NFL Playoff Takeaways: Wild Card Round

Photo from USA Today Sports

One round of the NFL postseason is in the books, and thank heavens we added those 7 seeds!

Here’s what we learned.

Bengals defeat Raiders 26-19

The Bengals won their first playoff game in my lifetime, which is shocking.

The old Bengals would have thrown it away, but these one’s didn’t.

It’s officially the sign of a turned corner, and the future of the Bengals isn’t the same as the past.

As for the Raiders, I’m impressed with their season considering all the turmoil they went through.

The fact that they were close to even the postseason at all, let alone close to tying the game up, is impressive.

Now, the search for a new coach and new GM begins, but having Derek Carr has to help them with the search.

Bills defeat Patriots 47-17

There was a lot of talk, from myself included, that Josh Allen doesn’t play particularly well when weather conditions don’t favor him.

Well, it was incredibly cold and windy in Buffalo, and Josh Allen played lights out.

I needed to see that from him to know that the Bills were legitimate Super Bowl contenders.

I’ve seen it. They’re legit.

The Patriots found their answer at QB as well behind Mac Jones, but please get him some playmakers.

That offense is as bland as the chicken I make every night for dinner.

Buccaneers defeat Eagles 31-15

The Bucs looked good, but losing three starting offensive linemen may be considered a bad thing.

The Eagles may look toward replacing Jalen Hurts, but that seems like a foolish move to me.

Don’t get me wrong, he was bad. But it was his first ever playoff game against the defending Super Bowl champions.

Get him some help offensively, as well as improving the secondary, and the Eagles should be fine.

Maybe Hurts isn’t the guy, but this isn’t the draft to try and replace him.

49ers defeat Cowboys 23-17

Here we are. The only playoff game that was actually enjoyable to watch.

And the funny thing about that sentence is that it actually was not enjoyable to watch.

I decided halfway through the 4th quarter that no matter who won the game, I would not pick them to beat their next opponent.

Nothing changed.

The Cowboys are undisciplined and just boneheaded. The Niners are still led by Jimmy Garoppolo who I refuse to believe is a good quarterback no matter how many times people try to convince me that he is.

Both of these teams looked uninterested in winning.

Not quite the recipe for postseason success…

Chiefs defeat Steelers 42-21

None of this game surprised me.

The Steelers fantastic defense made the game muddy, but their lack of offensive output led to the Chiefs blowing their doors off.

Big Ben’s career is officially over. About two seasons too late.

Rams defeat Cardinals 34-11

This game sucked, too. But the Rams at least were only a few minutes away from Scorigami before deciding to kick a field goal and ruin it despite no possibility of losing.

I hate you, Sean McVay. You took the one fun thing from this playoff weekend and threw it in the garbage.

Shame on you.