Super Wild Card Weekend gives us the best 12 out of 14 teams remaining in the National Football League (NFL). The weekend is also known as round one of the NFL Playoffs. The winner of these games will decide who the final four teams are for the National Football Conference (NFC) and the American Football Conference (AFC). This weekend does not often disappoint fans, thrilling games everywhere you look, the games was no different. Four of the six games this week were within a four point game.
In the first game of the weekend on January 10th, the Carolina Panthers hosted the Los Angeles Rams after winning the NFC South. The game was expected to be an easy Rams victory, but the Panthers played with nothing to lose. There were four lead changes in the fourth quarter, with Carolina taking a four point lead late. The Rams, led by potential MVP Matt Stafford, scored a touchdown to win and advanced to face the Chicago Bears on January 18th.
The second game of the weekend was between the Chicago Bears and the Green Bay Packers, the third meeting this season in the NFL’s oldest rivalry. After splitting the regular season series, the decider came in the playoffs. Green Bay jumped out to a 21–3 halftime lead and held a 21–6 advantage entering the fourth quarter. But like they have all year, the Bears mounted a late comeback, scoring a field goal, two touchdowns with a two point conversion, and another touchdown to win in thrilling fashion. It marked Chicago’s eighth fourth quarter comeback of the season, the most in NFL history, and earned them a home matchup against the LA Rams on January 18th.
The third game of the weekend was played on January 11th at around midday. It was the Jacksonville Jaguars hosting the Buffalo Bills. This game resulted in the seven lead changes throughout the game. The teams would go back and forth all game, finally ending on a Jaguars interception which would give the Bills the 27-24 win on the road. They will face the number seed Denver Broncos in the divisional round this weekend.
The last close game of the weekend was between the Philadelphia Eagles and the San Francisco 49ers. These two teams have been dominant forces in the NFC for the last few years both sharing multiple Super Bowl berths. This low scoring game also went back and forth ending with a Christian McCaffery touchdown to close out a 23-19 49ers win on the road, they will head to play the number one seed and divisional rival Seattle Seahawks in the divisional round this weekend.
The final two games on the Sunday and Monday night between the LA Chargers and New England Patriots, and Pittsburgh Steelers versus the Houston Texans were both blowouts. The New England Patriots got their first playoff win since the Brady era with a 16-3 victory at home over the Chargers. The Texans have now reached their third straight divisional weekend by notching a dominant 30-6 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers. The two winners will face each other in New England this weekend on Sunday at 2:00 PM.
Super Wild Card Weekend has been one of the best weekends in all of the NFL season for the past few years and this year’s games did not disappoint for the most part. The divisional round will be just as entertaining this weekend.
