NFL 2024 Wildcard Round Recap

Read more for an in-depth recap and analysis of all stats and storylines of every game from the 2024 Wildcard Weekend in the NFL.

AFC:

Los Angeles Chargers 12 at Houston Texans 32

The Chargers took an early 6-0 lead through two field goals on two efficient drives, but Chargers’ QB Justin Herbert struggled mightily and arguably had the worst game of his career by throwing four interceptions against an underrated, but extremely physical and talented Texans’ defense –one more interception than he threw during the entire regular season– including one pick-six. Herbert looked uncomfortable all night due to the Texans’ relentless and effective pass rush. The Chargers couldn’t set up an effective rush attack and once they became one-dimensional and were forced to pass because of the deficit in the second half, the Texans sent the dogs on Herbert, which caused him to miss reads and overcomplicate the game plan. Texans’ QB CJ Stroud started slow but picked up as the game went on, finishing with 282 yards, 1 TD, and 1 INT. He moved the ball effectively downfield and wasn’t afraid to use his legs to extend plays and scramble for extra yards. Joe Mixon was a force on the ground for Houston, tearing up the Chargers’ defense for 106 yards and a TD on 25 carries. Herbert threw for 242 yards and Ladd McConkey had 197 of them, including a huge 86-yard TD catch in the fourth quarter to cut the lead to 23-12. But that’s as close as they’d get as Houston blocked the PAT and returned it for two before Mixon sealed the game with a 17-yard rush TD. Herbert definitely needs some help offensively, but overall it was a great season by LA, doubling their win total from 2023 and making the playoffs in the first year under HC Jim Harbaugh. But Herbert remains winless in the playoffs after this crushing defeat and a huge collapse in 2022, giving up a 27-0 lead to lose 31-30 vs the Doug Pederson/Trevor Lawrence-led Jaguars.

Pittsburgh Steelers 14 at Baltimore Ravens 28

This game was essentially over at halftime. The Ravens took a commanding 21-0 lead into the locker room and Derrick Henry had over 100 yards and a TD at the half while Lamar had over 100 pass yards, 50 rush yards passing, and 2 pass TDs. Henry finished with 186 rush yards and 2 TDs, the Ravens as a team rushed for 300 yards on the Steelers’ defense, something that Steelers’ teams of old would never allow, as the Steelers pride themselves on having a tough defense, especially against the run. The Steelers made it interesting in the second half, with a pair of beautiful and well-executed long TD passes from Russell Wilson (30 and 36 yards to Van Jefferson and George Pickens respectively) who was limited in the first half but played well overall, finishing with 270 yards, 2 TDs, and 0 INTs but took four sacks, three of which were because he held the ball too long. The Steelers cut the lead to 14 points twice (21-7 and 28-14) but that was as close as they would come. The play-calling in the first half was quite lousy from Pittsburgh, who only attempted one pass over 10 yards and couldn’t get the run game going with Najee Harris. The Ravens’ look like a well-balanced machine with a destructive and effective running game that can tire out opposing defenses; meanwhile, the Steelers end the season slumping on a five-game losing streak and now questions will arise on whether HC Mike Tomlin –who has never had a losing season in Pittsburgh– should come back and who’ll be the starting QB next year, as it likely won’t be Russ or Fields.

