Wild Card Weekend of the NFL Playoffs certainly had some great moments, starting with the Washington Commanders’ thrilling upset victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Washington was the only road team with a win this weekend and is scheduled to face the Detroit Lions next week.
The Philadelphia Eagles and Buffalo Bills took care of business at home as the No. 2 seeds and advanced to next weekend’s divisional round. The Bills will play the Baltimore Ravens, and the Eagles will face the Los Angeles Rams, who played the Minnesota Vikings.
There was a lot of overreaction after the result of Sunday’s game. Which overreactions are beneficial? Which overreactions are we actually overreacting to?
Vikings should move on from Sam Darnold
Overreaction or Reality: Reality
Darnold had a great season with the Vikings, ranking fifth in passing yards (4,319) and passing touchdowns (35) and finishing sixth in passer rating (102.5). He led the Vikings to a 14-3 record and a playoff berth for just $10 million in salary, making him one of the best bargains in football.
That being said, Darnold’s last two games have been awful. He completed just 53.1 percent of his passes for 411 yards, one touchdown, and one interception, with a passer rating of 66.4. Darnold was sacked 11 times in that span (including nine in the wild-card loss), but he also progressed slowly, taking too long to remove the football and turning the ball over (the fumble was ruled a touchdown). Rams).
Darnold’s Cinderella story quickly turned into a pumpkin, enough of a sample size for the Vikings to move on. The Vikings needed Darnold to take over one of those two games, but Darnold was unable to do so and a 14-win season was forfeited.
With JJ McCarthy waiting in the wing, the Vikings should let Darnold walk and allow someone else to pay him. Darnold won’t have a better season than 2024.
The Rams will once again allow over 200 rushing yards to the Eagles.
Overreaction or Reality: Reality
This is not a disrespect to the Rams defensive line, but rather a compliment to the Eagles offensive line. In the Eagles’ first matchup with the Rams in Week 12, the Eagles rushed for 314 yards, averaging 7.0 yards per carry. Saquon Barkley had a career-high 255 yards, including touchdown runs of 7 and 72 yards.
The Eagles’ offensive line is huge, while the Rams’ defensive line is small. Los Angeles has a good pass rush and its unit can get to the quarterback, but can the Rams’ front adapt to the run and contain the Eagles’ huge offensive line?
If you just look at the size of the trenches, the Eagles have an advantage. They could and should run 200 yards again.
The Vikings were the most overrated team in the NFL this season.
Overreaction or Reality: Overreaction
No matter how anyone tries to evaluate it, a 14-win team is never overrated. The Vikings had a great season, finishing with a 14-3 record, but their great year was undone at the end of the season. Minnesota lost its last two games 58-18, failing to score 10 points against Detroit and Los Angeles.
In a strange turn of events, the Vikings lost consecutive games to the same team. They lost to the Lions in Week 6, the Rams in Week 7, the Lions in Week 18, and the Rams in the wild card round. The Vikings only lost four games all season against the Lions and Rams.
The Vikings became the first 14-win team to end the season with back-to-back losses, but that doesn’t mean their year was wasted. Minnesota defeated Green Bay twice and was 4-3 against teams with 10 or more wins. The Vikings weren’t an elite team, but they weren’t overrated either.
The manager can go to Detroit and beat the Lions.
Overreaction or Reality: Overreaction
Coaches can’t wait to sleep after Sunday’s last-second victory over the Buccaneers. Washington is playing with house money, as this is the first franchise to win a playoff game since the 2005 wild-card round.
They also tempt fate. This is the sixth time this season that the game was tied or trailing with 10 seconds remaining, and the most since 2000. Washington has won four games in a row with 10 seconds left in regulation or overtime, a streak that seems impossible, but they still do it. that.
Jaden Daniels is having one of the best rookie seasons in NFL history, throwing for 268 yards and two touchdowns as the Commanders came from behind in the fourth quarter on the road. It kept the season going.
Don’t count out the coaches, but don’t expect them to need great plays in the final seconds to beat the Lions either. This game is also a short week, so Washington will need to play a near-perfect game to win.
The Buccaneers have reached their limit.
Overreaction or Reality: Overreaction
It’s hard to give a clear answer because it’s hard to know what the Buccaneers’ ceiling is. Since Todd Bowles took over as head coach, the Buccaneers have won the NFC South three years in a row, but are 1-3 in the playoffs and have been eliminated in the wild-card round twice.
Sunday’s loss to the Commanders could have gone either way, and if Zane Gonzalez’s kick bounced off the crossbar, there was a good chance the Buccaneers would have won in overtime. Baker Mayfield is one of the best quarterbacks in the conference, Bucky Irving is the next star running back, and Chris Godwin is returning to join Mike Evans and Jalen McMillan as wide receivers. Become.
