2018 QB Class Dominates AFC Wild Card Weekend

With the expansion of the NFL playoffs, the wild card round moved from two games per conference to three. In the AFC, all seven seeds had a record of 11-5 or better and all had a chance to make a run at the Super Bowl. Unfortunately, only three teams can move on, so let us analyze how these three games played out and what is ahead.

Josh Allen leads Bills to Tight Win over Colts

To kick off wild card weekend, the two-seeded Buffalo Bills hosted the seven-seeded Indianapolis Colts. In a close battle, Buffalo prevailed a stingy Colts squad on their way to a 27-24 victory. In the victory, QB Josh Allen went 26/35 with 324 yards and two touchdowns through the air. He also led the ground attack with 54 yards and a touchdown to add to his big day. WR Stefon Diggs continued his success from the regular season, going 6-128-1, leading all receivers in the game. Defensively, the Bills defined “bend but don’t break”, allowing the Colts into opponent’s territory on every drive of the game, but giving up just three touchdowns in the narrow victory.

As for the Colts, it was an extremely tough loss that came down to a few miscues. Early on, the Colts elected to go for it on fourth down rather than kick the field goal and ended up failing to convert, keeping the score at 10-7 Colts. Another miscue was a missed field goal by K Rodrigo Blankenship. These two factors ended up playing pivotal roles in the outcome of the game. In what might have been his last game ever, QB Philip Rivers battled, throwing for 309 yards and two touchdowns in the loss.

Ravens D Contains Henry as Lamar Earns First Playoff W

In a rematch from last year’s divisional round, the Baltimore Ravens faced the Tennessee Titans in a very even matchup. Both teams are run-based and want to win on the ground. On this day, Baltimore had the upper hand, winning by a narrow score of 20-13. QB Lamar Jackson totaled 315 yards and a touchdown in his first playoff victory, highlighted by a 48-yard rushing touchdown that tied the game after falling behind early. RB’s J.K. Dobbins and Gus Edwards chipped into the rushing attack as well, totaling 17 carries for 81 yards and a touchdown by Dobbins. As for the receiving core, it was pretty much quite outside WR Marquise Brown, who had 109 yards on seven grabs. Defensively, the Ravens did an extraordinary job of containing RB Derrick Henry, holding him to 40 rushing yards. CB Marcus Peters had the game-sealing interception as well.

After storming out to a 10-0 lead, the Titans’ offense went dull and got nothing going in the second half. QB Ryan Tannehill had a pedestrian day, going 18/26 with 165 yards with a touchdown and interception. Tennessee was dominated on the line of scrimmage and struggled to move the chains, going 4/12 on third down in the defeat.

With the Ravens and Bills winning, they will now face off in a heavyweight matchup in the divisional round. The last two quarterbacks in the first round taken in the 2018 draft will have a chance to advance to the AFC championship game in what should be a great game. Because they are the five-seed, the Ravens will be traveling to Buffalo on Saturday night. The big question is, who will come out on top?

Browns Stun Steelers in Blowout Fashion

After a week of chatter and trash talk, the Cleveland Browns let their play do the talking against the Pittsburgh Steelers. In a game where they had no head coach and three starters out due to COVID-19, the Browns stomped on the Steelers, who were heavily favored, by a score of 48-37. In his first-ever playoff game, QB Baker Mayfield threw for 263 yards and three touchdowns with no turnovers, complementing a dominant run game. Speaking of the run game, the dynamic duo of Kareem Hunt and Nick Chubb combined for a line of 26-114-2, with both rushing touchdowns scored by Hunt. WR Jarvis Landry led the air raid with 92 yards and a touchdown. TE Austin Hooper and Chubb also had receiving touchdowns in the victory. While they did not sack QB Ben Roethlisberger, the Browns brought pressure the entire game, forcing five turnovers which led to 24 of the Browns 48 points. CB M.J. Stewart and LB B.J. Goodson led the way with 10 tackles each.

As for Pittsburgh, this is as bad of a loss as you can suffer. On the first snap of the game, C Maurkice Pouncey snapped the ball over Roethlisberger’s head, leading to a defensive touchdown by the Browns. That was the first of five turnovers from a team that was supposed to win this game in blowout fashion. Instead, they were the ones getting blown out. Cleveland controlled the line of scrimmage the entire game and imposed their will on a usually stout Pittsburgh front. The Steelers looked lethargic and rusty from start to finish and did not look ready to play a playoff game.

