really shows them that maybe this strong defense and mediocre offense strategy may not be for this era of football. Once you put pressure on Mac Jones and co. to score the ball they really can’t do so, at least in a big game. This offense will never be able to compete with offenses such as the Chiefs, Bills, Bengals, and not even some of the non playoff teams such as the Chargers. This loss was actually the biggest deficit in Bill Belichick’s playoff history. Maybe this will be the wakeup call to get an offensive weapon of maybe just call it quits and retire. Unless he is up to a somewhat rebuild I think his time could be up sooner than later.
Buccaneers vs. Eagles
For the Sunday games, it started off with another blowout in Tampa where the Eagles never had a chance since the game started. The Eagles simply were just not built to beat this polished Bucs roster. The Bucs are coming off a superbowl run and great regular season and this Eagles team is barely in the playoffs. Although Jalen Hurts and the Eagles aren’t contenders this year, being in the playoffs is still great. They are way ahead of schedule for them to be here. Most analysts had them coming in last place in the NFC East, and having a top 5 pick. Assuming they try and get an offensive weapon this off-season (Calvin Ridley) they could make a solid run next season. On Brady’s end, the Bucs as expected played outstanding, especially Mike Evans who looked like a top 5 receiver with 9 receptions for 117 yards and a touchdown. Although this was a great game for them it still does not mean much because they were expected to do this. Throughout the playoffs Brady will have to play better than he usually does due to the absence of two of his best receivers, Chris Godwin (torn ACL) and Antonio Brown (recently cut).
Cowboys vs. 49ers
The next game was much closer and likely the game of the week, with the Cowboys hosting the 49ers. During the regular season, the Cowboys were playing some of the NFL’s best football. This game was underwhelming, to say the least, firstly Dak Prescott played extremely mediocre. He threw for 251 yards and one touchdown and also threw an interception. Also, the run game was very weak with the leading rusher being Zeke Elliot with 31 yards on 12 carries. Although their receiving core is considered top 5 by many, their leading receiver was Dalton Shultz, with 89 yards, while Cooper and Lamb only combined for 85 yards. With this weak offensive performance they only put up 17 points, and defensively it was not much better. Although the Cowboys defense was extremely hot, led by Micah Parsons and Trevon Diggs, they seemed to be lost. Although Jimmy Garoppalo played even worse than Dak Prescott, he is usually like this so the Niners are able to win with him playing that way. Rookie running back Elijah Mitchell took 27 carries for 96 yards and a touchdown. Star receiver/running back Deebo Samuel had a combined 110 yards while also scoring a touchdown. The team’s leading receiver was Brandon Aiyuk with 5 receptions for 66 yards, who had some clutch catches. This 49ers offense made All-Pro corner Trevon Diggs look like more of a liability than an asset. The Cowboys end up being down 23-17 with very little time left and zero time outs and then with 14 seconds left they call a QB draw and the clock is ticking and the Ref was not able to get to the ball in time and time runs out. Just like that the game is over and the 49ers move on.
Cheifs vs. Steelers
For the Sunday night game we saw our third blowout of the weekend. I don't think there was a single NFL fan who thought that the Steelers really had much of a chance. Even Big Ben went on record saying that they had no chances to win. Even though he was joking, that joke was rooted from the fact that they were huge underdogs. Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs came out firing on all cylinders while scoring 42 points on the Steelers elite defense. Similarly to the Bucs win, this game does not mean much and if they want to compete for a Super Bowl they will have to carry this momentum into their next few games. For the Steelers this was expected but now they have to think about what they want to do with their future because this was the time Ben Roethlisberger will never suit up again. The Steelers will likely find a new quarterback through the draft or maybe free agency. Although they were the 7th seed and got blown out, with a new quarterback they could really contend. They have way too much talent on defense for them to rebuild and also have solid players at skill positions.
Rams vs. Cardinals
For the Monday night game the Rams just simply outplayed the Cardinals. The Cardinals started off 8-0 this year but really slowed things down since then. Ex-MVP frontrunner Kyler Murray played terribly. Clear cut the worst performance in his career and was also in his biggest game. The dual-threat quarterback only had a combined 143 yards to go along with his zero touchdowns and two interceptions. Coming into the game they were short-handed because star wideout Deandre Hopkins was inactive but they had no excuse to play this bad. The most referenced play of the game was when the Cardinals were backed up at their one-yard line and Kyler Murray was running around in his own endzone, he was about to get sacked but did not want to get a safety so he tried throwing it away. Things only got worse because he ended up throwing a pick-six. The Rams on the other hand played very well. The MVP for them had to be Matthew Stafford who threw for 202 yards and two touchdowns while adding another touchdown on the ground. The defense also played great and seemed to really shut down the once explosive Cardinals offense. Lastly, from a fully biased Odell fan perspective, Odell Beckham played great with 54 yards and a touchdown while also throwing for 40 yards. As a whole, the Rams were the only team that showed up in the Monday night slot of wildcard weekend.
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