Wild Card Weekend

We now have three days of football (Saturday to Monday) with two games each day. There was originally only one Monday game but snow called a postponement of the Steelers/Bills game. Both teams can handle things.

Bengals vs. Texans 

The opener was the promising Bengals/Texans match-up. The Bengals persevered through multiple QBs with "off his couch" Joe Flacco (an anti-vaxxer who didn't thrive as a Jets backup) leading them to the playoffs. 

They had one more win than the Texans, partially because of a December match-up without rookie phenom C.J. Stroud. But Houston thanks to their win in Week 18 and a Jaguars loss was the divisional winner. 

The game started well for the Bengals. They held the Texans to a chip-shot field goal. The Bengals responded with a TD. Then, there was a back-and-forth, leading to a 17-14 Texans lead. The Bengals did not score again. The lead was 24-14 at halftime. Then, back-to-back pick sixes sealed the deal.

Dolphins vs. Chiefs 

This game was scripted as a lost cause for the Dolphins. There were no surprises here. 

The Dolphins looked like division winners early. Then, the Bills re-gained their mojo. The Dolphins went into a slide. They had a shot at the division if they won the last game of the regular season. A stop late (inches) gave them one more shot. They did not succeed. The Bills got the division.

The warm-water Dolphins got an extremely cold game. The weather in New York City has not allowed snow to form. Kansas City (not in Kansas) had wind chills below zero. The Dolphins scored once (basically on one play). Not a path to victory. They did get a turnover at the very end down 26-7.

(only on Peacock except for local viewers apparently; good game for the platform version of UHF, I guess) 

Packers vs. Cowboys

The Dallas Cowboys have done very well at home, even if it took some bad officiating to help them win against Detroit. The Packers are somewhat lucky they even made it to the playoffs. They played well early and then slacked off. 

The Packers started off strong with an opening touchdown drive. A turnover late in the first half made it 27-0. Dallas scored at the buzzer (helped by a good runback and a bad call) and added an FG. 27-10. A bit of a game? 

The Packers didn't stop scoring. Up 32-16. Sweated a bit when they relaxed late. Only 48-32 before the two-minute warning. No shot at a third (two failed) onside kick attempt. First #7 seed (fourth year) to advance. You have to "love" it (QB Love was perfect before a dubious attempt to ice the game, giving Dallas a little more time).  

Rams vs. Lions

The Lions finally found themselves division winners. The other teams struggled, even though it looked like the Vikings (like the Bengals having many QBs) might swoop back from their losing ways. They hit a wall. The Packers won enough to get to the playoffs. The Lions appear to have arrived. 

The Rams struggled some, including while Matthew Stafford (QB) was hurt. This match-up looked promising, especially since the QBs once played on each other's teams. Plus, now the head coach of the Rams is no longer the league's youngest coach with the new hire in New England.* 

The Giants barely lost to the Rams. I thought the Lions probably had the edge. The first half of this one was the most competitive game so far. I really don't care about these teams though the Lions have been waiting for a while to get here. Plus, the young guy head coach of the Rams annoys me. 

We saw the winner's next opponent on Monday. The Lions won by a point. The game turned out to turn on a defensive effort. The Rams held up early to an FG turned out to be the difference. The second half had nine total points. 

The Lions' margin of victory was a third-quarter field goal of the length the Giants failed to make to clinch the victory in their own game. Mid-50s (sometimes even more) field goals are possible with elite kickers these days. They sometimes are the difference. 

Steelers vs. Bills

The Bills came into this game on a high note, trending well, even if the last game showed some of the QB's reckless ways. The Steelers' hope was another one of those games along with the weather and their own defense. 

The Steelers, under veteran leadership with their long-time (and bad reputation on a personal level) QB having retired, managed to eke out a playoff spot. And that came with help. 

Steelers turned a 21-0 game into a 24-17 game but then the Bills scored on the next possession. Good try. 

Eagles v. Buccaneers 

The Eagles had a fall akin to the Dolphins, if under somewhat different circumstances. Road woes prevented Dallas from securing the division. Then, the Eagles went on a slide. They barely managed to win one game versus the lowly Cardinals and Giants (1-1). This meant a road game.

Tampa won a poor division partially on the back of a flawed journeyman-type QB, who used to do those cute commercials about living in the stadium. Not this one. Baker Mayfield has been around. You would think that they would have an uphill battle versus the Eagles. 

They would have if the Eagles were not such a messed-up team right now.  Eagles lost 32-9. 

An end of a bunch of mismatches (except for one), though not always in the expected ways. The first game was competitive for a while. The Steelers teased their fans a bit. 

Lions, Packers, and Texans excited their fans. Bills and Chiefs took care of business. Tampa did too, more or less, against an Eagles team that fell off a cliff weeks ago.  

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* Yes, Mr. Hoodie was not just good because of Pretty Boy. Still. Since Tom Brady left, the team could have been better. They did manage to get to the postseason one year. This year they were pretty bad (the defense was okay). 

It looked like things might be okay. He also managed in the middle of the Brady years to almost get to the playoffs when Brady was out. He lost a tiebreaker. It was one of his best years of coaching to do this with a young (now mostly forgotten) backup. Yes. The Jets were good back in the day.

It hasn't gone well for multiple seasons now all the same. Time to move on.