Anyone who predicted what had occurred over Super Wildcard Weekend is either a sports-almanac wielding time-traveler like Biff Tannen in Back to the Future Part II or is damned lucky. We witnessed one of the greatest comebacks in NFL playoff history, two teams with backup quarterbacks almost pull off historic upsets only to implode near the end of the game, and the team with the QB-equivalent to Beanie Babies play the only complete game of the weekend.
Unless you got hosed on FanDuel, this was an amazing weekend if you are an NFL Fan. Let’s wrap it up.
San Francisco 49ers 41-Seattle Seahawks 23
I don’t think I’m ready to crown the 49ers after beating down a Seattle team that looked totally gassed. Seattle ran out of juice midway through the season and had to sneak past the lowly-Rams in order to make the playoffs. Regardless, it was a great bounce back season for Seattle and they possess the 5th overall pick in the NFL Draft. I don’t think Seahawks fans are that upset right now. If Seattle has a strong offseason, they will be back and be a problem.
The 49ers did what was expected of them: handled an inferior team at home. Kyle Shanahan’s scheme has helped many QBs with limited talent excel. Jimmy Garoppolo, Matt Ryan, and Kirk Cousins have all excelled in Shanahan’s system, and Brock Purdy is doing the same right now. “Mr. Irrelevant” doesn’t look fazed by the pressure of the postseason. Let’s see how he does if he must play in Philadelphia in a few weeks. Shanahan’s biggest issue is his inability to maintain leads against similar or superior competition (see Super Bowls 51 and 54).
Jacksonville Jaguars 31 Los Angeles Chargers 30
Doug Pederson has been a head coach for only six seasons and already has five postseason wins. Besides winning Super Bowl 52, this is his most impressive victory. The Chargers completely dominated the first half and entered halftime with a 27-0 lead. It was so lopsided that Al Michaels sounded like he was going to pass out. Then, Pederson did what he does best: make second half adjustments. The Jags offense stopped turning it over and the defense benefitted by the Chargers putting zero effort into running the clock out (LA called 25 pass plays in the second half.) The comeback was capped off by the Jaguars lining up to run a QB sneak on 4th down only to call a sweep that got them into field goal range…and ultimately the victory.
Meanwhile, the Chargers are wondering if they should blow up the entire coaching staff. While I’m hearing that Brandon Staley will remain the head coach, it’s predicated that he makes changes to his staff, namely his offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi. The Chargers entered this season having one of the best rosters in the NFL on paper, and while they made the postseason, I don’t think they met expectations. The difference between the Bolts and the top 3 teams in the AFC (Chiefs, Bills, and Bengals) is that those teams have experienced, quality coaches. Staley made a rookie mistake by playing his starters in a meaningless game in Week 18, which led to the team’s leading receiver Mike Williams getting injured. If Staley is retained, he’s going to be on the hotseat in 2023.
Buffalo Bills 34 Miami Dolphins 31
The Bills shocked the football world by almost choking their first-round game to a Miami team playing their third-string rookie QB. While Josh Allen continually receives non-stop praise and is being pushed as the sports’ second best QB behind Patrick Mahomes (Tony Romo called him “Michael Jordan”), he almost cost the Bills the game by making some poor decisions. More alarming, the Bills defense, which was arguably the best defense in the NFL, allowed 24 points to a Skylar Thompson-led Dolphins offense that has been on life support for the past month. A win is a win in the NFL, but Buffalo has A LOT to clean up before they take on the Bengals next week. The Bills desperately miss Von Miller.
I’m not down on Mike McDaniel or Tua like some people have been over the past several weeks. While McDaniel goofed at the end of the game not realizing it was 4th down, he’s still one of the sharpest playcallers and play designers. He helped Tua turn into a top-10 QB prior to his concussions and still coached the Dolphins into the playoffs. I think McDaniel is going to be a great football coach, and I think Tua will bounce back from injury next season. The Dolphins need to add some pass rushers in the offseason and dip into the deep free agent pool for a running back (see Pollard, Tony).
New York Giants 31 Minnesota Vikings 24
Giants-Vikings was a classic demonstration on the importance of coaching. Brian Daboll, the likely coach of the year, has helped justify every Giants’ fan defense of Daniel Jones. Jones looked sharp and did a great job managing the game for the G-Men. Meanwhile, Wink Martindale deployed a strategy that not many teams did this season: double-cover/bracket all-world WR Justin Jefferson and force the rest of the Vikings to beat them. Adam Thielen is washed, and TJ Hockinson, despite being very good, isn’t George Kittle or Travis Kelce-level dangerous and the Giants were content with letting him eat up yards as long as Jefferson didn’t get involved. It worked.
Despite being tagged with the “fraud” label, I feel the Vikings are trending in the right direction. They need to beef up their defense this offseason and get younger on both sides of the ball. However, Kevin O’Connell is a young, well-respected coach much like his mentor Sean McVay. Remember that guy? I think hiring O’Connell was still a great move for Minnesota and another offseason of his system will produce greater results on offense in 2023.
Cincinnati Bengals 24 Baltimore Ravens 17
Since moving the team to Baltimore over 27 years ago, I can’t remember the last time the Ravens were this dysfunctional. The Lamar Jackson contract saga will likely end with the former MVP bolting town. JK Dobbins called out the organization after the game and tossed shade at Tyler Huntley (Dobbins said that if Lamar played, they would have won.) John Harbaugh threw Huntley under the bus as well. Besides being the catalyst for one of the greatest 14-point swings in NFL history, Huntley didn’t look that bad. The Ravens were REALLY close to knocking off the Bengals, but with Lamar posting cryptic social media messages and no one wanting to take accountability for another lost season in Baltimore, I feel the Ravens could be clearing house very soon.
Meanwhile, the Bengals look poised to go on another run. Sam Hubbard’s fumble and rumble touchdown is one of those one in million type plays that Super Bowl teams make. I haven’t been a big Zac Taylor fan since he was hired by Cincy, but he has been one of the best coaches in the NFL the past two years. Joe Burrow took another beating, but he played arguably the best defense in the AFC. The Bengals offense shouldn’t struggle against the Bills or the Chiefs/Jaguars. None of those three teams have a corner who can hang with Ja’Marr Chase.
The Sean Payton sweepstakes
Former Saints head coach Sean Payton is making his league-wide tour in search of his next place of employment. While a lot of writers feel that Denver would be the most likely destination, I believe that Payton is waiting for one of the postseason teams to be knocked out (and subsequently fire their head coach). The Texans, Broncos, Cardinals, and Panthers aren’t exactly appealing destinations. Remember, Payton bolted the Saints because they lack a bright future. Do any of those four teams listed above appear to be a postseason threat next season? If we see a shock firing in the next week or two, expect Payton’s name to be mentioned as a replacement.