With the win, the Browns will now try to slay the dragon by going into Arrowhead and defeating the one-seeded Kansas City Chiefs, who are also the defending champions. The game will be Sunday at 3:05 P.M. ET.

Info from profootballreference.com

Writer

-By: Richie Dordas

Outside of Sunday night’s abomination, Week 17 did not disappoint NFL fans. The ever-changing playoff picture is finally locked into place, and the two-day period dubbed “Super Wildcard Weekend” is set to begin. Three games Saturday, three more Sunday; let’s get to predicting.

Indianapolis (11-5) at Buffalo (13-3), Saturday, 1:05pm

Prediction: 23-20, Buffalo

After Jonathan Taylor’s 253-yard explosion on Sunday, I came THIS close to flipping my pick to the Colts. Then I remembered what had just taken place in Buffalo. With the AFC’s #2 seed on the line, the Bills dropped an astonishing 56 points on a team that needed to win to make the playoffs! Allow me to rephrase: The Bills faced maybe the hungriest team in the league and put up nearly 60 points. While rushing offense does matter a lot more in the postseason, Buffalo has dominated in harsh New York weather all year without a strong ground game. I’ll take my chances on Josh Allen and Stefon Diggs over the Colts 20th ranked pass defense.

LA Rams (10-6) at Seattle (12-4), Saturday 4:40p

Prediction: 19-14, Seattle

With their playoff hopes hanging in the balance, John Wolford’s Rams pulled out an inspired win over the Kyler Murray/Chris Streveler-led Cardinals. They’ll be rewarded with a playoff game against another division rival. Although Seattle has been far from the dominant unit we watched over the first part of the season, they may be an even tougher out thanks to their incredible defensive improvement. Spearheaded by offseason acquisition Jamal Adams, Seattle’s much-maligned defense has allowed just 14.0 PPG over the last six contests. With Jared Goff’s status uncertain, Seattle will likely be able to pull out a victory without lighting up the scoreboard. 

Tampa Bay (11-5) at Washington (7-9), Saturday 8:15pm

Prediction: 24-13, Tampa Bay

Two things of note:

1. The WFT is the third team in NFL history (16 game seasons) to qualify for the playoffs despite having a losing record. The first two (‘11 Seahawks, ‘14 Panthers) both WON a playoff game.

2. Boasting a dominant defensive line and a game-managed offense with a strong run game, the Washington Football team is exactly the type of team that Tom Brady is known to struggle with.

Both of those things being said, I have learned several times over to never bet against Thomas Edward Patrick Brady Jr. His season touchdown total exceeds his age (he’s 43!) and the Bucs continue to look more dominant every week they’re together. On the other hand, the WFT couldn’t put away a team that was openly tanking. I’ll roll with TB.

Baltimore (11-5) at Tennessee (11-5), Sunday 1:05pm

Prediction: 31-24, Baltimore

In a rematch of last year’s divisional round, Lamar Jackson is tasked with getting his first playoff victory as an NFL quarterback. There are no more excuses for the 2019 NFL MVP. The Titans defense is bad. There is no other way to put it. They allow over 27 PPG and nearly 280 passing YPG. They also give up 121 YPG on the ground. The Ravens, fresh off of a 400-yard rushing performance, must take advantage. Play ball control, and do not let Derrick Henry have it as easy as he did last year (Warning: easier said than done). With the aforementioned Henry looking even better than he did at this point last year, we may be looking at a game similar to Baltimore’s MNF rushing duel with Cleveland. Sign me up.

Chicago (8-8) at New Orleans (12-4), Sunday 4:40pm

Prediction: 27-10, New Orleans

Even after getting mistreated in a “win and in” game, the Bears still qualified for the postseason by virtue of a Cardinals loss. Their stay isn’t set to last long. Mitch Trubisky put up one of his more impressive performances of the season on Sunday… and Chicago scored just 16. Bears coaches seemed afraid to let the fourth-year man throw a ball further than five yards. Chicago’s offense is fully reliant on second-year tailback David Montgomery, but he isn’t a reliable option against a Saints defense that has allowed just two 100-yard rushers since November of 2017. The Saints annual playoff meltdown will come soon, but it definitely won’t be this week.

