NFL 2024 Super Wild Card Weekend Recap

 Hello readers! Another week of National Football League action has come to an end. The first week of the playoffs is in the books and of the 12 teams that came into it, only six remain. Of those six, they will take on the two teams that had a bye this week. There was some interesting games this week. Such games like the Texans shutting down the Chargers,

NFL Super Wild Card Weekend Freaky Stat

The blocked field goal for a defensive conversion in the Chargers-Texans game was the 1st in NFL history. Kind of cool. Jayden Daniels becomes the 4th rookie quarterback to win a playoff game in NFL history. 

NFL Super Wild Card Weekend Recap

LA Chargers 12, Houston 32

Pick: Chargers

The Chargers get roughed up in Houston. Justin Herbert hit 14 of 32 passes for 242 yards with a touchdown but also tossed four interceptions. The touchdown pass went to Ladd McConkey on a 86-yard pass play on a 3rd down and 26 play. It was also the longest pass play for the Chargers. JK Dobbins had nine carries for 26 yards. The longest run was an eight-yard play by both JK Dobbins and Gus Edwards. Ladd McConkey had nine catches for 197 yards in the game. A pretty solid day for him. So the Texans defense really put the hurt on the Chargers in this one. They shut down the running game and forced Justin Herbert to throw a lot. Herbert would hit less than half of his passes as 197 of his 242 passing yards went to McConkey. The rest of the receivers would combine 45 yards passing. The defense would do kind of a decent job in getting an interception of their own but the next play for the Chargers, it was intercepted. There was also a 3-point swing as the Texans blocked a point after and returned it for a 2-point play. In the end, the Chargers just didn't get enough of their offense going and turnovers costed them a lot. Back to the drawing board for them this offseason. For the Chargers, they are a one and done team again and head into the offseason. 

CJ Stroud hit 22 of 33 passes for 282 yards with a touchdown and an interception. The touchdown went to Nico Collins on a 13-yard play. Joe Mixon had 25 carries for 106 yards with a touchdown run on a 17-yard run on the left. The longest run play was a 27-yard run by CJ Stroud. Nico Collins had seven catches for 122 yards in the game and had a catch that went for a 41-yard gain to be the longest pass play for the Texans. Defensively the Texans would step up to the challenge and take on the Chargers offense. They would intercept four passes, for the Chargers to go 3-11 on 3rd down and 0-1 on 4th down and sacked Justin Herbert four times. They would also intercept a pass that was returned to the endzone for a pick-six by Eric Murray. One of the rarer plays in football also happened. On the point after after the McConkey touchdown the Texans blocked a kick and was returned to their endzone for a defensive conversion worth two points. The change was made in 2015 and this game was the first ever. The person who returned it was D'Angelo Ross, a 4th-year player out of New Mexico. It'll be something that he can cherish for the rest of his life. Hopefully he can keep the ball or a souvenir. I was wrong about the Texans being in a weaker division, their offense would play quiet for a good portion of the game but would get going once they found a rhythm with the Collins touchdown. Their running back, defense and special teams in a way found a way to win. For the Texans, they get another playoff win and play next week. 

Next week:

LA Chargers: help out those in the LA wildfires maybe
Houston: Divisional Round @ Kansas City

TW: 0-1

Pittsburgh 14, Baltimore 28

Pick: Ravens

The Ravens run game runs over the Steelers. Russell Wilson hit 20 of 29 passes for 270 yards with two touchdowns. The two touchdowns went to George Pickens and Van Jefferson. Both touchdowns came in the 3rd quarter. Najee Harris had six carries for 17 yards. The longest run for Pittsburgh was a 5-yard run by Harris and Russell Wilson. George Pickens had five catches for 87 yards in the game. The longest pass play was a Mike Williams catch that went for a 37-yard gain. The Steelers offense would go slow much like the last month's games worth. They wouldn't score until 8:10 left in the 3rd quarter on the Van Jefferson score. The running game would get very little in terms of yards as they would combine a total of 29 yards. Just a rough one. It seems to add another problem for the Steelers as they can start off will in the first few months of the season but they falter somehow in the months of December and January should they reach here. They haven't won a playoff game since 2017 since beating Kansas City (which is wild btw). For the Steelers, their season ends with some things to consider in the offseason. 

