The NFL Sunday Review: Super Wildcard WeekEnd

On the surface, Super Wildcard Weekend looked to have the potential of being a damp squib, with blowouts all over the slate. Then, the Football Gods laughed in our collective faces and delivered three straight days of electrifying football, culminating surprisingly with perhaps the most one-sided game of the weekend. We had a huge comeback win, a big scare for one of the SuperBowl frontrunners, and the longest fumble recovery TD in postseason history. Much to talk about then! As all of the games had significantly interesting elements, I think it’s only fair to touch (quickly) on each of them in their own right, and we’ll start with Monday Night’s Showdown in Tampa.

Cowboys Roll Through Buccaneers And Brady

Well, well, well. How ‘bout them Cowboys!? Dak Prescott picked the perfect time to have the best performance of his career, absolutely roasting the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and sending Tom Brady to an early summer holiday. Brady entered this game 7-0 against the Cowboys in his career, and I spent much of this week telling people a Dallas victory was due… and it duly arrived. The Buccaneers were abject for one play short of three full quarters, finally getting points on the board as the clock expired on the third period. Brady was rattled throughout, with Micah Parsons a constant thorn in his side, batting down passes, hurrying the great man, and getting his customary sack too.

This Buccaneers team is the total embodiment of it’s QB – unquestionably talented, but a step slower, and a couple of years older than the juggernaut that won SuperBowl 55 a couple of years ago. The “Brady decision” will now loom over this team in the offseason. Rumours continue to swirl that Tampa Tom might reunite with Josh McDaniels and become Las Vegas’ new hope, or even return home to Cali and attempt to get Kyle Shanahan’s 49ers over the hump. He might even re-retire, though that would feel strange considering his u-turn last summer led to an 8-9 season and a Wildcard Round loss… I can’t see Brady being happy going out with that as his last dance. But we shouldn’t let Tom’s legacy distract us from what was an absolute clinic from the Cowboys.

Mike McCarthy has been – fairly – maligned at times in his Cowboys tenure, but we have to acknowledge that he is a SuperBowl-winning Head Coach, and his team performing like this last night will go a long way to reminding the doubters of that fact. Dan Quinn’s defense were immense, creating turnovers, and restricting a dangerous receiving core, whilst pressuring the hell out of Brady in the pocket. On the offensive side, Dalton Schultz continues to make his break into the elite realm of Tight Ends, whilst CeeDee Lamb showed he can be a true number 1 receiver, shaking off a couple of early miscues from Dak to have 4 important catches, including the game-sealing touchdown on 4th and 4.

Tony Pollard led the way on the ground, but the stereotypical “thunder and lightning” duo of himself and Zeke Elliott worked to perfection, grinding out hard yards when needed. THIS Cowboys team could win the whole damn thing. Can they show up the same way next weekend, and again the week after in a potential NFC Championship game? Who knows, but this genuinely does feel like the best chance Jerry Jones has had for a LONG time at getting his hands on the Lombardi trophy once more.

But perhaps the biggest storyline of this game – strangely – was Brett Maher seemingly developing the Yips live in front of the world. Maher has been very reliable for the Cowboys up until last night, when he inexplicably missed his first FOUR extra point tries, leading to an exasperated Dak yelling “go for f***ing two!” on the bench. You could have sympathy with both Dak AND Maher, and thankfully Maher made his 5th and final attempt, which drew the loudest cheer BY FAR of the night in the bar in Dallas I watched this in. Shout out Mayer’s Garden. No free ads, but it’s Dallas’ best sports bar.

Anyway, the Cowboys roll on… hopefully still with Brett Maher… and will head to San Francisco full of confidence, and seeking revenge for last year’s ignominious exit. I can’t wait for that one next Sunday.