Cleveland (11-5) at Pittsburgh (12-4), Sunday 8:15pm

Prediction: 23-16, Pittsburgh

There is nothing that can convince me that the Steelers did not try and lose last week’s game. I truly believe they benched some of their starters to ensure that they faced Cleveland in the first round. Remember, Pittsburgh could’ve gone for the two seed if they wanted to. I badly wanted to pick the Browns in this one, but coming off two games where they lost to the Jets and then were nearly knocked off by the Steelers reserves, how can I envision them beating the Steelers starters? Baker Mayfield is too random from week-to-week, and even though the Browns elite RB duo will get theirs, it ultimately won’t be enough. Also, I’m sure Pittsburgh would love to avoid getting bounced first round after starting 11-0. Cue the TikTok memes.

Writer

-By: Micah Jimoh

After a tough loss to the two-win Jets in Week 16, the Cleveland Browns went into a win-and-in scenario against the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 17. In front of a whopping 12,000 fans, the Browns beat their division foe by a score of 24-22. With the win, they clinched their first playoff berth since 2002 and their first 11-win season since 1994. Let us analyze how the game played out and what to look for ahead.

Browns Pound the Rock

All season long, the Browns have run their offense through their running game, specifically the dynamic duo of Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt. This game proved no different, as the Browns rushed for an impressive 192 yards and 2 TD’s in the victory. Chubb led the way with 14 carries and 108 yards, including a 47-yard touchdown, while Hunt carried the ball 10 times for 37 yards. WR Jarvis Landry also pitched in a three-yard rushing touchdown, while QB Baker Mayfield had a season-high 44 yards, including a game-sealing third-down conversion on a QB Power.

While the rushing attack led the way, the air attack complemented the ground game very effectively in the winning effort. QB Baker Mayfield went 17-27 with 196 yards and a touchdown to TE Austin Hooper, who finished the day with four catches and 37 yards. Mayfield spread the wealth to seven different receivers with WR Rashard Higgins leading the yardage category with 55 yards. WR Jarvis Landry paced the team in catches with five on the day.

Cleveland “D” Does Just Enough

Even without a few key guys due to COVID-19, which includes star CB Denzel Ward, the Browns defense did just enough to earn the victory in Week 17. Cleveland gave up 394 yards (309 passing) and allowed the Steelers to go 8-17 on third down and 2-2 on fourth down. Despite this, the Browns made one final stop on a two-point conversion to hold the lead and clinch a spot in the playoffs. Rookie LB Jacob Phillips had a career day, totaling 10 tackles in the victory. DE Olivier Vernon recorded his ninth sack of the season and CB M.J. Stewart caught his second interception on the season. The interception led to a touchdown to make the score 24-9 at the time. The Cleveland secondary also recorded six passes defensed on the day in the team effort.

Mason Rudolph Impresses

Despite QB Ben Roethlisberger getting the game off with the Steelers already clinched, QB Mason Rudolph did a nice job starting in his place. The former Oklahoma State product went 22-39 with 315 yards, two touchdowns, and an interception in the loss. Rudolph did a good job of getting the ball downfield to his strong core of receivers, completing three passes over 40 yards on the day. WR Chase Claypool led the receiving attack with five catches for 101 yards and a touchdown. To go along with Claypool, WR Diontae Johnson put up a line of 3-96 and WR JuJu Smith-Schuster chipped in a line of 6-65-1.

On the ground, the Steelers have struggled all year, and they continued in this Week 17 affair. RB James Conner had nine carries for 37 yards, leading the Steelers rushing attack. RB’s Anthony McFarland and Benny Snell Jr. also totaled eight carries for 27 yards. In total, Pittsburgh had 85 total rushing yards, which has been the theme for the last month or so. Look for Conner to try and get going as it is now-or-never with the playoffs arriving.

Looking Ahead 

With the win, the Cleveland Browns clinched the sixth seed in the AFC, while the Steelers locked up the third seed once the Bills won their game over the Dolphins. As a result of this, the Browns and Steelers will run it back in the Wild Card round of the playoffs. Both teams are expected to get key guys back in the AFC North showdown. The game will take place at Heinz Field on Sunday, 1/10 at 8:15 P.M. ET. The Steelers open as the favorite, but this is going to be a dogfight no matter what the line is. Look for a gritty effort from both teams as they both look to move on to the next round in their quests to the Super Bowl.

Info from profootballreference.com

Writer

-By: Richie Dordas