Six NFL teams were sent packing on Wild Card Weekend as the NFL Playoffs field was reduced to just eight teams.
It was far from a glamourous exit for those that began their offseason with four of the six games being decided by at least two touchdowns and an average winning margin of 17.167 points per game.
There was also a very high level of trolling going on off the field as well with the Chiefs recycling this scoreboard message from the playoffs two years ago when they put 50 on Houston.
We’ve got our five big takeaways from the NFL’s Wild Card Weekend below.
1 – The 7th Seeds Didn’t Make A Strong Case
In the second season of the NFL’s expanded playoff field, the two seventh seeds did not acquit themselves all that well under the postseason spotlight.
The idea was to add in another team that perhaps deserved to play postseason football who would have otherwise missed out.
Right now, the returns on the extra games are not positive in the slightest.
The admittedly optimistic hope for this year was that the Eagles could push Tampa with its ground game and Pittsburgh’s defence would slow down Kansas City just a bit.
Philadelphia had no answers for Tampa’s offence early on and could not slow down Tom Brady and company.
The game was well and truly over by the time the Eagles mounted a drive of significance and their touchdowns were little more than consolation for making the playoffs.
Then in Kansas City, the Steelers were hoping to extend the career of Ben Roethlisberger for another week by pulling off an all time upset of the Chiefs.
They even took advantage of an overly showy play call from Andy Reid to get on the board first.
You could almost say the Chiefs had them right where they wanted them to be, because once they fell behind, Mahomes went into robot mode.
There was no answer for Mahomes once he got going as just about every Chiefs player found the end zone, even one of the offensive linemen got in on the act.
Finally, just for the cherry on the cake, Reid decided to let his tight end Travis Kelce throw a touchdown pass.
Perhaps it would have been more competitive if the Chargers had made it in in place of the Steelers but in the NFC, there really was not a team that you could look at the balance of their season and think they really warranted a spot over the Eagles.
Either way, it may be a long time before we see a seventh seed upset a second seed.
2 – Cincinnati Is Primed To Control The AFC North
In 2005 there was hope that Cincinnati was setting itself up for long term, sustained success with a promising young core of players.
They had won the AFC North for the first time since 1990 and were hosting the Pittsburgh Steelers in a Wild Card game.
Kimo von Oelhoffen’s low hit on Carson Palmer’s first pass attempt ended that feeling of optimism pretty quickly.
There was a similar sense of hope in the Andy Dalton era when he lead them to the playoffs in each of his first five seasons and two division titles, but the Wild Card round was as far as they got.
Joe Burrow showed all of the signs you would want as a rookie before his knee was shredded and the fanbase was worried it would be another Palmer situation.
But this looks different, the Bengals have legitimate star power and even more importantly, true difference makers.
It is not a complete roster but looking at their results this season, they will be in the mix for the division, if not the favourite for as long as Joe Burrow is calling the shots.
He’s delivered Cincinnati its first NFL playoff win in 31 years, and there is no limit on what he can bring the Bengals if he keeps going.
3 – The Bills Were Excellent… And New England Was Soft
Few people would have expected the biggest blowout of the weekend (and possibly the entire playoffs) would come in Buffalo as the Bills took on the Patriots.
The frigid weather on the Canadian border was a major storyline for the broadcast and even Florida native Mac Jones was caught up in it.
However the big talking point after the game was the fact that Buffalo absolutely throttled New England, unceremoniously tossing their former oppressor out of the playoffs in spectacular fashion.
Bill Belichick had no answer for Josh Allen when the teams met on Boxing Day in New England and somehow found a way to offer even less resistance this time around.
Seriously, the Bills had seven meaningful possessions in the game, they put up seven touchdowns and left their punter sitting on the sideline by a heater, probably wondering if he changed out of his pads, would anyone notice.
Buffalo could not have gained another yard because the rules dictate a drive ends at the opposing goal line.
Meanwhile, on the other sideline, Belichick is left to pick up the pieces after the most lopsided playoff loss of his career and the most limp postseason exit since January 2010 when Ray Rice ran over his team.
Despite showing glimpses of promise throughout the season, something was not right with this team after their bye week as they ended the season going 1-4, defeating only a Covid ravaged Jaguars team.
Mac Jones is a good enough quarterback to build around but is limited by his physical skills and that aging defence needs a massive overhaul as their lack of speed was exposed in the worst possible way.
4 – Dallas Won’t Win Anything With Mike McCarthy
Mike McCarthy won a Super Bowl and good for him, but there was a reason his appointment as head coach of the Dallas Cowboys was met with scorn and derision.
With a healthy Dak Prescott and a super talented roster, the Cowboys were well positioned for a Super Bowl run.
Then the San Francisco 49ers came to town.
Heading into the fourth quarter, the visitors were up by 16 points and Dallas was trying to mount a comeback.
McCarthy called for a fake punt that worked.
But undid whatever momentum that had been generated by leaving the punt team out on the field, as the 49ers subbed their defence on to try and… force San Francisco to take a timeout because they were allegedly confused.
The only confused people on that sequence resided on the Cowboys sideline.
Add in an insanely high number of penalties and the Cowboys could not stop shooting themselves in the foot when it mattered most.
Most weeks you would be lucky to see a single defensive holding penalty on a run play… Dallas found a way to get called for it twice and it wasn’t even subtle.
Then the final play of the game… 14 seconds to go, no timeouts and the 49ers guarding the sideline, you can kind of understand the logic of wanting to get closer, but how about the lack of clock awareness.
Those extra five yards turned out to be very costly as did Dak giving the ball to the lineman as opposed to the referee.
Then came the best block of the game by the Dallas line… getting in the way of the official trying to spot the ball as per the NFL rules.
Most Packers fans were watching the mismanaged ending to the game and thinking, “better Dallas than Green Bay.”
5 – Arizona Finished Its Collapse In Spectacular Fashion
It was only fitting that the final game of the not so super Wild Card Weekend was another blowout.
Arizona went into SoFi Stadium, a place they had won already this season, and were down 28-0 after the Rams first possession of the third quarter.
How they go to that point has to have been the most worrying part of the whole game, especially this brain snap from Kyler Murray to avoid a safety.
Questions continue to be asked over another end of season collapse and there is only one way they will be able to answer them.
Either way, Kliff Kingsbury has to be feeling the pressure as he gets this team ready for 2022.