NFL Takeaways: Wild Card Weekend

Photo by Darren Cummings from the Associated Press

And with yet another boring Monday night game the NFL randomly decided we should have, Wild Card weekend is officially over.

Some teams who lost actually should take away some good things from the past weekend, and some who won may have more concerns.

Let’s get to it.

49ers defeat Seahawks 41-23

You know the phrase “any given Sunday.”

It means that, on any given Sunday, one team could beat another team.

But sometimes, the talent gap is far too large.

The Niners are a significantly better football team than the Seahawks are, and yet somehow the Seahawks only trailed 23-17 going into the 4th quarter.

That’s where the talent gap reared it’s head.

The Niners rattled off long touchdown runs, forced turnovers in crucial spots, and ended up running away with the game.

It was simply too much for the Seahawks to overcome.

Jaguars defeat Chargers 31-30

In my “why the will/why they won’t” post, I said that the Chargers have all the pieces to make a run as they are an incredibly talented team.

We saw that, with four first half interceptions and a 27-0 lead before halftime. They were firing on all cylinders, and during a road game against one of the hottest teams in the league.

I also said that the reason the Chargers won’t is that, for whatever specific reason, they can’t seem to get it together.

Brandon Staley, a coach who goes for it on 4th down often, decided to start playing it safe and kicking.

Joey Bosa couldn’t keep his cool and got an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty.

The Chargers, for whatever specific reason, blew a 27-0 lead and are now sitting at home for the rest of the postseason.

They just can’t put it all together.

Bills defeat Dolphins 34-31

The Bills need to clean it up, and fast.

The Bills offense and their careless turnovers let the Dolphins right back into it, and they got away with it because the Dolphins had Skylar Thompson running the offense.

If the Dolphins had Tua Tagovailoa at QB, the Dolphins likely win that game easily.

The Bills should use this as a warning, because a performance like that won’t fly against Joe Burrow, Patrick Mahomes or Trevor Lawrence.

Giants defeat Vikings 31-24

Coaching matters.

Look no further than Brian Daboll, who refused to let the Giants get into third and long.

But the most important takeaway is that quarterbacks matter.

Kirk Cousins had a fantastic season, and a very good game against the Giants as well.

But on 4th and 8, with the season on the line, Cousins decided to throw a 3 yard out route to T.J. Hockenson.

No matter how well he plays, Kirk Cousins just can’t seem to get it done at the end of the game.

It’s a lazy narrative, but Kirk doesn’t really do much to help change it.

Bengals defeat Ravens 24-17

Ravens fans have hated Greg Roman all season.

I understood where they were coming from, but I didn’t really get it.

After all, the Ravens offense didn’t have Lamar Jackson or J.K. Dobbins for a big part of the season, not to mention how few receivers they have. That’s going to hurt any offense. I felt like Greg Roman was getting picked on a bit too much.

I was wrong.

There’s no excusing barely giving the ball to Dobbins inside the 5 and trying for a QB sneak attempt with a backup quarterback instead of running downhill.

Especially since teams are QB sneaking more than ever this year, and defenses are prepared for it (see: the Jags running outside on 4th and 1 against the Chargers knowing they’d sell out for the sneak).

With Dobbins frustrations regarding the offense and Sammy Watkins quote about Lamar Jackson, this offseason could be a bit noisy for a team regarded as one of the best organizations in football.

Cowboys defeat Buccaneers 31-14

To win the Super Bowl, you need the whole package.

You need a good coach, a great offense or defense, and a good opposite side of the field, or at least one that won’t sink the team.

The Bucs offense were mostly the same pieces from a fantastic season from Tom Brady. The defense had all the pieces too.

Yet they ended the year 8-10 and a blowout playoff loss.

I do not like Bruce Arians.

I think he’s smug. I don’t like the dumb hats he would wear.

But even I can’t deny that he’s a good coach, and his resignation this past offseason is what took the Bucs from bonafide contenders to a team under .500.

Now, Brady is likely gone, and the Bucs should probably look towards rebuilding.

Still, they got a Super Bowl out of Brady’s stint in Tampa, so you can’t really complain much about it.

As for the Cowboys, it was nice to see another week of discourse regarding Dak Prescott before he went and balled out.

I’m curious how many more times people will have that conversation…