By Lucas Camacho

NFL PLAYOFFS RECAP: THE WILD CARD ROUND

Welcome to the NFL playoffs! It’s been a long time coming, but we finally got here. 14 teams, 4 rounds, 1 Super Bowl winner. What that means is that, unless you’re the Chiefs or the Lions, all you have to do is win just 4 games and you’re the Super Bowl Champion. Of course, if you lose, the season is over. That’s what the playoffs mean in all sports: one last sprint to the finish, all or nothing, them or you. That being said, it’s always exciting to see playoff football, so let’s dive into what happened, what can the eliminated teams do in the offseason, and what the teams advancing can do to win in the next round.

CHARGERS 12 – TEXANS 32

This game was two things: it was almost as bad as things could go for the Chargers, and it was the best we’ve seen the Texans play in months.  The Texans managed to penetrate the sturdy offensive and defensive lines of the Chargers to eliminate them and move on to face the defending champion Chiefs. This was Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert’s worst game of the year. The quarterback with the least amount of interceptions all year threw 4 in this one game while only completing a dismal 14 of 32 passes for 242 yards and a touchdown. On the other side, this is the CJ Stroud we’ve been waiting for all year; the one who ran away in the Rookie of the Year conversation last year. He did throw an interception, but he also completed 22 or 33 passes for 282 yards and a touchdown (Stroud also rushed himself 6 times for 42 rushing yards). In the end, the good Joe Mixon showed up with 25 rushes for 106 yards and scoring the touchdown that sealed the game for the Texans.

So where do the Chargers go from here? Well, obviously the Texans showed that the interior offensive line of the Chargers is more vulnerable than everyone thought. If it was better, the Chargers would have a better running attack as coach Jim Harbaugh has had in the past (because 50 rushing yards will NOT win you a game). A prominent running attack will take greater pressure off of Justin Herbert to allow him to be the dominant quarterback we know he is…not whatever it was we saw this weekend. Over on the defense, Elijah Molden has been a game changer, and the Chargers could have used him had he not broken his leg in Week 17. All eyes also be on the future of Khalil Mack; will he return, and if so, will he return to the Chargers? But I think the biggest upgrade the Chargers need is the wide receiving corps. Ladd McConkey is a good receiver, but he isn’t THE receiver. What I mean is someone who can always be relied upon in a tough situation or just to dominate: such as Ja’Marr Chase, Amon Ra St. Brown, and, of course, number one Justin Jefferson. The Chargers need THE receiver, or at least more capable receivers that Herbert can target.

Moving ahead for the advancing Texans, it was the Texans team we expected at the start of the season. Their task ahead is very daunting: going toe-to-toe with the defending champs. Everyone will be betting against them, and everyone will look at the Texan’s up and down season. However, that doesn’t mean that the Texans don’t have a chance. Their pass rush has been pretty consistent all year. Texans Defensive End Danielle Hunter led the NFL with a 26% pass rush win rate during the regular season, and fellow Texan Will Anderson Jr. helped him put plenty of pressure on the Chargers this weekend. They also have one other thing in their favor: the Chiefs’ luck. Many of the Chief’s wins were ugly this year, and the arrival of DeAndre Hopkins, return of Marquise Brown, and progress of rookie Xavier Worthy only solve a few of their problems. That lucky streak of theirs may be due to run out…but will the Texans take advantage of that?

STEELERS 14 – RAVENS 28

There are few teams in the playoffs who are hungrier than the Ravens, and that showed as they took down their bitter rivals, the Steelers, with brute force. The Steelers can’t blame the loss on quarterback Russell Wilson, who completed 20 of his 29 passes for 270 yards and 2 touchdowns. If anything, the run game failed the Steelers, as they only had 29 yards on the ground. The Ravens had a total of 299 yards on the ground, thanks to running back Derrick Henry leading the way with 186 rushing yards and 2 touchdowns. It’s no wonder that reigning MVP Lamar Jackson only had to throw for 175 yards which resulted in 2 touchdowns. With the Steelers behind them, the Ravens move on to face the Bills in the next round.

So what now for the Steelers? Well, the question that has been swirling is if the Steelers move on from Mike Tomlin. That should be easy: no! The man has led the Steelers to winning seasons each year he’s been at the helm while managing big egos. Believe me: Tomlin is NOT the problem. The real problem is the pieces he has to work with. They have no quarterback under contract, their wide receiving corps is in need of some upgrades, and they could use another cornerback. So, it’ll be interesting to see if Wilson or Justin Fields will be the starting quarterback next year for the Steelers (because there isn’t enough decent names on the market for a quarterback with so much demand for one this offseason). But whatever they do, the Steelers should NOT let Tomlin go (because who are they going to replace him with?).

