It is rare in life that something highly anticipated lives up to the hype. Some moviegoers prefer not to have a sequel to a good movie because they feel the letdown is bound to happen. It is not much different with sports, and on the slate before wild-card weekend, the feeling was that at least three of the six games would be a blowout. However, the weekend turned out to be one of the best wild-card weekends in recent memory. In this article, we recap the headlines from the wild card.
1. Divisional Slugfest- three of the six games on Wild Card weekend were divisional matchups. It means these teams know and, in some cases, hate each other. The first game was a matchup between the 49ers and the Seahawks. The 49ers jumped out to a 10 to 0 lead but then the underdog Seahawks team responded outscoring the Seahawks 17-6 to go into the half with a slender lead and hopes of pulling off the upset. However, the 49ers regrouped and got back to their staple of running the ball. Brock Purdy in his first playoff start shredded the defense for a lopsided 41-23 win. The second divisional matchup was between the Dolphins and the Bills. The home team was favored to win decisively. However, the Dolphins gave the Bills all they could handle. Despite trailing 17-0 without their starting quarterback, the Dolphins fought back by capitalizing on two interceptions and a fumble by Josh Allen to lead 24-20 in the second half. Unfortunately, a Skylar Thompson errant throw led to interception by Kaiir Elam that swung the momentum back to the Bills. The home team scored on consecutive possession to wrestle a hard-fought win for the Buffalo.
The third divisional game was between the Ravens and the Bengals. The Bengals were impressive in the opening exchanges with Joe Burrow and Ja’Marr Chase connecting for a touchdown to take a 9-0 lead. However, the Ravens responded with 17 plays, 75 yards 10-minute drive for an impressive touchdown. They later pounced on a Bengals turnover to score a field goal and take the lead. Similar to the first half, the Bengals had a brilliant opening drive of the second half, but Tyler Huntley responded with a 41-yard touchdown to tie. The game-changing play of the matchup was his decision to jump to break plane of the goal line, only for the ball to be knocked out by the defense and recovered by Sam Hubbard, who scampered 98 yards for the go-ahead touchdown. The Bengals’ defense was then able to hold off the Ravens to win a heated matchup.
2. Fools Gold- pyrite is a mineral that closely resembles gold to the untrained eye but has little value when compared to the real thing. The Minnesota Vikings are like fool’s gold. They entered the wild card with a 13-4 record, the number two seed, and were 11-0 in one score games. However, as I predicted the Vikings’ defense was a liability. Daniel Jones had arguably his best game as a Giant going 24/35 for 301 yards and two touchdowns as well as 78 yards on 17 rushes on the ground. The Giants did an excellent job of containing star-wideout Justin Jefferson holding him to 7 catches and 47 yards. The finale of Wild Card weekend was a matchup between the Dallas Cowboys and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. It is a wild matchup because it featured teams who have been considered fool’s gold at some point this season. The Dallas Cowboys finished with a 12-5 record, but what we remember is the collapse in Jacksonville and the stinker against the Commanders. The Buccaneers have made Jekyll and Hyde all season with inconsistent performances, but they won the AFC South. However, the game 100% proved that the Bucs were the real fool’s gold between the two teams. Dak Prescott had a signature performance to silence his critics by completing 25 of 33 passes, 305 yards, and four touchdowns. The Cowboys could get anything they want on the ground rushing 128 yards compared to only 52 from the Bucs. The turning point was Tom Brady’s interception in the end zone to Jayron Kearse when the deficit was only 7-0. The big question after the game is whether this will be the last time we see number 12 on the gridiron. We will have to wait for the answer.
3. Insane Comeback- Justin Herbert and Trevor Lawrence were making their playoff debut in the best game this weekend. Lawrence had a disastrous first half performance because four of the first six drives ended with interceptions. Herbert capitalized on the errors and propelled the Chargers to a 27-0 lead. At this point, Jaguars fans may not admit it, but some changed the channel, went to bed, or even destroyed their television based on what had transpired. However, Lawrence gave a glimmer of hope by engineering a touchdown drive right before the half. The Jaguars achieved two objectives to start the second half-stall the first Chargers’ drive and score on their first drive. Inexplicably the Chargers ran the ball six times in the second half in preserving their lead, and the Jaguars caught fire on offense. In the end, Doug Pederson outcoached Branden Staley and had the guts to go for a two-point conversion despite trailing in the game. The comeback is the third-largest comeback in NFL postseason history. What a game!