While four teams sit at home this upcoming weekend to see who they will play in the divisional round, another eight take to the field in hopes of extending their season beyond NFL’s Wildcard Weekend.
Of the eight teams set to play this weekend, six missed out on the playoffs altogether last season. The Buffalo Bills, who have not played postseason football since 1999, will take on a Jaguars team that has not hosted a playoff game since that very same season. The backdrop here being Jags head coach Doug Marrone taking on his former team.
In Los Angeles, the Rams will host their first playoff game in Southern California since 1989 Saturday night against the Falcons. Interestingly enough, the last time the Los Angeles Rams hosted a playoff game Atlanta was their divisional foe in the NFC West.
These are among the top storylines for NFL Wildcard Weekend.
Doug Marrone vs former team
When the Cincinnati Bengals did Buffalo a solid by defeating Baltimore in Week 17, it clinched the Bills’ first playoff appearance since 1999. That span without a playoff appearance included nine different head coaches. Included in that list is Jaguars head coach Doug Marrone, who manned the sideline in Western New York in 2013 and 2014, going a combined 15-17. Interestingly enough, Marrone helmed a Bills 2014 squad that was one of only two to finish above .500 from 2000-2016.
Now heading to Jacksonville to take on a Jaguars team that will host its first playoff game since the 1999 season, Marrone doesn’t seem overly concerned with the story that matches him against his former team.
“What’s past is past,” Marrone said Monday, via The Florida Times-Union. ”I’ll tell you guys the truth. My goal and my function – and I’m going to shoot everyone straight – this stuff happened so long ago, OK? There’s obviously been a lot of stuff out there. That stuff is done. It’s over. I can’t put it any simpler than that.”
To clarify, Marrone was not fired by the Bills following the 2014 season. Instead, he opted out of his contract. That’s what he’s talking about when it comes to “a lot of stuff out there.”
For his part, Jaguars defensive tackle Marcell Dareus had a bit of a different reaction to playing his former team. Remember, Dareus was acquired from Buffalo in a mid-season trade this past October. To put it lightly, Dareus said it was “ironic” to be taking on the Bills.
This is a nice little storyline between two teams that are not necessarily regular participants in playoff football.
Super Bowl hangover?
The Atlanta Falcons overcame the first part of that dreaded Super Bowl hangover by sneaking into the playoffs with a win over Carolina in Week 17. But this squad simply doesn’t have the same feel to it as the team that ran roughshod through the NFC in 2016.
Based primarily on a downgrade at offensive coordinator with Steve Sarkisian replacing Kyle Shanahan, there’s no real reason to believe these Falcons are legit Super Bowl contenders. Heck, Atlanta’s offense scored an average of 11.7 less points in 2017 than it did the season prior.
Set to take on a Rams defensive coordinator in Wade Phillips who is among the best in the history of the game in scheming against offenses, this is something we definitely have to pay attention to. Does any objective observer honestly believe that Sarkisian can outwit Phillips here? If not, the Falcons will go one-and-done in the playoffs a year after winning the NFC.
Playoff football in Los Angeles
For the first time since 1989, the Rams will host a playoff game in Southern California. It comes after a regular season in which first-year head coach Sean McVay led his squad to an 11-5 record and a first-place finish in the NFC West.
While excitement wouldn’t necessarily be the word to best describe what we’ve seen around Los Angeles NFL football this season, Saturday night’s game at the Coliseum should be the in-thing to do for the trendy Southern California population. That’s magnified with Los Angeles seemingly acting as legit Super Bowl contenders after finishing the regular year with the NFL’s top scoring offense.
In an interesting turn of events, the team’s first home playoff game in Los Angeles in nearly 30 years will come against a former divisional foe in that of the defending NFC champion Atlanta Falcons. Crazy, right?
Youngsters in New Orleans
It’s all about Alvin Kamara and Michael Thomas in New Orleans. No, really. Drew Brees has willingly taken a back seat to these two dynamic offensive playmakers. By virtue of putting up nearly 300 all-purpose yards in the season finale last week (watch here), Kamara heads into his first postseason on a ridiculous hot streak. The rookie running back from Tennessee tallied 1,554 total yards and 13 touchdowns during the regular year, averaging an absurd 7.7 yards per touch.