Lamar Jackson hit 16 of 21 passes for 175 yards with two passing touchdowns. He also had 15 carries for 81 yards in the game. The passing touchdowns went to Rashod Bateman and Justice Hill. The star of the game was Derrick Henry who had 26 carries for 186 yards with to rushing touchdowns on 8 and 44 yard plays. The 44-yard play was the longest run for the game for the Ravens. Isiah Likely had three catches for 53 yards in the game to be the leading receiver for the Ravens. The longest pass paly was a 25-yard pass play to Isiah Likely and Nelson Agholor. The Ravens defense would stop the run and the Ravens offense would utilize Derrick Henry a lot. The Steelers were dealing with a skid but could've rebounded against a rival. The Ravens would put a stop to that as they would hold the Steelers run game to just 29 yards and to just 280 total yards in the game. For the Ravens, they get a win and move onto the Divisional round. 

Next week:

Pittsburgh: eat a pierogi or something.
Baltimore: Division round @ Buffalo

TW: 1-1

Denver 7, Buffalo 31

Pick: Bills

The Bills stampede over the Broncos. Bo Nix hit 13 of 22 passes for 144 yards with a touchdown. The touchdown went to Troy Franklin. It would be the only score for the Broncos all game. It happened on a 43-yard play where the Bills defense was caught off guard. It was also the longest pass play for the Broncos. Bo Nix rushed four times for 43 yards to be the Broncos leading rusher. He had a run of 18 yards that was the longest run for the Broncos. Javonte Williams had seven carries for 29 yards. Cortland Sutton had five catches for 75 yards to be the leading receiver for the Broncos. Denver would do not a lot of scoring afterwards as all their other drives resulted in: a punt, punt, field goal miss, a punt, a punt, turnover on downs and turnover on downs. The longest sustained drive they had was a drive in the 4th quarter that went for 61 yards. The Broncos offense wouldn't do their defense good either as they held the ball for 18:17 of game time. A poor running game has been their issue for most of the season and it hurt them in this one. For the Broncos, they had 224 total yards in the game and head back home for the long offseason. At least they made it to the playoffs. 

Josh Allen hit 20 of 26 passes for 272 yards with two touchdowns and had eight rushes for 46 yards. The two touchdowns went to Curtis Samuel and Ty Johnson. The Johnson touchdown came on a 24-yard play where it was under review whether or not Johnson caught the ball. It was upheld. The Samuel pass was the result of a deep pass of 55 yards. James Cook had 23 carries for 120 yards with a touchdown run on a 5-yard play. The score would give the Bills their first and only lead in the game. Denver wouldn't get a lead afterwards. Curtis Samuel had three catches for 68 yards in the game and had a 55-yard play for a catch to be the longest pass play for the Bills in the game. Buffalo would start off slow but the drive that would give them the lead was the result of a 13-play, 86-yard drive that consumed 7:35 of gametime. The Bills would only punt once in this game and that was during the 2nd quarter. Afterwards all of their drives resulted in either a field goal, touchdown or end of game. There was some question on how well the Bills would play due to a loss against the Patriots. They wouldn't outscore the Broncos early but they rather forced the Broncos defense on the field for a long time. Once they took hold of the lead they wouldn't relinquish it. Buffalo moves on and plays in the divisional round and will play host to the Ravens. For the Bills, they had 471 total yards and win their 5th straight wild card game. 

