It was a tale of two conferences in the wild card round this past weekend. Especially when it came to my picks.
In the AFC the three division-winning home teams cruised to relatively easy wins.
The NFC was a touch different.
Two favored teams fell short of advancing to the divisional round in the NFC playoffs.
The Eagles won by 12 points, but their offense is in trouble when teams contain Saquon Barkley. Philadelphia also got a lot of help from the officiating crew.
The Commanders found a way to upend the Buccaneers in Tampa Bay in the lone game that had any suspense at the end.
Then there’s the Vikings. A 14-3 wild card team that could have been the top seed in the NFC.
Or at least have played a home game as a division winner if not for the Detroit Lions.
Minnesota just never got it going on Monday night.
A few former Cowboys have made it to the divisional round with their new teams. Others didn’t fare so well.
And two in particular may have played their last NFL games.
Ezekiel Elliott (Chargers) and Stephon Gilmore (Vikings) were on the losing end over the weekend. They may not be on an NFL roster next year.
For the record, I’m 4-2 so far and looking for a better divisional round performance.
Here’s how the games went:
Ravens 28, Steelers 14
Baltimore won this game in the first half. Up 21-0 at the break they just toyed with the Steelers after that.
Russel Wilson has probably played his last game as a starter, for sure in Pittsburgh, if not the entire NFL.
Mike Tomlin may have coached his final game for the Steelers for that matter.
Baltimore is playing solid football right now. Lamar Jackson will probably win back-to-back MVPs.
The win sets up what should be a thrilling divisional round game this weekend in Buffalo between the Ravens and Bills.
Either Josh Allen, or Jackson, will be back in their second AFC Championship game in less than two weeks.
That’s two more than a certain quarterback we all know and love/loathe in these parts.
I got the pick right as well as the Steelers final score. Baltimore let me down by not keeping their foot on the pedal in the second half though.
Do better Ravens. You’re making me look bad here.
Texans 32, Chargers 12
Los Angeles went into this game as the favorites. After the first quarter it looked like it was justified.
Trailing 3-0, Houston turned the ball over on a fumble on its first offensive play of the game.
The Texans would punt on three of their next four possessions.
The fourth drive? Ended with an interception.
Despite all of that, the Chargers only led 6-0.
Then Justin Herbert made like Dak Prescott in a divisional round game and that was that.
Herbert threw four interceptions in the loss.
It looks like Elliott chose poorly, assuming any of the other 14 playoff teams were interested in him.
He never saw the field for Los Angeles in the loss.
C.J. Stroud shook off the early interception to go 22-for-33 for 282 yards and a touchdown. Joe Mixon shook off the early fumble to rush for 106 yards and a touchdown.
A football follies moment occurred when Cameron Dicker, the Chargers kicker, had his lone point after attempt blocked.
The ball went straight up in the air. Dicker quickly tracked the ball and batted it down to the ground thinking that would end the play.
That only applies to pass attempts.
The ball was still live and bounced to D’Angelo Ross who happily raced the length of the field for two points for the Texans.
You just know that Peyton Manning was mumbling “idiot kicker” under his breath while watching the play unfold.
I had picked Houston to win 23-21. I got the pick right, and the total points scored right, if not the actual score.
Like Meatloaf says: Two out of three ain’t bad.
Houston, with former Cowboys tight end Dalton Schultz, gets to go to Kansas City and get Mahomed out of the playoffs this weekend.
Bills 31, Broncos 7
Bo Nix was looking like Tom Brady on Sunday. For the first drive.
Nix led a five-play, 70-yard drive and capped it with a 43-yard touchdown pass to Troy Franklin for a quick 7-0 lead.
That turned out to be the highlight of the game for Denver.
The Broncos missed a chance to send the game to halftime tied at 10-10. Will Lutz decided to hit the upright instead.
Buffalo dominated the rest of the way.
Josh Allen was 20-for-26 for 272 yards and two touchdowns. He also added eight carries for 46 yards.
Several of his runs converted third down into first down.
The Bills defense will have to tighten up against Lamar Jackson. Seeing how Nix got 43 yards on just four carries, Jackson will be a tougher stop.
And that’s not even considering having to stop Derrick Henry too.
I had Buffalo winning by 14 in this one. While they came up seven points shy of my predicted score on offense, the defense pulled a -17 on the Broncos predicted score.
Well played, Bills. Well played indeed.
Eagles 22, Packers 10
Full disclosure: I stopped watching the game when the review booth didn’t overturn the ruling on the opening kickoff.
If replay can’t correct a missed call like that, why do we even have replay?
So, I decided to watch the director’s cut for Mel Gibson’s Payback for the first time. I’m not sure which was worse, the movie or the replay booth in Philadelphia.
Did the blown call that set up a quick Eagles’ touchdown decide the game?
Of course not.
Green Bay had plenty of time to recover. But Jordan Love impersonating Dak Prescott in the postseason didn’t help either.
The one takeaway from this?
If the Eagles keep playing the way they have over the last month, they won’t get anywhere near the NFC Championship game without buying a ticket.
Seriously, they can’t count on the refs bailing them out every week. Especially not against the Rams this week or the Lions the week after.
Commanders 23, Buccaneers 20
A host of former Cowboys players and coaches experienced something they didn’t last year with Dallas. They won a playoff game.
Despite Dan Quinn’s gambling, the Commanders hung in and won the game on a late field goal.
Quinn passed up on a field goal earlier in the game and turned the ball over on downs.
It turned out to be the more competitive game of the round.
I had this one as a 20-13 Washington win and this one sealed a winning, if not perfect, round of prognostication.
Rams 27, Vikings 9
Did I predict the Vikings to win this game by a point? Surely not.
Checks notes. Welp, looks like I did.
Oops.
Someone clearly forgot to tell the Vikings this game had been moved to Arizona. Because clearly, the Minnesota Vikings didn’t show up for this game.
Whichever junior college team they threw into those uniforms were outmatched in the first half against the Rams.
This was the shocking result of the week, because the Vikings looked to be the better team.
Someone clearly forgot to tell Matthew Stafford and the Rams that. The Eagles should be worried since they play the Rams next.