WASHINGTON — We football fans tend to like our football fast, physical, and — when we can get it — epic.
That’s a good way to describe this year’s NFL wild card weekend. The four playoff games gave us a little bit of everything: come-from-behind victories, a close game in historically cold weather, a brutal grudge match between division rivals, and a shut-rout (a shutout and a rout … yes, I just made up a new word).
Those are all things we’ve seen before. What we haven’t seen is all four road teams walk off the field victorious. Since the current playoff format was established in 1990, no wild card weekend featured a road sweep — until Sunday. The reason is simple: the visitors had superior dynamic duos.
Throughout NFL history, it’s been proven with very few exceptions that a team will only go as far as their head coach and quarterback will take them. That’s why Pete Carroll and Russell Wilson’s Seahawks were overwhelming favorites in Minnesota. It’s why the Packers came in and blew the doors off FedEx Field despite losing six of their last 10 games entering the postseason — Mike McCarthy and Aaron Rodgers are just that good.
The old “defense wins championships” adage is only true to an extent. The Vikings’ 3rd-ranked defense did its job, but they ultimately needed their quarterback to make a big play to change the game. Teddy Bridgewater didn’t. But Russell Wilson did (in -6 degree weather, I might add), and that’s why his team is going to its 4th straight divisional round playoff.
Mike Tomlin may not be the best coach in the league when it comes to Xs and Os, but his Steelers play with an undeniable swagger that matters in these bitter rivalry games. Pittsburgh totally got in Cincinnati’s collective head (I mean, when have you seen assistant coaches like Joey Porter and Mike Munchak getting after opposing players?) and it provided an edge down the stretch. It’s hard to think of Marvin Lewis as a championship coach when his teams keep getting punked like that (the Bengals are 2-13 when hosting Pittsburgh in the Lewis Era).
Houston’s ground game looked good for much of the day but they were completely undermined by Brian Hoyer’s five turnovers. Alex Smith isn’t exactly Joe Montanta reincarnate, but when compared to Hoyer he kind of does. Not to mention, Bill O’Brien was coaching his first postseason game while Andy Reid got back over .500 in his playoff career, winning his 11th postseason game.
Don’t be surprised if this trend spills over into the divisional round. Assuming Ben Roethlisberger is healthy enough to play in Denver, he and Tomlin are a better combo than an old, broken Peyton Manning and Gary “Don’t Call Me Norv Turner” Kubiak. The top-ranked Broncos D could be the equalizer, but not if Manning reverts back to his regular season form (his 17 picks are still the second-most in the league despite starting only nine games). Cam Newton is a lock to be the league’s MVP, but are you sure he and Ron Rivera are a better duo than Wilson and Carroll?
I know it sounds like an oversimplification of a very complex yet fickle sport, and it’s far from 100% accurate. But if you want to get a sense of who’s going to win in the NFL playoffs, it starts and ends with the coach and the quarterback.
Don’t forget to end Wild Card Weekend with the Wild Card Recap.