Next week:

Denver: go skiing or something
Buffalo: Divisional round vs Baltimore

TW: 2-1

Green Bay 10, Philadelphia 22

Pick: Eagles

Turnovers doom the Pack in Philly. Jordan Love hit 20 of 33 passes for 212 yards with three interceptions. He had no passing touchdowns. Josh Jacobs had 18 carries for 81 yards with Green Bay's only touchdown on a 1-yard run. He had a 31-yard run that was the longest run of the Packers in the game. It was a run that Jacobs kept going as he had players in Eagle uniforms all over him and he still ran. He almost scored a touchdown on the run as he was down on the 1-yard line. Jayden Reed had four catches for 46 yards in the game. The longest pass play was a catch by Dontayvion Wicks that went for a 29-yard gain. Turnovers would really ultimately kill the Pack in this one. Jordan Love really hurt his team as he had interceptions in the 1st, 2nd and 4th quarters. All of them came within 3:30 left in those quarters. A field goal miss would be missed by Brandon McManus as well so that didn't help either. Green Bay wouldn't score until 11:33 in the 3rd quarter which took the lead down to a 10-3 lead on a McManus field goal. Had the turnovers not happen they might've had a better chance of winning. Christian Watson not being available will be possibly an excuse but honestly it wouldn't have made a difference. Green Bay's season ends as possibly the Vikings move on and the Lions will play next week. For the Packers, they head home to snowy Green Bay with 302 total yards in the game. 

Jalen Hurts had 13 of 21 passes for 131 yards with two touchdowns and had six carries for 36 yards. The passing touchdowns went to Dallas Goedert and Jahan Dotson. Dotson's touchdown came on a 11-yard score on a short pass that got things going for the Eagles. Goedert's touchdown came on a 24-yard play but Jake Elliott would miss on the point after attempt. Saquon Barkley rushed 25 times for 119 yards in the game. He had a 17-yard run that was the longest run in the game for the Eagles. Devonta Smith had four catches for 55 yards in the game and had a catch that was caught for a 28-yard gain that was the longest pass play for the Eagles. The Eagles would play up to par with the Packers offense but the defense spoke the most in this game as Quinyon Mitchel, Darius Slay and Zack Baun were the players that caught the interceptions. The turnovers would then lead to a touchdown off of one of the turnovers. Not really much else to say about this as most games up to this point in the playoffs have been won by the home team. For the Eagles, they continue onto the next round and had 290 total yards in the game. 

Next week:

Green Bay: what is there to do in Green Bay?
Philadelphia: Divisional round vs

TW: 3-1

Washington 23, Tampa Bay 20

Pick: Commanders

Zane Gonzalez field goal and doink sends the Commanders past the Bucs. Jayden Daniels had 24 of 35 passes for 268 yards with two touchdowns. The two touchdowns went to Terry McLaurin on a 5-yard play and the other went to Dyami Brown on a 10-yard play. Jayden Daniels was the leading rusher with 13 carries for 36 yards in the game. Austin Ekeler had eight carries for 27 yards in the game and had one run went for a 12-yard gain to be the longest run for the Commanders. Terry McLaurin was the leading receiver with seven catches for 89 yards. He had a catch that went for a 35-yard gain that was the longest pass play in the game. The game changer was a fumble recovery by veteran Bobby Wagner. Despite the win, the Commanders did have issues with pass protection and the running game didn't do as much as I had hoped they would do. Gonzalez's kick could've gone a different direction or somethin in the final play. Might've been an overtime. Despite all that, Washington has a playoff winner for the first time since they were the Redskins, beating the Buccaneers 17-10 on January 7th, 2006. With the Packers losing earlier on Sunday, the Commanders are the lowest seed in the playoffs and will head to the Motor City to take on the Lions. They had 350 total yards in the game

Baker Mayfield had 15 of 18 passes for 185 yards with two touchdowns. The two touchdowns went to Mike Evans and Bucky Irving. Bucky Irving had 17 carries for 77 yards and had a run that went for a 19-yard gain that was the longest run play for the Buccaneers. Mike Evans had seven catches for 92 yards in the game to be the leading receiver for the Buccaneers. The longest pass play was a catch by Jalen McMillan for a 26-yard gain. Tampa would play neck and neck with the Commanders in this one. The game changer was possibly the fumble. The play was supposed to be a pitch out to Jalen McMillan but it was aborted and fumbled and was recovered by Bobby Wagner. Their offense wouldn't be able to sustain drives and keep the Commanders offense off the field. Let alone their defense couldn't get stops as Washington had conversions on 3rd and 4th down. The Buccaneers will head home and spend the rest of the season watching the rest of the NFL play next week. The offense had 284 total yards in the game. 

