Ricky Dimon
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If there is one thing that we learned from Wild Card Weekend, it’s that the NFL playoffs definitely don’t need to expand any further. Similar to what the College Football Playoff proved, adding more teams to the party is just a waste of time. Yes, it brings in money—which is all that matters to many folks in the league office. It doesn’t add anything else.
You couldn’t find more than five good teams in the NFC. Philadelphia, the team that got in as the No. 7 seed because of the expanded postseason, was one of the worst playoff participants in recent memory. We knew that even before the Eagles got shellacked 31-15 by Tampa Bay.
Six good teams at most could be identified in the AFC. That’s only if you count the Raiders, who rallied late to make their game against the Bengals interesting at the end, even though it wasn’t very competitive most of the way. And the Patriots certainly didn’t play like they were a good team in their 47-17 humiliation against Buffalo. As for the Steelers, allowing them to get into the dance as the 7th and final seed simply prolonged Ben Roethlisberger’s career for no real reason. Nobody needed to see them play another week of football and get manhandled by the Chiefs 42-21.
In six games (two more than usual until last season), we witnessed fewer than 20 minutes of interesting football: the fourth quarter of Bengals vs Raiders and the last four minutes of 49ers vs Cowboys. Every other contest was a snooze-fest from start to finish.
But there is some positive news: what we’re left with is eight legitimately good teams that should produce plenty of riveting competition the rest of the way through Super Bowl LVI.
Here is a quick breakdown of what went down across Saturday, Sunday and Monday plus some analysis of what it could mean moving forward.
Chiefs vs Bills a battle between AFC’s two best
I’m not sleeping on Cincinnati and Tennessee, but Buffalo vs Kansas City should be the AFC Championship game. Instead, the Chiefs and Bills will square off in the Divisional Round on Sunday evening on the heels of their respective Wild Card beatdowns. Both teams looked great, which is nothing new. Kansas City has now won 10 of its last 11 games. Buffalo has won 5 in a row. Both are built for playoff success. The Chiefs have the experience of being back-to-back AFC champions and are led by an MVP-winning quarterback in Patrick Mahomes. The Bills boast a future MVP-winning quarterback in Josh Allen in addition to the No. 1 defense in the entire NFL. Kansas City opened a modest favorite, but we all remember what happened when these teams met at Arrowhead earlier this season.
My popcorn is ready.
LOL, Cowboys
Wow, that 49ers-Cowboys game was entertaining. It wasn’t good; that’s for sure. But my gosh it was entertaining. San Francisco tried to throw away a huge lead at the end, but a mistake-prone Dallas squad had dug itself in too big of a hole and couldn’t climb out. That ending was epic. Running a QB draw up the middle with no timeouts and Dak Prescott getting tackled by a referee while trying to snap the ball before the final whistle? You can’t make this stuff up, folks. If that isn’t a sign that this franchise is never going to win another playoff game (at least not any time soon), I don’t know what is!
As for the Niners, they are on a roll and their defense is looking formidable. But the way they stumbled to the finish line this past Sunday does not give me confidence going into Lambeau Field on Saturday night.
Do the Bucs stop here?
I’m looking forward to Rams-Bucs even more than Bills-Chiefs. These are two of the best run defenses in the league—something you have to have in the playoffs. On the other side of the ball, Tampa Bay is obviously led by the best quarterback in football history (Tom Brady). Los Angeles has the best current wide receiver in football (Cooper Kupp). This matchup is awesome.
The Bucs are favored (-3), but with the way the Rams looked on Monday night you can’t count them out against anyone.
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