Meanwhile, Thomas is coming off a sophomore campaign that saw him post 104 receptions for 1,245 yards. He’s now tallied the most catches (196) for a receiver in his first two seasons in the history of the league.
Should these two continue their dynamic performances into this weekend’s game against Carolina, the Panthers will have no real shot to pull the upset on the road. It’s that simple.
The dominating Rams’ offense
Prior to resting Jared Goff and Todd Gurely for last week’s game against San Francisco, the Rams were averaging north of 30 points per game. They finished the regular season ranked No. 1 in the NFL in scoring and in the top 10 in total offense.
It starts with MVP candidate Todd Gurley on the ground. He dominated to the tune 2,093 total yards and 19 touchdowns in 15 regular season games. Second-year quarterback Jared Goff added north of 3,800 yards with 28 touchdowns and just seven picks. Simply put, these two were among the best players at their respective positions in the NFL.
Both will now be making their first postseason appearance at home against a seasoned Atlanta Falcons squad. The key here will be to make sure that the spotlight isn’t too big, because the Rams should handle a Falcons team that barely inched into the playoffs. That’s the biggest story heading into a rare NFL Playoff game in Los Angeles Saturday night.
Are the Jags legit Super Bowl contenders?
One look a Blake Bortles over the past couple weeks, and it’s had to imagine the Jaguars actually being considered serious contenders to take down either New England or Pittsburgh in the AFC. After all, Bortles has thrown five interceptions in the past two games, both losses. If the Jags are going to somehow make a deep run in the playoffs, they’re not going to be able to rely on Bortles to be one of the primary reasons why.
Instead, it’s all about Leonard Fournette on the ground and what was the best defense in the NFL during the regular season. Fournette joined some elite company as a rookie, putting up north of 1,000 rushing yards to go with 10-plus touchdowns. He’s set to take on a Bills defense that yielded an average of 159 rushing yards in nine games after trading Marcell Dareus to the Jags following Week 7.
This is an area the Jaguars should be able to take advantage of. The same can be said for a defense that yielded less than 170 passing yards per game and just 17 touchdowns through the air during the regular season. That’s magnified by the fact that the team will be going up against a quarterback in Tyrod Taylor who put up just 14 touchdown passes during the regular year.
Alex’s swan song in Kansas City?
As Alex Smith and his Chiefs prepare for yet another playoff appearance, his future in Kansas City has to be on the mind of the quarterback. Despite putting up career bests in passing yards (4,042) and passing touchdowns (26) en route to leading the league’s sixth-best scoring offense, it’s highly unlikely Smith will be back next season.
The Pro Bowler sat Week 17 as a way to stay healthy. In his stead, rookie first-round pick Patrick Mahomes started. Kansas City traded up for Mahomes during the 2017 NFL Draft to eventually replace Smith. It seems pretty clear that will come next season.
This means that Smith has one final opportunity to lead the Chiefs to the Super Bowl for the first time in nearly a half-century. It starts this weekend against the Tennessee Titans in a game Kansas City should win going away.
All NFC South wildcard game
By virtue of both teams dropping games in Week 17, the Carolina Panthers and New Orleans Saints will do battle this weekend in the Bayou. It represents the first time these two NFC South rivals have ever met in the postseason. It also comes with both Carolina and New Orleans in the midst of franchise-altering situations.
For the Panthers, that includes owner and founder Jerry Richardson being forced to sell the team after a sexual misconduct scandal plagued him late in the regular season. Will this be the Panthers’ final playoff game with Richardson as owner?
In New Orleans, it’s a tad different. The change has come on the field with the team’s defense playing a major role in its return to relevance. Led by youngsters Marshon Lattimore, Vonn Bell and Ken Crawley in the secondary, the Saints’ defense is playing elite-level football.
New Orleans won both regular season matchups between these two rivals, averaging 32.5 points in the process. In fact, the Saints are averaging 36.7 points per game in their past three home dates with Carolina. That fast track at the Superdome is something to keep an eye on here.