Wild Card Weekend is in the books, and the best 8 teams remain in the race to Super Bowl 50 and football immortality.
The NFL playoffs started with a 106-yard kickoff return from Knile Davis of the Chiefs. 10 seconds in it was 7-0 setting the tone for that game, and at that point I knew I was going to be on the edge of my seat the whole weekend.
The Chiefs never looked back in that game, embarrassing the Texans in a 30-0 rout. Houston quarterback Brian Hoyer was historically bad, completing just 15 of 34 passing attempts (44% comp percentage), with 0 touchdowns and four interceptions, and a 15.9 QBR.
That game left me wanting more out of playoff football. Nothing is worse from a neutral perspective than one team completely dominating a game, and the other team not showing up.
Thankfully the other three games saved the weekend.
Steelers-Bengals lived up to all the hype and then some. Both teams competed hard and gave it their all on the field and nobody could have scripted a better finish. Cincinnati was on the verge of winning their first playoff game since 1991, a time period that has spanned four coaches and plenty of seasons to forget.
On a brisk night at Paul Brown Stadium in Cincinnati with the Bengals faithful praying and 1:36 left on the clock, all the Bengals had to do was put the ball in the hands of running back Jeremy Hill, kill the clock, and the monkey would be off the back.
Instead, the Bengals offered up one of the biggest collapses in NFL history, and the lack of discipline from two players in particular made this finish even uglier for Cincy.
As I said earlier, all Hill had to do was take care of the ball. He had one task and he failed. Ryan Shazier forced a fumble, and on the ensuing Steelers possession, Bengals linebacker Vontaze Burfict was flagged for unnecessary roughness when he hit a defenseless Antonio Brown.
To make matters worse, Adam Jones was then flagged with an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty when he got into a scrum with Steelers assistant coach Joey Porter. That set up a 35-yard game winning field goal by Chris Boswell and he delivered.
The Seahawks and Vikings low scoring battle was played in the third coldest conditions in NFL history and it came down to quite possibly the most shocking field goal miss in NFL history.
The Packers dominated the Redskins but the sheer shock of how efficient the Packers offense was in this game was enough to make this game exciting.
As great as the action was this weekend, the divisional round is the best weekend in the NFL, and the best teams with the best quarterbacks are ready to do battle. I will be glued to my TV next weekend.
Before my focus shifts to next weekend’s slate of games, here are my top 10 takeaways and the top 5 performers on offense and defense during this year’s Wild Card round.
5 Big Takeaways
1. Marvin Lewis needs to be let go in Cincinnati
Many will and have already said that Marvin Lewis deserves to remain as the Bengals head coach heading into next season.
According to ESPN sources, a lot of experts will get their wish. The Bengals have no plans to fire Lewis despite a collapse to the Pittsburgh Steelers in Saturday night’s wild card game.
Bengals general manager Mike Brown has to have the best relationship with Lewis to keep him as head coach after what transpired in the last minute and 36 seconds.
This decision by their front office in my mind is inexcusable, and frankly if I were in charge of football operations I would have fired him the second that the team lost.
It would have been a different conversation if the Bengals lost because the Steelers made plays at the right time but that wasn’t the reason.
As Lewis said himself, the Bengals self-destructed themselves. Hill turned the football over with a one point lead, and then two horrible penalties by two selfish players cost them the game.
Lewis is now 0-7 in the playoffs, the worst mark of any coach in NFL history, and this loss was the worst.
Burfict and Jones need to go, but the mental mistakes, and lack of discipline that have been a theme for this team as of late is on the head coach and that is why the Bengals need to move on.
I don’t care if his 112 victories with this franchise more than double the next closest Bengals head coach. I don’t care if he has just three losing seasons in thirteen years. I don’t care if he has lead this team to the playoffs year after year.
Winning in the playoffs is what matters and the Bengals haven’t done that with Lewis.
The lack of discipline means its time for a coaching change. That is the bottom line. Cincinnati has fallen short far too many times.
2. Overreaction #1: The Packers Offense is Back
After the Packers’ dominating offensive performance against the Redskins, I heard and read these statements far too many times:
Aaron Rodgers and the Packers offense is back.
The Packers offense now makes them a legitimate Super Bowl threat.
This performance resembled the offense we have seen the last six seasons.
Look, I have to give the Packers credit: There is no doubt that the postseason is a completely different time of year, and judging a team’s ability to succeed in January and February based on recent performance in the regular season is sketchy at best.
Usually, the best comes out in the playoffs, especially from experienced teams and that is what happened on Sunday. Aaron Rodgers proved his greatness once again, putting together another stellar performance while the Redskins offense struggled.
