Six teams have seen their NFL seasons come to an end over the last few days in Wild Card Weekend and what the games lacked in drama, there was plenty to enjoy across the board.
The last few days were dominated by phenomenal individual efforts as home field advantage proved to be a telling factor.
All up, five of the division champions won their games (with the Rams hosting the Vikings in Arizona).
With no shortage of talking points, let’s get into our recap of Wild Card Weekend from the NFL playoffs.
1 – Blowouts Galore To Begin Playoffs
It’s a good thing the NFL stopped trying to call this the “Super” Wild Card Weekend because the action on the field was definitely not as good as it could have been.
For every game there was a legitimate argument about how it could be a great contest, but a combination of player no-shows and bad coaching meant that we saw a very one-sided set of games.
However the weekend was not without surprises with Houston’s defence producing their best performance of the season on the biggest stage to book a date with Kansas City next weekend.
They managed to force Justin Herbert to throw more interceptions in the span of four quarters than he did in the Chargers 17 other games.
Admittedly some were down to the Chargers quarterback making some boneheaded decisions but the Texans secondary, in particular Derek Stingley deserve plenty of credit.
Thankfully it was not all blowouts with a close finish in Tampa, but there were plenty of teams that will see their seasons end on a sour note after a no show.
2 – Baltimore’s One-Two Punch Does The Job
It should have been a classic, hard nosed AFC North struggle between Pittsburgh and Baltimore but only one team showed up to play on the day.
Baltimore’s superstar duo of Lamar Jackson and Derrick Henry lead the way from the start, with Henry more than happy to get physical with the Steelers defence.
We’ve seen him fend off many defenders with a stiff arm like that and he put the game away in the third quarter with this long run, there was no answer for him.
What was even more impressive is 142 of his 186 rushing yards came after contact so it’s not like he was getting knocked down easily.
That should not discount the calm and measured performance from Lamar Jackson either, who had a strong showing himself, going 16/21 for 175 yards and a pair of passing touchdowns while also rushing for another 81 as the Ravens imposed their will.
As good as Baltimore will be feeling after that performance, the city of Pittsburgh has to be wondering what is next for this franchise.
Going 10-7 to make the playoffs is one thing, but this team just does not seem to know how to fix its issues.
Mike Tomlin is coming under all sorts of pressure after another playoff loss, their last postseason win came in January 2017.
While they have the foundations for a decent team, some major changes need to be made to help close the gap on Baltimore in season 2025.
And the sorts of players they need to get were running over them wearing purple on the weekend.
3 – Denver’s Next Steps
Another team that massively overachieved this season was the Denver Broncos, surprising everyone to go 10-7 and become a surprise Wild Card team.
Sean Payton did an excellent job integrating Bo Nix into the lineup and the rookie responded with a good season.
However they had no answer for the rampant Buffalo Bills in the Wild Card matchup, going down 31-7.
Nix got off to a strong start, but was kept in check by the Bills defence and Payton will now have to find ways to unlock more production from his quarterback in his second season.
Whether that is making an aggressive move in free agency to add to the pass catchers or working to acquire more draft capital, Payton will be digging into his bag of contacts to try and turn the Broncos into a team that can compete for an AFC West title.
4 – Darnold’s Disaster
The NFL is a cruel and unforgiving business guided by the “what have you done for me lately” principle.
A month ago there was a debate over how much Sam Darnold would cost to re-sign and a fortnight ago there were talks about trading unseen rookie JJ McCarthy.
Following a Week 18 disaster against Detroit, no player was under more pressure than Darnold to put together a good game on Wild Card weekend.
He never had a chance.
The Rams defence was unrelenting, putting Darnold under all sorts of pressure and finding ways to put the clamps on Justin Jefferson.
Now as a looming free agent, any prospective suitors (Minnesota included) will have to wonder if Darnold’s last two performances are enough to put them off signing him to a long term contract.
And with Daniel Jones serving as the emergency quarterback over the last month or so, you can’t help but wonder if Kevin O’Connell would prefer to keep him around and see what can be extracted from the former Giants signal caller.
Either way, Darnold has cost himself a lot of money.
5 – The First Coaching Domino Falls
The first coaching domino of the 2025 hiring cycle fell over the weekend with Mike Vrabel, arguably the prize asset on the market, opting to sign with the team he spent eight seasons with as a player.
Having spent the 2024 season as a consultant on the Cleveland Browns after getting surprisingly fired by Tennessee, Vrabel was a hot commodity for the teams with a vacancy.
During his time with the Titans, Vrabel had his share of highlights including an unlikely AFC Championship run in 2019 and earning the top seed in the conference in 2020.
Whether or not he is able to turn around the Patriots franchise at a rate that will satisfy not only ownership but an impatient fan base that has gone six seasons without a postseason victory is up for debate, but from a PR perspective, the team definitely got it right.
Making it even tougher is the fact he has to find talent for a roster that is severely lacking it.
Worst case scenario, Vrabel could line up at tight end on certain plays, he made a good habit of it as a player.
Or in a more realistic scenario, Vrabel will have to find a go-to pass catcher for Drake Maye, shore up a porous offensive line, revitalise a pass rush, fix up the run defence and add some cover corners to go with Christian Gonzalez.
Easy… right?
As for the rest of the league, Ben Johnson, the offensive whiz who from Detroit is now the biggest name on the market and he shapes up as the guy every team with a vacancy should be going after.
Chicago certainly seems like the natural fit with Caleb Williams the big drawcard for that job opening.
However there is the looming shadow of the Las Vegas Raiders, with Tom Brady as the face of the ownership group and the ability to build that team from scratch.
Once Johnson makes his decision, we will likely see some of the other names start to fall into place.