Bills Escape Dolphins' Upset Bid

Sporting News

Let’s get my beloved franchise out of the way now… Maybe the most frustrating and heartbreaking loss in a game we should never have had a chance in ever? I went into Sunday’s game expecting a loss by 17+ points, and finished by saying “if Tua was healthy, we’d have won that game.” Credit must go therefore to both the Dolphins Defense (and DC Josh Boyer), plus Mike McDaniel and the rest of his coaching staff. Sure, McDaniel was far from perfect yesterday – play-calling & clock management issues blighted Miami all day – but the job he’s done this year in playing three games against Buffalo to a combined points differential of -4 is insanely impressive.

Buffalo has a significantly better roster than Miami, and yet the sum of the parts for the Dolphins had led to one victory at home, and two games on the road that they lost by a Field Goal, and felt aggrieved both times that a win had slipped through their fingertips. At 17-0 early in the 2nd quarter, you could have understood if the Dolphins had folded and succumbed to a raucous Buffalo atmosphere, and gone out with a whimper. However, they responded, and came all the way back to tie the game before halftime, and even took the lead in the 3rd quarter thanks to the strip sack fumble recovery TD for Zach Sieler.

Skylar Thompson was – at times – let down by costly drops from Jaylen Waddle and Tyreek Hill, but the shadow of Tua Tagovailoa’s health hung heavily over the outcome of this game. GM Chris Grier has said they expect Tua to be back, fully healthy, and starting at QB for the Dolphins next year, and with a young nucleus of talent (plus GREAT coaches) I feel exponentially better about this team’s future than I ever have in my 15 years of fandom. Give McDaniel the keys to the kingdom and let him run. The players love him, and this team seems like they like being around each other – the importance of which cannot be understated. I feel positive that Miami will be back in the playoffs next season, and maybe then – please Lord – we can have a healthy QB1 for once. Pretty please?

Despite all of the aforementioned chaos, and how Miami could and maybe should have won that game, the Bills have complete “Team of Destiny” vibes. Almost everything that could have gone wrong for Buffalo did go wrong on Sunday, and yet still they escaped with a spot in the Divisional round. Josh Allen’s turnovers (two INTs, plus three fumbles – though he only lost one of those), are definitely an issue, and only the Texans and Colts had more turnovers all season than the Bills.

That said, surely the only way is up from this? Even with Allen having an off-day, he threw for over 350 yards, finding long connections to Stefon Diggs, Gabe Davis, Khalil Shakir & Cole Beasley, which shows how multifaceted this offense is. There are even suggestions that Micah Hyde might make it back for the AFC Title game if Buffalo get there. Sean McDermott has turned this franchise around, and with everything that’s happened over the last month – plus their heartbreaking OT defeat at Arrowhead last year – means it’s almost impossible not to be somewhat cheering for the Bills’ redemption tour this year. If he’s healthy enough, I’d be stunned if they didn’t bring out Damar Hamlin pre-game next weekend against (Spoiler alert) the Bengals to hype the crowd up. The electricity in Highmark Stadium if that comes to pass would be insane. 

In Shocking Twist Nobody Saw Coming, Vikings Lose

And now for a segment I like to call “Callum’s Biggest Victory Lap Ever.” 

Hahahahahahahahahahahahaha. They doubted me. They said “ThE vIkInGs ArE a GoOd TeAm.” They believed in Kirk Cousins. They said this team were SuperBowl contenders. 

They were not. They never were. They were FRAUDS.

No fewer than ELEVEN one-score victories, including the greatest comeback in NFL history admittedly, but all that game really showed us was that this Vikings team were able to play badly enough to fall behind by 33 points against a miserable Colts team. The Vikings had “First Round (Wildcard) Exit at Home to a scrappy, less-talented team” written ALL OVER them. And so, it came to pass. The New York Football Giants did walk into Minnesota… stamp their authority all over the turf… and laugh as Kirk Cousins threw a checkdown short of the stick on 4th and 8 with the season on the line. This could not have been more enjoyable for me if I’d written the script myself. 

Congratulations Giants fans. Daniel Jones was fantastic, Saquon was electric, and your receivers are all playing WAY above their level. Brian Daboll IS the Coach of the Year (sorry Doug Pederson), and the Boys in Blue are headed to Philly for an in-Division rematch for a place in the NFC Title game. What a year. 