Next week:

Washington: Divisional round @ Detroit
Tampa Bay: do things in Florida.

TW: 4-1

Minnesota 9, LA Rams 27

Pick: Vikings

Rams sack the Vikings on neutral site. Sam Darnold hit 25 of 40 passes for 245 yards with a touchdown and an interception. The touchdown went to TJ Hockenson. Aaron Jones had 13 carries for 48 yards in the game. The longest run in the game for the Vikings was a 26-yard run by Cam Akers. TJ Hockenson was the leading receiver with five catches for 64 yards. He had a catch that went for a 26-yard gain that came from his touchdown. Some questionable calls were in this game with the Matthew Stafford incomplete pass that was originally called a fumble. It could've been intentional grounding as well possibly. It can't hide the fact that the Vikings pass protection broke down a lot as Darnold was sacked nine times for 82 yards. Along with the interception, the Vikings also fumbled as well. In general, the Vikings did have chances in this game but sadly couldn't as they did sustain drives and had better offensive numbers for the most part than the Rams. At least they scored a touchdown. The Vikings Cinderella season ends with disappointment as most people didn't think they'd be here at alone have a winning record winning 14 games. For the Vikings, they had 269 total yards in the game. 

Matthew Stafford hit 19 of 27 passes for 209 yards with two touchdowns. The two touchdowns went to Kyren Williams and Davis Allen. Kyren Williams had 16 carries for 76 yards to be the leading rusher. The longest run in the game was a 17-yard carry by Williams in the game. Tyler Higbee had five catches for 58 yards in the game. The longest pass play was a catch by Cooper Kupp that went for a 29-yard gain. It was the only catch by the former Eastern Washington player. The Rams would get their pass catchers involved early as Puka Nacua was used a lot in the early going to avoid the Vikings pass rush. Minnesota would only manage to get to Stafford two times for a loss of seven yards. Issues for the Rams in this one was penalties as they were flagged 10 times for 95 yards, sometimes it was on consecutive plays. One drive had a holding call on them and then the next play was a false start. You can't have that in the playoffs. Conversions on 3rd down would be a problem as well as the Rams had went just 2 for 10 on 3rd down. I don't know who was really the better team in this game, the team that seemed ready was the Rams but they had mistakes. Suffice to say, the real winners in this game were the Arizona Cardinals who were able to get this game going on short notice. Hopefully the families and first responders in the Los Angeles wildfires were able to take time away from the pain to enjoy their Rams win. For the Rams, they move on and head east to take on the Eagles and had 292 total yards in the game.

Next week:

Minnesota: go ice fishing or something
LA Rams: Divisional @ Philadelphia

TW: 4-2

Records

2024:
Week 1: 14-2
Week 2: 10-6
Week 3: 10-6
Week 4: 10-6
Week 5: 3-11
Week 6: 13-1
Week 7: 13-2
Week 8: 9-7
Week 9: 12-3
Week 10: 10-4
Week 11: 11-3
Week 12: 7-6
Week 13: 14-2
Week 14: 11-3
Week 15: 13-3
Week 16: 12-4
Week 17: 12-4

Week 18: 9-7
Total: 193-80

Super Wild Card Weekend: 4-2

2012: 164-90-2
2013: 162-92-1
2014: 172-83-1
2017: 164-92
2018: 156-98-2
2019: 161-94-1
2020: 167-88-1
2021: 173-98-1
2022: 166-103-2
2023: 161-111

See you all on Thursday/Friday for the Divisional Picks post! Enjoy your week!

-Tom