The 2020 NFL Super Wild Card Weekend Recap

Well, that was fun! To say that the NFL’s first “Super” Wild Card weekend was a wild,
roaring success would be an understatement. I can’t remember a Wild Card weekend
that had more surprises and excitement than this one, and that was no doubt due to
the new playoff format the NFL implemented at the start of the new league year this
past March. Instead of the traditional division champions and two wild card teams an
additional wild card slot was opened up to allow for more competition AKA ratings
during the first weekend of January. One seventh seed proved worthy (Colts) and the
other proved to not belong at all (Bears) but overall, fans of the NFL were treated to
some amazing football and things are only going to get more interesting heading into
the Divisional Round. My take on the incredibly fun games we were treated to:

BIGGEST UPSETS

Cleveland Browns (6) at Pittsburgh Steelers (3)

What the Cleveland Browns did to the Pittsburgh Steelers in Heinz Field in front of a
national audience was nothing short of astounding. Cleveland hadn’t won a playoff
game since 1994, back when Bill Belichick was their head coach, and they had lost
seventeen consecutive games in Pittsburgh to boot. That wasn’t even the most
surprising aspect of the Browns’ beatdown of their hated big brother. The Browns were able to do what they did without their rookie head coach Kevin Stefanski, who was out due to Covid protocols, several assistant coaches and several starting players on offense and defense. Didn’t matter. The Browns came in and imposed their will on the unsuspecting Steelers who, once again under Mike Tomlin, failed to adequately
prepare for their competition. Big Ben looked like a complete mess in the 1st quarter.
Once that first snap went over his head and ended up being recovered by the Browns in the end zone the slaughter was on. I’ll give credit to the Steelers for fighting back from being down 35-10 at half time to make it interesting for a few minutes in the third quarter, but the Browns made sure to slam the door on any comeback when Tomlin decided not to go for it on 4th down when the Steelers had all the momentum. Some will argue that the Steelers lost the game more than the Browns won it, and that’s hard to argue, but at the end of the day all that matters is if you advance or go home and Big Ben and the Steelers, after starting 11-0 during the regular season, are sitting at home right now getting ready to watch their “little brother” battle the Kansas City Chiefs in the divisional round. The biggest question after the game came when NBC cameras caught Big Ben sitting alone on the team bench long after the game was over. Was this the final game of Roethlisberger’s career? Time will tell.

Los Angeles Rams (6) at Seattle Seahawks (3)

Yet another inter-divisional game took place over the weekend, this time in the NFC
West. The Rams, much like the Browns, were dealing with plenty of questions
regarding their odds of success this weekend due to Rams QB Jared Goff being just
under two weeks removed from thumb surgery on his throwing hand against this very Seahawks team in the same stadium. The Rams, with their backup QB, were able to out duel the Arizona Cardinals for a playoff berth in the final weekend of the regular season but were clearly running on fumes offensively. If the Rams were going to pull off the upset against the Seahawks on the road they would need their defense to lead the way…and that’s exactly what happened. The Rams defense completely shut down Russell Wilson and the Seahawks offense, even after Aaron Donald went out of the game due to a rib injury. Jared Goff was on stand by as an “emergency QB” in case something happened to designated starter John Wolford. Sure enough, after a questionable hit from Seahawks safety Jamal Adams, Wolford was knocked out of the game and Goff came in the game…and played well enough to help his team advance to play the Packers this coming weekend. Make no mistake, the Rams’ defense was the star of the game and they deserve most of, if not all of, the credit for neutralizing one of the most dangerous and elusive quarterbacks in the entire league. Just as the Rams and Browns were in lockstep with their upsets, likewise the Seahawks were in lockstep with the Steelers in their lack of offensive identity, preparation and discipline, a consistent problem under head coach Pete Carroll since the disastrous ending of Super Bowl XLIX. While the outcome of this game wasn’t as stunning as the Browns’ dismantling of their big brother it was still very surprising considering all the obstacles the Rams faced coming into the game.

BEST GAMES

Indianapolis Colts (7) at Buffalo Bills (2)

The Bills’ first playoff win since 1995 did NOT come easy. Philip Rivers and the Colts
were relentless against the Bills all afternoon and the game came down to a
desperation Hail Mary pass by Rivers that ended up getting batted away in the final
seconds. This was exactly the type of hard fought game Josh Allen and the Bills
needed to go through heading into the divisional round against the Baltimore Ravens. If the Colts had been pushovers as the Chicago Bears proved to be against the New Orleans Saints it would no doubt have given the Bills a sense of overconfidence that often times borders on arrogance for young teams inexperienced in the playoffs. Instead they came out of the game battle tested mentally and physically with total focus and discipline all game. Buffalo’s heartbreaking loss to the Texans last year looked like it might repeat itself for a moment, but the Bills hung on for the win and have plenty of bumps and bruises to show for it. Rest assured, Bills head coach Sean McDermott will have his team ready to play this coming weekend against one of the most electric quarterbacks in the league.

Baltimore Ravens (5) at Tennessee Titans (4)

Ravens vs Titans has become the most heated and fierce inter-conference rivalry in the NFL the last few seasons. It used to be the Saints and Vikings for me, and they still are fierce rivals, but the bad blood brewing between these two AFC powerhouses has become must watch TV. For a moment in the first quarter it looked like Lamar Jackson was going to continue to disappear in January during a playoff game when he threw a dreadful interception that the Titans capitalized with a field goal to make the score 10-0. Then the script was flipped. The Ravens went on to score 17 unanswered points afterward and all but neutralize the Titans’ offense for the rest of the game. When the Ravens’ offense is in sync, when Lamar goes into Superman mode, it becomes virtually impossible for opposing defenses to stop it because you have no idea who is going to be a receiver, a blocker, a passer etc. Credit also goes to the Ravens defense for shutting down the human wrecking ball that embarrassed them last year in the divisional round at home. Derrick Henry was a virtual no show the entire game, and that is not an easy task to accomplish for opposing defenses. To cap it all off, the Ravens were able to get their revenge on the Titans when, after the game, the Ravens went to midfield and started dancing on the Titans’ logo just like the Titans had done to theirs earlier in the regular season. Beware the Ravens, Bills…

Divisional Round Preview

Divisional weekend is always touted as the best weekend of the NFL Playoffs by many
pundits and this one has the potential to be an all-timer. Browns vs Chiefs should be a lot of fun and it will be interesting to see how the Rams fare in the cold against the
Packers but the real marquee matchups are Bills vs Ravens and Saints vs Buccaneers.
Seeing Josh Allen and Lamar Jackson, two quarterbacks taken in the first round of the
2018 draft, going head to head could be the first of many playoff battles yet to come
and will be nothing short of riveting to watch. Saints vs Bucs? Brees vs Brady? This is
a matchup football fans have dreamed of for years, the fact that the two teams are hated division rivals only makes this battle even more intriguing. The Saints wiped the floor with the Bucs the last two times these teams faced off but the Buccaneers have reached a different gear since that second beatdown by the Saints. Brady and the Bucs offense looks the best it has all year and Tampa’s defense is finally starting to gel together and become a more cohesive unit. This will undoubtedly go down as one of the most anticipated and hyped up playoff games of all time. Only question is, who will get bragging rights on their way to the NFC Championship Game?