This Buccaneers team still has the pieces to make a deep run in the playoffs, so it’s hard to judge the team’s ceiling. It might be best to postpone this question until next year.
Eagles defense will be the reason they win the Super Bowl
Overreaction or Reality: Reality
The Eagles’ defense was the reason they beat the Packers today, holding Green Bay’s offense to a season-low 10 points and forcing Jordan Love to intercept three times. This is on par with Philadelphia’s defense all year, with the unit ranking second in points allowed per game (17.8) and first in yards allowed per game (278.4).
Despite the injury to Dean Nakobe, the Eagles’ defense showed little weakness. The Packers scored just two points on nine possessions and had just 302 yards of offense. They also turned the ball over four times, three of them by the offense. The Eagles’ offense was inconsistent throughout the game, so their defense needed to step up.
If the Eagles win the Super Bowl, it will be because of their defense. This unit has been consistently strong all season and is arguably the best in the league.
Packers still a 2025 Super Bowl contender
Overreaction or Reality: Overreaction
The Packers had the second-youngest playoff roster in NFL history (second only to last year’s team), but they didn’t have the look of a team capable of making the playoffs all season. The Packers couldn’t win against teams at the same level. Green Bay was 0-6 against teams that finished the season with 11 or more wins, a bad sign for a team that was supposed to be among the NFC’s elite.
The truth behind the Packers? They were the No. 3 team in the division, and they could beat bad teams, but they couldn’t beat good teams. They’ve won more games each of the past three seasons, but this year they couldn’t just be a No. 7 seed and have a Cinderella-like run to the playoffs.
Although the roster improved, wins against elite teams were non-existent. If the Packers want to move up in their league, Green Bay has to start racking up wins against Detroit, Philadelphia, and Minnesota. However, I couldn’t do that this year.
Jordan Love is still talented. The offense and defense are top-10 units, but they only finished marginally against really good teams. That will have to change in 2025.
The Broncos were one of the best seven teams in the AFC.
Overreaction or Reality: Overreaction
The Broncos qualified for the playoffs as the No. 7 seed, the reward for an incredible 10-win season. They finished better than the Bengals and had been in playoff contention since October. The key word here is, of course.
What is the reality? The Broncos weren’t one of the best seven teams in the AFC, but that’s okay. The Bengals were a better team than the Broncos, but a slow start to the year kept them from making the playoffs. I would like to praise the Broncos for advancing to the postseason with dignity despite losing to the Bengals while Cincinnati was advancing to the latter half of the playoffs.
The Bengals would have given the Bills a better game in the fourth quarter, but the Broncos were the team to play against Buffalo — because they deserved it because they had a better record. Like the Bengals did this year, even if the Broncos improve in the next game, they may not make the playoffs.
Making the playoffs is a credit to the Broncos. They weren’t one of the best seven teams in the conference.
James Cook proved he should have been a Pro Bowler
Overreaction or Reality: Reality
Cook has been quietly doing well all season, and his efforts have gone unnoticed. When Cook was being snubbed at the Pro Bowl, the Bills running back revealed on social media that Cook had been removed from the Pro Bowl for the second year in a row.
Cook had a point to prove in Buffalo’s wild-card win over Denver, and he did it admirably. He had 23 carries for 120 yards and a touchdown, doing most of his damage in the first half when Buffalo’s offense struggled to score. Cook gained 78 yards on 13 carries in the first half, averaging 6.0 yards per carry, as Buffalo led only 10-7 at halftime.
What Cook did in the first half allowed Josh Allen to settle in and take over the game in the second half. If Cook hadn’t run the ball like that in the first 30 minutes, the Bills might not have been able to beat the Broncos.
Cook led the NFL with 16 rushing touchdowns and gained 1,009 yards on 4.9 yards per carry. The running back field was crowded in the AFC, but Cook would have earned a spot in the Pro Bowl.
The Broncos’ defense hasn’t been a top-10 defense in recent weeks.
Overreaction or Reality: Reality
The Bills have gotten 30 points from a lot of teams this season, as evidenced by the number of games they’ve had 30+ points. The Broncos’ defense was supposed to contain a unit that allowed just 18.3 points per game (third in the NFL) and 317.1 yards per game (seventh in the NFL).
What’s the reality about the Broncos’ defense? This unit has not been in the top 10 units since the beginning of December. If we take the Week 18 game in which the Chiefs rested their starters, the Broncos allowed 22.0 points per game (13th in the NFL) and 362.2 yards per game (24th in the NFL). Basically, a potential blowout by the Bills was coming. That includes Sunday’s playoff loss.
Bo Nix’s arm strength and resurgent offense got them into the playoffs, but the Broncos’ defense slumped toward the end of the year. This unit is still very good, but Sean Payton certainly had the right to be mad at Vance Joseph on Sunday.
