In their first playoff appearance in 18 years — without their head coach, offensive line coach, Pro Bowl offensive lineman and top defensive back — the Cleveland Browns had the best first quarter of any team in NFL playoff history. You know, just as we all predicted.
Cleveland took advantage of the Pittsburgh Steelers’ botched snap on the first play of the game, falling on the ball in the end zone. Pittsburgh’s next three possessions went interception, three-and-out, interception, and the Browns converted all of their ensuing drives into touchdowns.
In a blink, the Browns had a 28-0 lead before the second quarter began.
“Cleveland fans, you are not dreaming this,” NBC broadcaster Al Michaels said when Browns running back Kareem Hunt glided into the end zone for his first of two scores. “Pittsburgh fans wish they were — it’s a nightmare.”
Against a multitude of odds — including the Browns’ positive COVID-19 results, the road game environment and their general unluckiness as a franchise — Cleveland survived and advanced.
Yes, they’ll face the No. 1 Kansas City Chiefs in next week’s divisional round, but a brief moment of celebration first is warranted. The same is true for the other victors in Sunday’s playoff action.
Here are the rest of our takeaways from the latter half of the NFL’s wild-card slate.
Steelers must regroup, reassess after sputtering to season’s end
The Steelers’ 11-0 start feels like it happened a year ago, doesn’t it?
OK, for all of you calendar-year wiseacres out there, that’s technically true. But at the same time, Pittsburgh was still perfect in the first week of December. The issues that have arisen since largely fall on the offence, which might sound ridiculous considering quarterback Ben Roethlisberger threw for 501 yards on Sunday (though you must be mindful that most of the Steelers’ offensive damage came against a prevent defence while they trailed by two or more scores).
Pittsburgh finished the regular season 1-4, from Week 13 onward. In that span, the offence averaged 308 yards per game (would’ve ranked 30th in the NFL this season) and 19.8 points per game (29th in the NFL).
Some offensive overhaul might come naturally, given that a pair of Pittsburgh’s 18 pending unrestricted free agents are running back James Conner and receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster. Both severely underperformed in their contract years.
Then there’s Roethlisberger, who’ll turn 39 in March but still has a year under contract. He reportedly intends to return for a final season — dragging his $41.25 million cap hit with him — but is that in Pittsburgh’s best interest?
After a four-interception performance in a crushing loss, it might not seem that way. But hey, these wounds are fresh. A long off-season awaits, and there will be plenty of time for Pittsburgh to bemoan its meltdown — while plotting its next moves.
The band is back together in New Orleans
Drew Brees, Michael Thomas and Alvin Kamara came marching in on Sunday, which is something New Orleans Saints fans haven’t seen a whole lot of this season.
Entering its wild-card matchup with the Chicago Bears, the Brees/Thomas/Kamara trio had played just 10 quarters together this season (of a possible 64). A combination of injuries and reserve/COVID-19 list stints caused a myriad of individual absences for those three.
But they were together when it mattered — to Chicago’s chagrin. Brees had 265 passing yards and two touchdowns, including one to Thomas (his first in 13 months), while Kamara had 23 carries for 99 yards and a score.
With AUTHORITY @CantGuardMike #ForNOLA | : CBS pic.twitter.com/0WuQWAMcvT
— New Orleans Saints (@Saints) January 10, 2021
Despite Taysom Hill’s impressive showing in four starts at quarterback this season — while Brees recovered from multiple rib fractures — it’s clear the Saints are at their best with their future Hall of Famer at the helm.
And when Brees has his two favourite weapons available, the Saints have as lethal of an offence as any in the league.
Bears’ offence pulls off great disappearing act
Life’s not fair. We know this. That’s why the Saints were allowed to hog the ball on Sunday, essentially playing keep-away against the Bears.
Chicago ran 49 plays to New Orleans’s 75, and had 21:02 time of possession compared to 38:58 for the Saints. Amazingly, the Bears actually won the turnover battle (1-0) and were barely out-gained on a yards-per-play basis (5.1 to 4.9).
So what the heck happened? Well, the Bears were completely hopeless on third and fourth down, converting just once — in garbage time — out of 11 opportunities.
Remember the resurgent Mitchell Trubisky we saw average nearly 250 yards/game in his final five starts, leading the Bears into a backdoor playoff spot? Yeah, he’s gone. Or at least he never showed up against New Orleans.
In a cruel twist of fate, Trubisky was voted the Nickelodeon Valuable Player (Nickelodeon carried a more kid-friendly version of the telecast). If this isn’t a well-executed troll job, I don’t know what is …
Chicago ended its season on a positive note, I guess, as tight end Jimmy Graham made a stunning one-handed touchdown grab against his former team on the game’s final play. It might’ve been Graham’s final play in the NFL — and perhaps Trubisky’s final play as a Bear.
The real Lamar finally stood up
Lamar Jackson just kept running. Even when he no longer had the ball, and the final seconds of his first playoff win were ticking away.
After dashing for 136 yards and a touchdown on just 16 carries, Jackson made a beeline for the tunnel at Tennessee’s Nissan Stadium. His work was done.
Well, not quite. Jackson had some media obligations with ABC, the game’s broadcasting partner. So he was called back to the field, where he spoke jubilantly about finding his way into the playoff win column.
“It feels good. I’m happy we got it done,” Jackson said. “They beat us two times that I’ve been here. I’m just happy we got the victory … We finished, finally. We finished.”
Jackson put the finishing touches on the game himself, scampering for 33 yards on the Baltimore Ravens’ final possession to help drain the clock and secure a 20-13 victory. But his most impressive run came in the second quarter, when he slithered through backfield traffic on a third and long before breaking away for a 48-yard touchdown.
Of course, Jackson is a quarterback first. He was fairly efficient, with 179 passing yards on 24 attempts (with an interception). But we all know the reigning MVP is his most dangerous self when carrying the ball in the open field.
The remaining playoff teams are on notice.
Ravens dethrone King Henry
Did you know that Derrick Henry led the NFL in rushes, rushing yards and touchdowns this year for the second consecutive season? And that he’s the first running back to do that since the NFL/AFL merger?
Whether or not Henry knows that, I can almost guarantee he doesn’t care.
In the playoff spotlight, Henry failed to make an impact against a Ravens team he had run through in previous meetings. Baltimore held the NFL’s latest 2,000-yard rusher to just 40 yards on 18 carries, with a long of eight yards and zero first downs.
Last year, when the sixth-seeded Tennessee Titans stunned the top-ranked Ravens, Henry had 195 yards on the ground. In their Week 11 matchup this season, he rushed for 133 and a score.
But Baltimore had the clamps on “King Henry” this time, dethroning him in his own domain.
That was never more obvious than when the Titans trailed, 17-13, with 10:06 left and faced a 4th and 2 from Baltimore’s 40-yard line. Tennessee coach Mike Vrabel opted to punt, instead of handing off to his behemoth back who averaged 5.4 yards/carry this year.
The Surrender Index never lies, folks.
