Saturday Wildcard Recap: Winners, Losers & Takeaways
- Jake Barkin
- Jan 12
- 5 min read
The NFL playoffs officially kicked off yesterday as four AFC teams fought for their spot in the divisional round. As expected, Saturday’s wildcard window was filled with jaw-dropping plays, impressive performances, and complete chaos. Let’s break down and analyze both wildcard matchups from yesterday.
To begin with, the first game in the 2024 NFL playoffs took place in Houston as the Texans hosted the Los Angeles Chargers with the winner very likely travelling to Kansas City next week in the divisional round. With a slow start to the game, a John Metchie III fumble and a C.J. Stroud interception allowed the Chargers the opportunity to build a large and early lead. However, head coach DeMeco Ryans with a wounded secondary prevented the Chargers from scoring any touchdowns, as the Chargers could only take a six-point lead with two field goals. With one minute left in the first half, C.J. Stroud returned to what had been working for him his entire career by throwing the ball to his best receiver Nico Collins. With the injuries of Texans receivers Stefon Diggs and Tank Dell, it was paramount for the Texans to involve Nico Collins in their offence more. Nico scores an important touchdown with 58 seconds left to go in the first half and the Texans even get a field goal at the end of the half due to a poorly executed two-minute drill that allowed Houston to get good field positioning with time left on the clock. In the second half, the Texans opened the scoring with another field goal and in the play of the game, backup safety Eric Murray had a pick-six after a poor throw made by Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert. That ended up being the dagger as the Chargers only scored once after as Ladd McConkey had a crazy 86-yard touchdown on a long third down. With a blocked kick returned for a two-point conversion and another touchdown scored by Texans running back Joe Mixon, the Texans officially eliminated Jim Harbaugh and the Chargers from the playoffs by a score of 32-12.
As expected, the Chargers offensive line was heavily dominated by the Texans defensive line as Texans edge rusher Will Anderson Jr. was all over Justin Herbert yesterday finishing the game with 1.5 sacks. With a team total of four sacks, the Chargers gave Justin Herbert no time to make his reads and either forced sacks or turnovers as Justin Herbert threw a career-high four interceptions in his second career game in the playoffs. The Chargers offensively could not get anything going due to the poor coaching and play calling by Chargers offensive coordinator Greg Roman. For Roman, he consistently put on an extra full back or tight that would never block properly. Even though their offensive line was atrocious anyway, having another wide receiver on in a game that they are losing by a lot would have been a better idea than forcing targets to Ladd McConkey the entire game. While I expected Ladd to be effective for the Chargers, his 9 receptions compared to the rest of his team combining for 5 is simply embarrassing. While I expected the Chargers to struggle running the ball, I did not expect Justin Herbert to only have 14 completions. Looking back on the game, the Chargers did not take advantage of their lead as they scored no touchdowns in the first half even with all the Texans costly turnovers. Additionally, C.J. Stroud helped extend plays by scrambling and even rushing for many yards as the Texans quarterback impressively ran for 42 yards. The Texans will now be watching the Bills Broncos game and will either be travelling to Kansas City or Baltimore depending on how the last AFC wildcard game goes.
Moving on, to end the night, the Baltimore Ravens hosted the Pittsburgh Steelers in an intense AFC North rivalry game. As the heavy favourites, the Ravens got off to a quick lead through their dangerous rushing attack through Lamar Jackson and Derrick Henry. Even with T.J. Watt and Alex Highsmith going against the Ravens on both edges, Lamar was elite with his read options as he kept the ball and had big runs when the Steelers bit and tackled Henry. Lamar also did the opposite by handing the ball off to Henry when too many players were focused on Lamar running which allowed Henry to play at his best. What worked so well for the Ravens was only forcing Lamar to pass when he had to which allowed Lamar Jackson to be efficient and effective in his passing which led to a Rashod Bateman touchdown. With the Steelers offence unable to produce anything due to the questionable play calling by Steelers offensive coordinator Arthur Smith, the Ravens kept getting the ball back with zero points allowed in the first half. The combination of Mike Tomlin punting the ball when they should have gone for it in and allowing the Ravens to chew clock on long possessions never allowed the Steelers to climb back into the game. With a successful two-minute drill, the Ravens scored a last-second touchdown with Justice Hill to take a 21-0 halftime lead. While Russell Wilson connected with his receivers for two big touchdowns in the second half, the damage was already done in the first half and the Ravens even scored another touchdown by who else but Derrick Henry. In the end, the Baltimore Ravens won with ease as they defeated the Pittsburgh Steelers 28-14 ending their season.
If the Ravens can take an early lead against any team they play, they are unstoppable as a lead allows the Ravens to run the ball and take their time on long possessions. These possessions are brutal on opposing defensive lines who exhaust themselves every play. With a lead in addition to long possessions, this combination limits the other team's offence from touching the field and even when the Ravens defence does not perform, they will always have a chance with Lamar Jackson at quarterback. The bad thing for other teams is that the Ravens defence has been exceptional in the second half of the season. For the Ravens defence, they force a lot of pressure on opposing quarterbacks by using disguised blitzes and winning on the edge with players such as Kyle Van Noy and Odafe Oweh. The Ravens secondary is also playing out of its mind as cornerbacks Marlon Humphrey and Nate Wiggins are not allowing any big plays. Most importantly, the Ravens best defensive players Roquan Smith and Kyle Hamilton are both playing at their best as they are effective in pass coverage, blitzing, and stopping the run too. If the Ravens can play to their potential, I do not see a single team beating them in the playoffs. With a difficult playoff bracket, we will truly see how good this Ravens team really is and how far they can go in the playoffs.
That is it for Saturday’s wildcard recap. Let me know what your thoughts are on yesterday’s playoff games and if you believe the Texans or Ravens can make a deep playoff run. Stay tuned for tomorrow’s article as I will be highlighting and analyzing the three Sunday playoff games. Stay updated by following the official X account of Blitz & Brawlers and try out our brand-new quiz!
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