Vikings fans; I’m sorry it had to be this way. Here’s how we fix this: Trade Kirk Cousins, and go ALL-OUT to sign Lamar Jackson as a free agent. There’s a decent chance no team is stupid enough to take Kirk on, but the Colts love a broken QB who they believe they can fix, and maybe the Raiders think Cousins to Davante Adams is the connection they need? Why not at least test the market? The Vikings have a good roster that is let down by its Quarterback. It’s been that way all year. Justin Jefferson, Dalvin Cook & TJ Hockenson are all arguably Top-5 at their positions, and definitively Top-10 with no real argument. Get them a truly elite QB, and this team WOULD be the real deal. Lamar could be that.

Hubbard's Historic Touchdown Beats Lamar-less Ravens

Speaking of Lamar… the Lamar-less Baltimore Ravens put up one hell of a fight in Cincinnati on Sunday night. I think most people – myself included – thought Joe Burrow might blow them out of the water with Tyler Huntley at QB, but we should no better than to doubt John Harbaugh’s tough-nosed crew.

This one was close throughout, and Baltimore were actually just 0.6 yards away from taking the lead… when Tyler Huntley’s leap for the goal line caused the ball to be punched loose, fall into Sam Hubbard’s waiting arms, and the world was treated to a record-breaking play. The longest fumble recovery for a touchdown in postseason history, as Hubbard sprinted 98 yards (and was almost caught by Mark Andrews’ insane hustle), and bounded into the endzone to universal celebration in Cincy. Sure, James Proche ALMOST caught what would have been a crazy game-tying TD as time expired, but nobody who watched this game could really have argued that the Bengals weren’t clearly the better team, and I’d be extremely confused if – as a neutral – you told me you’d rather watch Huntley take on Josh Allen, as opposed to Mr. Burrow.

The Bengals will ABSOLUTELY need to be better to win in Buffalo next weekend, but right now it’s just “survive, and advance,” and that’s the recipe that took them all the way to the SuperBowl last year. Who would bet against them doing so again? Not me. Lamar Jackson will dominate the offseason headlines for Baltimore, and it will be fascinating to see what they do if they can’t come to an agreement to keep Lamar with them. Baltimore doesn’t really do rebuilds… and the AFC North is not going to get any less competitive. 

Jaguars Miracle Comeback Breaks Chargers' Hearts

Sky Sports

Okay. Where to start with this one? Sheesh. Jacksonville, I’m happy for you. What a turn of events. Shad Khan hires an absolute imbecile in Urban Meyer, watches him try to burn the franchise to the ground, finally says “enough is enough,” fires him, and makes the eminently sensible decision to hire SuperBowl winner Doug Pederson, who should have been hired before Meyer in the first place. How does Pederson repay Mr. Khan? With a late-season gallop into the postseason, and a home victory over everyone’s favourite dark horse, the Chargers.

What. A. Turnaround. Pederson – along with another man we’re going to talk about next – should be one of the frontrunners for Coach of the Year. What a job he’s done. Masterminding a 27 point comeback in no mean feat. Give huge credit to Trevor Lawrence. It was his first playoff start, he threw FOUR first half interceptions, shook that off to come back and throw FOUR touchdown passes, culminating in a bonkers stat line of 28/47, 288yds, 4TDs, 4INTs… AND the victory. Absolute nonsense. Glorious nonsense. The Jaguars comeback will live long in the memory, and they head to Arrowhead with a “why not us?” attitude that might just see them be able to upset Mahomes and the Chiefs…

But for the Chargers… Jheez. Mike Williams was injured in a meaningless Week 18 game, so he missed this one. Austin Ekeler scored two early touchdowns, but had just two catches for 8 yards the rest of the way, despite everyone knowing how dangerous he is as a receiver out of the backfield. You build a 27 point lead in Justin Herbert’s playoff debut… and blow it in agonising fashion. And the worst thing? Not one Chargers fan I spoke to was in the least bit surprised by the outcome. This poor franchise, and it’s poor, poor fans. You have to feel sorry for them.

