Every week in the NFL season brings a host of new questions … and answers some old ones, too. Let’s run down what we learned on Wild Card weekend … and what we’ll be wondering about in the divisional round and beyond.
ANSWERED: Baltimore’s 1-2 ground game is lethal
Look, we all knew that Baltimore was likely going to manhandle Pittsburgh, even given the usual AFC North rivalry caveats. Pittsburgh was coming in on a four-game skid, with little to indicate that there was any coherence to their offensive gameplan or, for that matter, any sanity in their locker room. Even so, the merciless stomping that Baltimore unleashed was jaw-dropping. The Ravens piled up a 21-0 lead at halftime, and right when Pittsburgh managed a single touchdown and the tiniest flame of hope flickered, BOOM, here comes Derrick Henry with a 44-yard touchdown to douse that flame in cold reality.
Without Zay Flowers in the lineup, Baltimore switched to a run-first option, and holy heaven did it work. Henry had 186 yards and two touchdowns, Lamar Jackson added another 81 yards, and Pittsburgh never got close, as Art But Make It Sports so eloquently depicted:
Block off time for next week’s Baltimore-Buffalo game. Given the way that Buffalo deboned Denver with merciless efficiency, this one’s going to be a classic.
ASKED: Did Washington do the rest of the NFC a solid?
We don’t advise winning via doink, but we don’t necessarily frown on it, either; in the postseason, you do what you gotta do to advance, even if that means a bank-shot off the right upright. Washington escaped Tampa Bay Sunday night with a victory, and in so doing might just have given the rest of the NFC a real break. Tampa Bay, as quarterbacked by Baker Mayfield, was the most maddening team in the playoffs, a crew of grimy pugs who never conceded defeat until it was forced on them.
All due respect to Tom Brady, Joe Montana et. al., but Mayfield this season transformed into the surest bet possible on late come-from-behind drives, finding open men and scrambling to daylight to keep drive after drive alive. That’s why it was so shocking to see Tampa Bay fall short on two late-game drives, the more crucial one being a Mayfield fumble that Washington flipped into a go-ahead touchdown. Tampa Bay was the most wicked kind of postseason team, the one that gnaws at your ankles while you’re overlooking them, and the rest of the NFC ought to be grateful they’re gone.
ANSWERED: Jayden Daniels is now a legit star
Jayden Daniels’ skillset was never in doubt coming into this postseason, but his ability to perform under playoff pressure? Well, you never really know how that’s going to go until you’re in the pot and the water’s boiling. Daniels absolutely thrived on Sunday night in his postseason debut, throwing for 268 yards and two touchdowns. More than that, he led Washington through a seesaw game that included two deficits and two ties. Washington didn’t punt a single time, Daniels didn’t throw a single interception, and the Commanders still held the ball for an astounding 10 minutes longer than the Bucs. You can’t do that if your quarterback is wavering in any way, and Daniels proved he’s got what it takes to survive and thrive in the playoffs.
The key: Daniels’ final drive, 10 plays to cover 51 yards in the final 4:41 of the game. He guided Washington to a game-winning field goal and never gave the Bucs a chance to counter. How will Daniels fare against Detroit? The Lions allowed 244 yards passing per game this season — only two teams are worse — and if you give Daniels a bit of space, he’s likely to claim it all for himself.
ASKED: What do the Steelers do now?
Hey, remember when Pittsburgh thought it had its answer at quarterback in Justin Fields? And remember when Pittsburgh thought it had an even better answer at quarterback in Russell Wilson? Yeah, good times. That old adage about when you have two quarterbacks, you have no quarterbacks is almost literally true in Pittsburgh, where the Steelers are left looking for answers after yet another early playoff exit and disappointing quarterback play.
Pittsburgh’s veteran options are limited — Kirk Cousins? Sam Darnold? — and picking 21st in the draft doesn’t exactly allow for a lot of rookie quarterback choice. There’s a whole lot askew in Pittsburgh right now, but it all begins with the quarterback position.
ANSWERED: Philadelphia finds a way to win, always
The playoffs tend to expose narratives, like “Green Bay is the team flying under the radar that could cause damage.” As it turned out, Green Bay was flying under the radar because they couldn’t fly any higher than that, and only caused damage to themselves. Jordan Love, injured or not, threw three interceptions. Philadelphia didn’t turn them into any points — the successive drives were two punts and the end of the game. Even without that, Philadelphia’s swarming defense and opportunistic offense kept the Packers in check right from the jump. Philadelphia has won 13 of its last 14, and nobody ought to take the Iggles lightly at this point.
ASKED: Can even Jim Harbaugh break the Chargers curse?
So depending on whether you were watching the Nickelodeon simulcast of the Chargers-Texans game, you may or may not know that Jim Harbaugh was kidnapped mid-game by the Dirty Bubble, a fearsome Spongebob Squarepants villain. Here, watch the carnage:
Now, we’re not saying the Dirty Bubble shaped this game, but we are saying that Houston outscored Los Angeles 32-6 after that kidnapping. This game was ugly as hell for Los Angeles, one of so many in the playoffs, and it leads to an inevitable question: Is “Chargering” too much for even Jim Harbaugh to overcome?