Denver Broncos 7 at Buffalo Bills 31

Well, Denver’s opening drive was efficient, meticulous, and flawless, ending with a beautiful 43-yard deep ball touchdown pass from rookie QB Bo Nix to former Oregon teammate Troy Franklin to take a 7-0 lead inside 3 minutes into the game. That TD pass was the first rookie-to-rookie connection for a passing touchdown in NFL postseason history. But only tough lessons followed for Denver after that moment. After the Bills settled for a field goal on their opening possession, they caught fire and didn’t look back, scoring 31 unanswered points (28 after the field goal). But to be fair, it wasn’t as much of a blowout as it seemed to be, especially in the first half. The Broncos only allowed a TD on one of Buffalo’s three red-zone drives (they had two red-zone stops in the first half), registered one sack on Allen (they ended the game with 2), and constantly had him under duress, which is impressive given how talented he is at avoiding pressure and because their offensive line is excellent at minimizing the number of sacks they allow. Then, down 10-7, after a well-executed fake punt, the Broncos had a nice drive to end the half which set them up to tie the game 10-10 going into halftime, but kicker Wil Lutz doinked his 50-yard attempt off the right upright. The Bills then added two field goals, and two quick TDs, including a wild catch by Ty Johnson on a 4th and 1 from the 24 that saw Allen scramble to extend the play before throwing a perfect ball while off-balance to the endzone. Then three minutes later, Allen threw a 55-yard pass from to Curtis Samuel, who made multiple defenders miss before reaching pay-dirt. At the end of the day, the Broncos’ inability to stop the run (James Cook finished with 120 yards and a TD), numerous drops by their wide receivers on perfect passes from Nix, and their inability to set up a run game hurt them as the Bills had the ball for over 40 minutes. It was a tough loss to end the season, but given the Broncos made the playoffs with a 10-7 record and a rookie QB despite being hampered by $90 million in dead cap and being projected to have the worst roster in the NFL, the worst QB in the draft class and to win only 3-4 games is an impressive accomplishment. The season was a success, securing their first winning season since 2016 and making the playoffs for the first time since winning Super Bowl 50. The future is bright in Denver, and things will only improve now that the Broncos have their full free agency budget/cap hit available to them. They are not yet at the level of the elite teams in the AFC like KC, Baltimore, and Buffalo.

NFC:

Green Bay Packers 10 at Philadelphia Eagles 22

I thought this game would be the most exciting. Quite frankly, it was low-scoring and slow-paced particularly the entirety of the first half, minus the Eagles’ opening drive, which they took for a touchdown after the Packers muffed/fumbled the opening kickoff. The second quarter, in particular, was a defensive chess match with both defenses playing sound, mistake-free football and limiting their opponents’ ability to move the ball. Both teams were held scoreless in the second quarter. Green Bay finally got on the board with a 26-yard field goal from Brandon McManus (who missed one earlier in the first half) with 5:45 left in the third quarter –the last time Green Bay was held scoreless after the first half was week 7 in 2023 against Denver– but the Eagles responded on their next drive with an efficient mix of the pass and run that culminated in an electric 24-yard catch and run TD by Dallas Goedert in which he stiff-armed a defender multiple times en-route to the endzone. Hey Good Morning Football, that’s an angry run if I’ve ever seen one. Josh Jacobs found the endzone for the 9th straight game for the Packers with a 1-yard rush –he was a major factor in both the pass and run game for Green Bay who came into the game without Christian Watson and lost two more receivers during the game– to cut Philly’s lead to six, 16-10 early in the fourth quarter. That was as close as Green Bay would come as the Eagles’ defense would force Jordan Love to throw two more INTs (to cap off a three-INT day) and their offense added two more field goals before Barkley sealed the game with a long run before dropping to the turf to run the clock out. It was a good effort from Green Bay (11-6), but having 6 of their 7 losses against playoff teams shows their inability to beat good teams combined with their undisciplined play is a problem.

Washington Commanders 23 at Tampa Bay Buccaneers 20

This was by far the best and most competitive playoff game of the weekend which saw Jayden Daniels become only the fourth rookie QB to win a game in NFL history (alongside Joe Flacco, Mark Sanchez, and Russell Wilson) and saw the Commanders win their first playoff game in 19 years (!!), since January 2006, which also happened to be a road win in the wildcard game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Another interesting lens is the Bucs opened up the 2024 season with a resounding win against the Commanders at home in week 1, and since then Daniels has taken major strides in his development as an NFL-calibre starting QB –and let’s be real the clear rookie of the year favourite (despite how good Bo Nix has been this year). Both Baker Mayfield and Daniels played exceptionally; Mayfield threw for 2 TDs, 0 INTs, and 185 passing yards and Daniels threw for a whopping 268 yards, 2 TDs, and 0 INTs. Both QBs were only sacked once. Tampa Bay’s run game was the more efficient group, finishing with over 110 yards compared to 80 for Washington, however, the Commanders’ defense was more clutch, it made the stops when it had to and did something the Bucs’ defense did, force a turnover –a Baker Mayfield fumble– which was at a critical point in the game as the Bucs were inside their 15-yard line, looking to add to their 4 point lead in the third quarter, but the fumble recovery gave the Commanders the ball back inside the red zone with momentum and new life. The Commanders ended up taking the lead on that drive, scoring points directly off the turnover. If you win the turnover and points off turnovers battle in the playoffs, that’s typically a great sign that you’ll win the game. The Bucs tied it 20-20 late with a field goal, but after an efficient drive by Daniels with under 2 minutes left, kicker Zane Gonzalez doinked the game-winning field goal (from 36 yards) off the right upright and in as time expired for the win. Washington became the only road team to win, as home teams were previously 4-0. Congrats to Washington, who gets the red-hot Detroit Lions next.