I’m not sure if Brandon Staley can survive this to be completely honest. Should mention that Asante Samuel Jr. had a hat-trick of interceptions and they STILL lost the game. Bonkers. I love this Chargers roster, and they should absolutely still be in the playoffs right now… but that’s why we love this game. It rarely makes sense, and you never know what’s gonna happen. I hope this roster sticks together, but only time will tell if Staley is still the man leading them next year.

Valiant Seahawks Fall Short Against Purdy's Niners

Finally, the opening game of the weekend was actually a far better contest than many were expecting, with Geno Smith and the Seahawks hanging in with Brock Purdy and the 49ers for a good while. Ultimately, a costly strip sack changed the game, and the Niners were able to pull away, in large part thanks to the big-play trio of Christian McCaffrey, Brandon Aiyuk, and Deebo Samuel. DK Metcalf had another big playoff performance and showed why he should still be in the conversation for a spot in the Top 5-10 WRs in the league, plus Kenneth Walker continues to justify the Seahawks faith in him to be their lead back.

Seattle overachieved in making the playoffs this year, and will re-tool using their draft capital accrued in the Russell Wilson trade. How often does a Wildcard team also own the #5 overall pick? Rarely. Credit to the Seahawks front office. I’d probably be looking to trade back with a QB needy team for more picks if I was them, but it’ll be interesting to see what strategy they go for come draft time.

For San Fran, the decision to take Brock Purdy with the “Mr. Irrelevant” pick is proving to be one of their best draft choices of the Kyle Shanahan era. Purdy was poor in the first half, but shook that off to steamroll Seattle in the second. The Niners appear to be rallying around their rookie QB, and with the aforementioned weapons – plus George Kittle, and a fearsome defense – in tow, there’s no limit to what this team can actually achieve this season. That said, the Cowboys will provide a far sterner test of this squad’s SuperBowl credentials next Sunday. I’ll say it again however… I will continue to distrust Kyle Shanahan based on the fact that Brock Purdy was his third choice, despite clearly being the best QB on this roster.

Divisional Round Preview

Jay Biggerstaff-USA TODAY Sports

After the points-fueled chaos that was “Super Wildcard Weekend”… now we get arguably the best football weekend of the year. Divisional Weekend usually gives us great matchups between great teams, and this coming one is no different. Admittedly, the games will have to go a long way to match up to the infamous Rams @ Bucs//Bills @ Chiefs doubleheader from last year, but on paper we have hope.

We start Saturday with Trevor Lawrence defending his (remarkably still intact) “I’ve never lost on a Saturday record” against Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs. I’m sure Andy Reid has some ridiculous playoff formations cooked up ready to unleash on the Jags. Then, Saturday night we get the Eagles hosting the Giants, as the “NFC B-east” matchup takes the primetime slot. On Sunday, we have what looks like a wonderfully tasty double, of Bengals @ Bills, followed by Cowboys @ 49ers. All four games have the potential to be barnburners.

As far as predictions go, I went 5/6 last week, with only the Chargers letting me down. This week? Let’s see… I like the Chiefs, Eagles, Bills, and Cowboys. If I’m right, it’ll be Eagles vs Cowboys in Philly, and Chiefs vs Bills in Atlanta (neutral site!!) for a place in the Super Bowl. Wouldn’t that just be a delicious Championship weekend?! As always, thanks for spending part of your week with us. I’m @CallumJDSquires on Twitter and Instagram if you want to say hi, or discuss any of your NFL opinions. Enjoy your week, and see you here for Wildcard Recap next week! Cheers.

Callum Squires

NFL/CFB ANALYST

CALLUM IS FROM LONDON, BUT PLAYED COLLEGE SOCCER AT TRINITY UNIVERSITY IN SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS. CALLUM IS A LONG-SUFFERING DOLPHINS FAN WHO BELIEVES THE TUA HYPE. NOW BACK STATESIDE, HIT HIM UP ON TWITTER @CALLUMJDSQUIRES!

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