As for the Ravens going forward, Lamar Jackson did an excellent job showing he has what it takes to win a playoff game. Now, in the past…his next playoff game left a lot to be desired. But this time, Jackson and the Ravens have the most feared running attack in the AFC. The addition of Derrick Henry has been a great boon for the Ravens as Jackson hasn’t had to rely on his legs alone to move the ball on the ground, and it’s taken a lot of the pressure off of him. Between Henry and Jackson, many opposing defenses find themselves wearing out early as the Ravens control the time of possession. They’ll need a solid performance from both the offense and the defense as they travel on the road to face the mighty Bills in Buffalo.

BRONCOS 7 – BILLS 31

It was a rough welcome for Broncos’ rookie Bo Nix. The rookie quarterback led the Broncos back to the playoffs for the first time since Peyton Manning retired. But this game was a message to Nix: welcome to the real world. That message came from the juggernaut that is the Bills, who advance to face reigning MVP Lamar Jackson and the Ravens next week in Buffalo. It wasn’t one of Nix’s best games, he only completed 13 of his 22 passes for 144 yards and a touchdown, but he did rush it for 43 yards on the ground. On the other side, quarterback Josh Allen, whose numbers this season make him a strong contender to take the MVP title from Lamar Jackson, completed 20 of 26 passes for 272 yards and 2 touchdowns.

So, where does this leave the Broncos going into the offseason. My argument is they should find a running back. They only had 79 rushing yards against the Bills, and more than half of those yards were because of Nix. The Ravens found out last year that Lamar Jackson can’t do it all by himself, and that is the same of Bo Nix. No one can: that’s why they call it TEAM sports. Coach Sean Payton is used to having a running back that can punish a team’s offense during his time with the New Orleans Saints (e.g. Alvin Kamara, Reggie Bush, Darren Sproles, you get the picture…). Obviously, the Broncos don’t have much cap space to work with thanks to the dead money from their failed Russell Wilson experiment, but maybe there is a running back they can draft at number 20. After all, look how well the homegrown players did this season for the Broncos. They could hope to repeat that success in order to build a team that can better contend with juggernauts like the Bills and Lions.

Going forward for the Bills, they may have the home field advantage, but facing a tough Ravens team won’t make this easy. The Ravens already gave the Bills a devasting beatdown in Week 4 by a score of 35-10. This clash will come down to one thing: the duel between MVP favorites Josh Allen and Lamar Jackson. Allen has so many weapons around him that he doesn’t even use all of them in a single game! Also, the Bills aren’t firing on all cylinders right now, just look at their slow start against the Broncos. The Bills need Josh Allen to be Josh Allen, and they need to score plenty of points. Because if the monstrous run game led by Lamar Jackson and Derrick Henry shakes loose…the Bills will be faced with yet another lost season.

PACKERS 10 – EAGLES 22

It was the Packers’ Achilles heel all season: their inability to beat the elite teams in the NFC. And now, it’s caused the end of their season as they fell to the high powered Eagles. This was a really bad game for Packers quarterback Jordan Love, completing 20 of 33 passes for 212 yards and 3 interceptions. On the other side, Jalen Hurts didn’t light the world on fire for the Eagles, completing 13 of 21 passes for 131 yards and 2 touchdowns, but it was clearly good enough. The Eagles will now advance to host a red hot Rams team.

So, what will the Packers do now that the offseason has begun? Well, they might want to invest more in their pass rushing attack. Their division has several fearsome passing attacks (the Lions and Vikings) and one team whose passing attack is likely to get better next season (the Bears). Not only that, the Packers had one of the lowest blitz rates in the NFL. Either they need to call for more blitzes, or they don’t have enough confidence in their defensive linemen. They’ll also need to figure out what to do with Jordan Morgan, whose 2024 rookie season ended too soon. He was played at guard, but is better suited as a tackle. Since the Packers already have two good tackles in Rasheed Walker and Zach Tom, they would need to find a way to shuffle things up at the line to find the right job for Morgan. But a little upgrading on the offensive side of the ball can’t hurt either (maybe bring in a Tee Higgins).

As for the Eagles, things are looking better than they were this time last year when they were drummed out of the playoffs. Their defense is rolling, and Saquon Barkley has turned the Eagles’ offense around. However, they need to be cautious as the Rams have been rolling since the last time these two met back in Week 12. There is nothing more dangerous in the playoffs than a team on a hot streak. The Eagles will need to rely on its defense to slowdown the Rams’ stars. The Rams also have the emotional backing of the nation as they play for the people of Los Angeles and Southern California affected by the wildfires. The Eagles are very talented with loads of stars, and they have a more than decent chance against the Super Bowl favorite Lions, but looking past the Rams could cost them big time.

