Wild Card Weekend in the NFL certainly lived up to the billing.
Two chaotic overtime games filled with drama, King Henry doing his part to bring down a dynasty, and another Russell Wilson gem against a Philadelphia Eagles team that was dealt one too many injury blows.
Here are eight takeaways from the first weekend of the NFL post-season.
STATEMENT GAME FROM DESHAUN WATSON
It was far from the best game we’ve seen from Deshaun Watson in his young NFL career, but it was definitely a defining moment for the Texans’ star quarterback.
The Texans had never completed a playoff comeback facing as big a deficit as the one Watson was staring down when the Bills went up by 16 points late in the third quarter, but it didn’t faze No. 4.
Instead, that was when Watson took over the game.
Much of the inconsistency we saw from the Texans in the first half of Saturday’s game will likely be the reason we won’t see this Houston team make a deep playoff run this year, but with Watson at the helm, we certainly can’t rule it out. He proved why against the Bills.
THE BILLS WILL BE BACK
This weekend’s loss will be a tough one to swallow for the Buffalo Bills. When Stephen Hauschka made it 16-0 with 6:08 left in the third quarter, the Bills had a 90.6 per cent chance of winning their first playoff game since December 1995, according to numberFIRE.[sidebar]
Buffalo having to settle for three field goals in the first half, a sequence of really bizarre play from Josh Allen, and a tough blindside block penalty on Cody Ford in overtime all contributed to another crushing defeat for a fanbase that deserves better.
But these Bills will be back. The future is bright in Western New York. The team is in good hands with owners Terry and Kim Pegula, is run by a solid GM in Brandon Beane (who has tons of cap space to work with this off-season), has a great emerging head coach in Sean McDermott, and an exciting core of players led by a quarterback in Allen who will build on Saturday’s loss.
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DERRICK HENRY IS AN UNSTOPPABLE FORCE
The key to beating the Titans was clear as day: stop Derrick Henry. Bill Belichick and the Patriots knew they had to successfully defend the six-foot-three sledgehammer, but King Henry was too much for the league’s best defence on his 26th birthday.
Henry racked up 182 yards on Saturday night, the most ever by a single player against the Patriots in a playoff game since Belichick took over.
The league’s leading rusher this season, Henry endured a couple of inconsistent campaigns early in his NFL career but he’s officially arrived and may have played a big role in the end of the Belichick-Brady era.
TB12’S FUTURE THIS OFF-SEASON’S BIGGEST QUESTION MARK
The end of the Patriots season likely means the most speculation surrounding the future of Tom Brady that we’ve seen yet. All we know so far is the 42-year-old is “pretty unlikely” to retire.
For the first time in his career, Brady becomes an unrestricted free agent this off-season and it’s far from guaranteed that he’ll re-sign in New England. The six-time Super Bowl champion quarterback reportedly won’t take a hometown discount with the Patriots, something that doesn’t bode well for a smooth negotiation with his long-time team.
While 2019 was a bad statistical year for Brady, there’s no doubting the future Hall of Famer’s football IQ and we saw in glimpses on Saturday night, and in games throughout the season, that he still has the physical traits to get it done at the highest level. If Brady is in a situation in 2020 – whether in New England or elsewhere – where he’s surrounded by better weapons than this season, Brady could find even more success.
Buckle up, it’s likely to be a wild ride.
KIRK COUSINS SILENCES THE DOUBTERS
While much of the credit for the Vikings’ stunning win in New Orleans goes to Dalvin Cook and game-changing play from the defensive front-seven, Kirk Cousins delivered when his team needed a big play from him. Twice.
A pair of overtime dimes – a 43-yard bomb to Adam Thielen and the four-yard fade to Kyle Rudolph for the win – not only gave his team the win, but will help Cousins shed a reputation he’s had ever since he took over as QB1 in Washington: that he crumbles in the spotlight of big games.
Cousins didn’t have a great game on Sunday afternoon, but he did enough to help keep his team in it throughout four quarters and took a leading role in the extra frame with two perfect passes.
Whether Cousins was worth the $84-million, fully-guaranteed contract the Vikings gave him in the 2018 off-season will always be up for debate, but it’s time to drop the “Cousins can’t hang in big games” narrative.
SHOCK LOSS FALLS ON SAINTS OFFENCE
There’s legitimate reason for the Saints to have a problem with the offensive pass interference call that wasn’t on Kyle Rudolph’s game-winning touchdown catch – Rudolph definitely pushed off to make the reception.
But Drew Brees and the offence has to take a large portion of the blame for what happened in the Big Easy on Sunday afternoon. The Saints were averaging more than 36 points and more than 380 yards per game in the seven weeks leading up to Wild Card Weekend. They mustered just 20 points and 324 yards on Sunday, and converted on only four of 11 third downs.
The Saints’ season has ended in heart-breaking fashion in each of the last three years, but this is the first time it lies squarely at the feet of Drew Brees and the offence.
SEAHAWKS ALWAYS HAVE A CHANCE WITH RUSSELL WILSON
It’s been the case all season long and it was true again in Philadelphia on Sunday night: Russell Wilson is the heartbeat of the Seahawks and they’re in every game because of him.
The Seahawks are an imperfect team – they’ve been decimated at running back, the offensive line has issues, and the defence is a shell of the Legion of Boom – but as long as Wilson is under centre, Seattle is a contender.
Whether it’s with his arm or his legs, Wilson delivered time and time again against the Eagles in the final wild-card game of the weekend. Among numerous big plays he made in the game, Wilson improvised to find David Moore for a long play to set up the first touchdown, hit first-year receiver D.K. Metcalf on a 53-yard throw for the second score, and sealed the game with another nice pass to Metcalf.
Wilson was also Seattle’s leading rusher with 45 yards.
The Seahawks travel to Green Bay for a divisional game against the Packers next weekend, and Wilson gives Seattle every chance to advance to the NFC title game.
EAGLES’ INJURY WOES FINALLY TOO MUCH TO OVERCOME
The Eagles combatted injury after injury all season long to make an improbable run to the NFC East title and a trip to the playoffs.
But Sunday’s injury was the final straw.
Eagles quarterback Carson Wentz, who had played outstanding over the last month of the regular season, was forced to leave the wild-card game in the first quarter after a hit to the head by Seahawks defensive end Jadeveon Clowney.
Wentz left his first-career playoff start with a head injury and 40-year-old backup Josh McCown took over. While the Eagles hung around all game long, the loss of Wentz impacted Doug Pederson’s offence too greatly to beat Russell Wilson and the Seahawks.
It was the final blow to an Eagles team that had survived many, and the third straight season that an injury has ended Carson Wentz’s season – although under entirely different circumstances this time around.
