NFL Wild Card Reactions

The NFL Wild Card round is in the books, concluding a weekend that for some games, revealed some things about teams, and others, confirmed what we already know. The six games produced many headlines for teams either moving on to the divisional round, or the offseason.

Here were the biggest takeaways from the Wild Card round:

Chargers/Texans: Justin Herbert isn’t a big game player

This game ended up as one of the bigger blowouts from the slate. The Los Angeles Chargers, who had a terrific 11-6 first season under Jim Harbaugh, completely fell apart on Saturday.

Justin Herbert threw four interceptions, more than he had thrown all year. Despite him finishing the regular season with a league best 0.6 interception percentage, Herbert’s turnovers ultimately cost the Chargers.

In his five year career, Herbert has never won a playoff game. In his first appearance two seasons ago, the Chargers blew a 27-point lead to the Jacksonville Jaguars. Adding this to his playoff resume with Saturday’s 32-12 loss to Houston, many have raised questions about if Herbert is the right man moving forward.

While the two playoff losses have been embarrassing, I think it would be an overreaction to say Herbert isn’t a good quarterback.

Herbert was top ten in passing this season to go with his aforementioned interception percentage. Additionally, this is still a team that cut ties with three of their most important skill position players in the offseason.

With that being said, I think a more fair assessment would be to say Herbert can’t win in big games. There is a difference between this label and one of not being good in general.

Broncos/Bills: Josh Allen is on a mission

Josh Allen’s name has made many headlines recently. With the upcoming MVP voting, and his recent engagement with Hailee Steinfeld, Allen’s name has been all over the news.

In terms of the Wild Card round, he certainly made his presence known as the Bills were too much to handle for the Denver Broncos beating them 31-7.

Allen on the day recorded over 300 total yards and two touchdowns. He also had an impressive rating of 135.4, the fourth highest in a game for Allen this season. Needless to say, while the path isn’t easy, Josh Allen and the Bills look determined right now.

On the other hand, the Broncos learned the hard way themselves what a gauntlet the AFC has become, and will continue to be. Denver had a great year and while their future is bright, there are teams in their conference that can dim that shine.

All in all, the Bills look locked in and ready to go for what will be a great game against the Ravens.

Steelers/Ravens: Pittsburgh is completely stuck

Despite the hype around these two division rivals squaring off, it felt as if there was only one realistic outcome. This loss for the Steelers seems to have them at a crossroads of what to do moving forward.

This 28-14 defeat has many questioning Pittsburgh head coach Mike Tomlin’s job security. The Steelers have now lost six straight playoff games dating back to 2016. In those six losses, they’ve been outscored 73-0 in the first quarter.

While Tomlin has never had a losing season, it’s been almost a decade since the Steelers were real Super Bowl contenders. To many, moving on from Tomlin could be the shake up Pittsburgh needs.

I personally don’t think Mike Tomlin should be fired, but you never really know. The Steelers have never been good enough to attract big free agents or bad enough to have a good draft pick, but that’s not really Tomlin’s fault.

He’s gotten what he could out of teams that have seemingly put a band-aid over the quarterback position.

Packers/Eagles: Green Bay played as sloppy as the possibly could’ve

Both the Packers and Eagles put on rather lackluster performances. The biggest moment from this game was when A.J. Brown decided to read a book on the sideline. That tells you how much you need to know about the action that was displayed.

While the Eagles certainly looked flat, the Packers looked as if they were doing everything they could to lose. The Packers had four turnovers, one of which was fumbling the opening kickoff.

On top of this they had eight penalties and missed a field goal.

The Eagles themselves certainly have wrinkles to iron out before next week, but the Packers will have many more to work out after Sunday’s performance.

Commanders/Bucs: Washington’s magic is real

Saying the Commanders have a magic about them isn’t anything new as they’ve won nine one-score games this season including this 23-20 victory over Tampa Bay on Sunday. Something always seems to bounce Washington’s way whether it’s a Hail Mary that ricochets to a receiver or a fumble deep in enemy territory.

At this point, there really is no other explanation than magic. Jayden Daniels will be a strong favorite for Rookie of the Year, and Dan Quinn will surely receive votes for Coach of the Year. The two have helped turn the Commanders franchise around and steer it towards a bright future.

While they will have the ultimate test next week, away against the Detroit Lions, you really can’t ever count Washington out.

Vikings/Rams: Don’t forget about Sean McVay

Two weeks ago the Vikings had a chance to clinch the number one seed in the conference. The Vikings are now out.

All of the talk from this game has been about Sam Darnold and how his free agency stock may be dropping after the last two games of the year. While this is understandable, the Rams deserve credit.

This season, much of the conversation has been about how Dan Campbell and Kevin O’Connell created juggernauts. It was about how Jim Harbaugh and Sean Payton turned teams around and overachieved.

While all of this talk is certainly justified, the Rams have flown under the radar compared to other teams. Despite this, Sean McVay and his staff completely blew the Vikings out of the water.

Going into the game, the Vikings defense was considered one of the best, and their offense features some of the great skill players in all of football. However, McVay had his squad ready, even considering the outside distractions and tragedies.

Ultimately, the Rams couldn’t have played a better game against a great Vikings team, and Sean McVay may have reminded everyone who the true best coach in football is.

The Wild Card round was full of surprises, and the next round is now ready to go. For the victors this past weekend, they have gotten one step closer to a championship. For the others, disappointment and an early vacation.

Alex Harkins is a second-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email arh6278@psu.edu.