Rodgers led the Packers from two deficits with an efficient performance and for the Packers faithful that must be great to see.
Not to burst your bubble, but the Packers offense is not back. That is an overreaction.
The Packers offense isn’t the same as they were last year or when they won the Super Bowl. The Redskins defense just made them look really good.
The Redskins came into the game with the 22nd ranked defense, giving up 258.0 pass yards, and 122.6 rush yards per game. The pass rush was nonexistent, and Aaron Rodgers had days to throw the football.
Aaron Rodgers has always been effective making good passes when other units on offense are playing their part. The difference this season was that he was often let down by both his running game and offensive line.
Tonight you saw what Rodgers is capable of when he is given time to throw the football. He can make any throw, and that has never changed.
The Packers get a rematch with a Cardinals defense that is one of the best in the NFL at rushing the passer, and is loaded up front with speed and playmakers. Rodgers won’t have the same kind of success.
Don’t let one game, especially a game against one of the worst defenses in the NFL, lead you to conclude that suddenly Green Bay’s mojo is back. It’s far from back.
3. Overreaction #2: The Chiefs are a Complete Team in the AFC
On paper, the Chiefs look like the most complete and most dangerous team in the AFC. Heck, we might as well pencil them in the Super Bowl right now.
Hold on folks. Yes the Chiefs dominated the Texans in all facets of the game, the offense put up 30 points on the top-rated defense in the NFL over the latter part of the regular season.
However, the Chiefs offense needs a lot of work. Call me crazy, but if they are going to contend with Tom Brady and the Patriots in New England this weekend, Kansas City has to be more aggressive.
Andy Reid, as he usually is, was way to conservative especially on 3rd down. Alex Smith only attempted one pass beyond 20 yards in the Texans game and it was incomplete.
Smith also missed far too many wide open throws, one of which should have been a touchdown, and KC settled for long field goals instead of going for it on fourth and 1.
With Jeremy Maclin likely out, the Chiefs are going to have to get creative and find ways to get wide receivers Chris Conley and Albert Wilson open and more involved.
This is the bottom line: even if the Pats aren’t 100% healthy, Brady will have his weapons back, and you can guarantee that they will have more than 112 passing yards.
The Chiefs relied on their opportunistic defense to set up the offense in easy situations. Here is the problem: the Patriots don’t turn the ball over.
That means that the Chiefs have to be an offensive team against the Pats and that could spell trouble if the same game plan that was used against the Texans shows up again.
4. Stopping the Run wins Championships
Defense wins championships, but it was illustrated once again this weekend that defenses that stop the run and offenses that have success in the running game win in the playoffs.
Despite being without DeAngelo Williams the Steelers put up 167 yards on the ground, the most rushing yards the Bengals defense has allowed all season.
Even though the Chiefs were missing Jamaal Charles they still out-gained the Texans 141-114 on the ground. The Seahawks defense won their team the game against Minnesota because they were able to take Adrian Peterson out of the game, limiting him to just 45 yards. Seattle’s backup running Christine Michael rushed for 70 yards, out-gaining the league’s rushing champ.
Finally, the Packers were able to get the run game going which ultimately proved to be the key for an offense that was doing nothing leading into the game. Eddie Lacey and James Starks were just as important as Aaron Rodgers was to Green Bay’s victory.
All four teams that won this weekend had success toting the rock, and stopping the run.
5. Protect the Football
My fifth and final takeway from this past weekend’s games is all about takeaways.
In every game, turnovers at the wrong time were a big reason why the results went the way they did. Everybody is going to talk about the missed field goal kick by Blair Walsh as the reason for Minnesota losing. The truth is, Adrian Peterson’s fumble was a bigger turning point in the game.
Everybody is going to talk about the two penalties by Burfict and Jones in the Bengals-Steelers game, but the Steelers wouldn’t have even had a chance to win the game if Jeremy Hill would have protected the football.
Everybody is going to talk about Aaron Rodgers and the Packers offense as the reason they won the game, but the Packers ability to get pressure on Washington quarterback Kirk Cousins and force him into four fumbles, one of which was lost, was a huge factor.
Finally, the most obvious example: Brian Hoyer’s interceptions led to the Chiefs dominant victory. With the exception of the Packers-Redskins game in which both teams turned it over once, the teams that won the turnover battle won the game.
Everybody will look at experienced quarterback play as being more important, but it doesn’t matter who your signal caller is if the team doesn’t take care of the football.
Enjoy the rest of your week, and I can’t wait for the divisional games to start!
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