Minnesota Vikings 9 at Los Angeles Rams 27

First and foremost, prayers to all the people of LA who’ve had their lives uprooted and who’ve suffered a tragic loss due to the wild, uncontrollable fires that forced the game to be relocated to Arizona’s State Farm Stadium. Now, turning our minds to the game, it was absolute dominance by the Rams from kickoff to the final buzzer. The biggest concern for the Vikings was how Sam Darnold would perform. He was excellent all season long but he struggled against the Lions in week 18, a critical game that decided the NFC North champion and first-seed. People wondered how Darnold would respond. Unfortunately, he didn’t respond positively from week 18. Darnold looked more or less the same against the Rams, constantly overthrowing receivers and looking extremely uncomfortable in the pocket because of the Rams’ constant pressuring of the QB. The Rams’ defense was unstoppable, it finished with a whopping 9 sacks, 3 takeaways (including one defensive TD, a fumble return by Jared Verse), and 14 tackles for loss. The Rams had 6 sacks, 8 TFLs, two takeaways, and 1 DEF TD at halftime. Meanwhile, the Vikings were not able to get anything going offensively, they couldn’t establish the ground game and the Rams’ stout defense hurried up and pressured Darnold all day, he had no time to operate in the pocket or scan the field to find his best reads. The Rams handily won the battle in the trenches. Minnesota’s defensive line generated limited pressure on Stafford, who was calm all game and had loads of time in the pocket to scan the field and make good throws. Also, LA’s defensive line stuffed Minnesota’s run game and was in their backfield all night long. An interesting turning point was when the Vikings appeared to have a scoop and score TD that would have tied the game 10-10 in the second quarter, but it was ruled Stafford’s underhand shovel pass was indeed a forward pass, thus the call on the field was changed to incomplete and because Puka Nacua was in the area, it wasn’t intentional grounding either. I’m not sure I agree that was a forward pass, I believe you need to fully pull your arm back over your shoulders/head and then release the ball forward over your shoulders, but oh well. Sam Darnold didn’t start well, going 10-12 for 87 yards and an INT, his two incompletions were overthrows that cost the Vikings a TD and a critical drive-extending first down but ended the day with a decent stat line of 25/40, 245 yards, 1 TD, and 1 INT. Stafford was much more efficient, completing 19/27 passes, for 209 yards, 2 TDs, and 0 INTs. The Vikings lead the rush yard battle 109-91, but in the first half, when both teams tried to establish the run, the Rams did so effectively and the Vikings didn’t. The Rams’ defense sat back in the second half, which is when Minnesota had most of their yards.

Conclusion:

This means the divisional round is set and will contain matchups between the Houston Texans and KC Chiefs (a rematch of the 2020 AFC divisional round when KC overcame a 24-0 lead); the Buffalo Bills and Baltimore Ravens (the Ravens routed the Bills 35-10 in week 4, but the Bills have beaten the Ravens in their previous playoff matchup, a 17-3 win in the 2021 divisional round); the Rams and Eagles (a game between two of the best offenses and defenses in the league); and the Washington Commanders and Detroit Lions (two franchises who recently ended their long playoff losing streak and are looking for more playoff success.) All four of these games promise to be exciting and jam-packed with interesting storylines. My divisional round preview and predictions will be coming soon.