COMMANDERS 23 – BUCCANEERS 20

This turned out to be the best game of the entire Wild Card round. After a field goal earlier in the game sank the Broncos’ momentum and ended their season, another field goal ended up sending the Commanders into the next round over the Buccaneers. Quarterback Baker Mayfield did his best completing 15 of 18 passes for 2 touchdowns, but his fumble late in the game cost the Buccaneers dearly. For the Commanders, Rookie of the Year favorite Jayden Daniels completed 24 of 35 passes for 2 touchdowns. The Commanders are in for the fight of their lives as they take on the heavy favorites for the Super Bowl, the Lions.

What now for the Buccaneers? This is definitely a 180 compared to last year when they ended the Eagles’ miserable year. Well, this offseason will be interesting. Obviously they’ll want to keep right tackle Luke Goedeke, who had a jaw dropping 89.5% pass block win rate. They could use some help at linebacker with players like Lavonte David showing their age. But their main offseason priority has to be the future of their offensive coordinator. Liam Coen’s offensive machine produced 28.6 points a game, second only to the Tom Brady-led offense that won the Super Bowl in 2020. That is good…but there are several teams out there in need of a head coach such as the Raiders and Bears…and Coen is a tempting pick. So the Buccaneers need to keep their offensive coordinator happy or watch him walk (and maybe, theoretically, watch him turn Caleb Williams into the next Kurt Warner).

As for the Commanders, they will face their toughest challenge yet: a showdown with the juggernaut Lions. The Lions burned them for a 36-27 win earlier in Week 2. However, the Commanders have come a long way since then as Jayden Daniels has made a strong case for Rookie of the Year since. Somehow, Daniels is almost blitz proof, and that does the Lions no favors as that was the only reason they beat the Vikings in the regular season finale. That plan of blitzing the quarterback will very likely backfire against Daniels as his average QBR against the blitz was a jaw dropping 90.3. They’ll need Daniels to help the Commanders control the ball and keep the ball away from the Lions’ dynamite offense, which might get a boost by the return of veteran running back David Montgomery. So Daniels’ playmaking ability and versatility will need to come through if the Commanders want any chance of overcoming the powerful Lions.

VIKINGS 9 – RAMS 27

It’s a scary thought for any sports team; one mistake can derail any championship hopes you have. The Yankees learned that when their disastrous 5^th inning in Game 5 of the World Series led to their doom and the Dodgers’ victory. For the Vikings, their doom wasn’t just because of a costly turnover, but because of the turnover that didn’t count. When a supposed fumble from Matthew Stafford was overturned, the momentum turned against the Vikings and led to the Rams advancing to the next round. Sam Darnold did his best for the Vikings, completing 25 of 40 passes for a touchdown and interception, but his fumble that the Rams returned for a touchdown was the final nail in the coffin. As for Stafford, he completed 19 of 27 passes for 209 yards and 2 touchdowns, enough to lead the Rams to victory. Now that the Rams have vanquished one elite NFC team, they’ll have to put down another one as they go on the road to face the high-flying Eagles and their vaunted offense.

I honestly didn’t expect to write about what the Vikings should do in the offseason this early in the postseason. After all, they still have one of the best, if not THE best, receivers in the league in Justin Jefferson. So, what do they do with such an early start to the offseason? Well, the Vikings’ defensive secondary are all on expiring contracts. Keeping as many as possible is the top priority. But there may be an even bigger priority: what to do at quarterback. We can all agree that Sam Darnold surpassed all expectations. I myself didn’t give him much of a chance considering his NFL career prior to this season. But you can’t deny what he has done this season, and the idea he might do it again next year. That is a gamble: the Raiders took one on Gardner Minshew after his breakout year with the Colts but failed to materialize. Still, if the Vikings keep Darnold, what does that mean for 2024 draft number 10 pick, J.J. McCarthy? It’s a tricky situation, and the Vikings want to get it right so they can put an even better team out there next year.

As for the Rams going forward, when you’re hot, you’re hot. This has been another remarkable comeback season for the Rams. Last year, they also got off to a rough start but put together enough wins to crack into the playoffs. This year, they not only got in, but they also advanced. So, what can they do against the Eagles? Well, the Rams will need big production from their stars Puka Nacua and Matthew Stafford. If Cooper Kupp can have a great game, that will also go a long way. Another key to the game, the Rams need to control the ball. They need to keep the ball out of the hands of the Eagles as long as possible, especially with Saquon Barkley having an MVP caliber season. But most importantly, they need to play with some other people in mind: the people of Los Angeles and Southern California. As the winds continue to make the raging wildfires worse and increase the devastation, sports will serve as a distraction, as it always has in history. If the Rams can do that, someone should start writing the screenplay now (preferably me, wink).