NFL – 2024 POSTSEASON WILD CARD – STATS THAT STICK OUT
PASSING – (C.J. STROUD QB, TEXANS) LAC 12 at HOU 32
The most impressive aspect of Houston’s dominating win over the Chargers in the 2024 postseason Wild Card Round was how well the team played complementary football to get the job done. Their defense got 4 interceptions in the game and held LA to 261 total yards (211 passing + 50 rushing). Meanwhile, the special teams unit was near perfect and the offense’s overall performance was top 3 league-wide for the weekend. In fact, Texans’ QB CJ Stroud was the week’s passing leader as he completed 22 of 33 passes for 282 yards and 1 TD in the Texans win over the Chargers at home. Stroud’s underutilized scrambling abilities also helped turn the tide for the Texans in the second quarter when Houston had fallen into a six-point deficit by ending their previous five series with 3 punts, a fumble and interception. But, on a third-and-16 play at their own 17-yard line with a little over 2 mins left before halftime, Stroud saved a near-fumble on a shotgun snap that bounced away from him and turned around to throw to Xavier Hutchinson for a 34-yard gain. The Texans scored a TD on that drive (which totaled 99 total yards) and went on to score 23 consecutive points into the fourth quarter while the defense held the Chargers to only 6 more points in the game. HC DeMeco Ryans said afterwards, “That’s the play that sparked our entire team… That was the play of the game that really created momentum for our entire team… You see the fumbled snap and I’m thinking, ‘Please pick the ball up.’ And then we see C.J. improvise, keeping his eyes downfield and seeing Hutch. Having the confidence in himself and the ability to avoid the rush and still find Hutch, that was an outstanding play and outstanding performance by C.J.”… The concept of synergetic football (when all three units of the team work together collectively), is the number one key for a playoff team to advance in the single-elimination style format the NFL uses for the playoffs. When everyone contributes on a high level, it’s hard to stop a team with momentum, even after a slow start like the Texans had in their WC game against the Chargers. Of course, Houston needs to keep clicking on all cylinders when they head to KC for the Divisional Playoffs on Saturday. It was a good sign the team was able to pull it together on all fronts when the chips were down in the WC Rd, but the Chiefs are on another level and motivated to make history. Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes is 6-0 in the divisional round which is the most wins without a loss in any playoff round in NFL history, according to ESPN. But the Texans will also be motivated to make their own history this weekend. With a win at Arrowhead on Saturday, it would be the franchise’s first divisional win ever. It’ll also be the farthest the team has gotten in the postseason in in the team’s 23 year history.
RUSHING – (DERRICK HENRY RB, RAVENS) PIT 14 at BAL 28
In the Ravens’ Wild Card round win over the Steelers last week, RB Derrick Henry had arguably the second-best performance of his 2024 season when he had 26 carries for 186 yards (7.2 AVG) and scored 2 rushing TDs. His 186 rush yards accounted for roughly 62% of the team’s total yards on the ground. Henry’s best game of the season actually came in Week 4 when the Ravens hosted the Bills and beat them by 25 points which was the third-worst margin of loss in Bills QB Josh Allen’s career. In that September 29 game, Henry rushed for 199 yards (the most by a player 30+ years old since 2015) which accounted for 73% of the team’s total 271 rush yards… For the upcoming Divisional Round rematch of the Ravens at the Bills this weekend, it’s clear that part of the recipe for the Bills to come out on top will be to contain Henry on the ground, something they obviously weren’t able to do in Week 4. Josh Allen who stands at 6-foot-5 and 240 pounds has acknowledged that stopping the 6-foot-2, 250-pound Henry is a difficult challenge for the Bills, “[Henry is] absolutely massive.” Allen said. “He’s as fast as anybody on the field and once he gets going downhill, he’s just tough to bring down because of his sheer size and speed.” One slight advantage the Bills will have in their matchup with the Ravens this time around includes the return of LBs Terrel Bernard and Matt Milano as well as CB Taron Johnson who were out due to injury in Week 4. Still, the Ravens passing offense will be a tough task for the Bills to reel in as well. In 2024, Baltimore became the NFL’s first team to pass the 4,000-yard passing mark and 3,000 rush yards in a season (7,224 total yards). That’s the third most ever in league history… Perhaps the weather will help give the Bills another advantage. Josh Allen has a 9-1 record in games below 32 degrees. On Sunday in Buffalo, highs are only expected to be in the low teens at the start of the AFC Divisional game and will drop into single digits as the game progresses, making a projected “RealFeel” temp of -3 degrees a possible reality. There’s also a 50% chance of snow in the forecast.
RECEIVING – (LADD MCCONKEY WR, CHARGERS) LAC 12 at HOU 32
The Chargers offense may have gotten clobbered by the Texans in their WC round game, but the one bright spot for the team was WR Ladd McConkey who was the league-wide week’s receiving leader with 9 receptions for 197 yards including an 86-yard TD catch in the fourth quarter. For this performance, McConkey was named Offensive Player and Rookie of the Week by PFF. His 197 yards also set the record for the most receiving yards by a rookie in a playoff game in NFL history and it became the eleventh most in a playoff game by a receiver ever. That makes Ladd’s WC performance ranked amongst the best receiving games in postseason history by any player. McConkey also finished the season with the tenth most receiving yards (1,149) in the regular season (a Chargers rookie record) and he broke the receptions record (82) for a Chargers rookie… Standing at just under 6-foot and 185 pounds with short arms and small hands compared to the average NFL receiver, McConkey is considered “undersized”. But, despite his smaller statue, the 23-year-old has a natural talent and skills that are “hard to teach” according to his high school football coach Preston Poag who mentored McConkey since he was 9 years old. He has said McConkey always had the “it-factor”. In high school, Poag let him play receiver, running back, defensive back, punter and kick returner and as a senior, McConkey led the team to Georgia’s Class 3A quarterfinals for the first time as their starting QB. But major college teams were slow to come around to him, due to his lack of size. Eventually, Georgia would bring him in as a recruit and in the end, McConkey became a big part of the reason the Bulldogs won back-to-back national championships. Coming into the NFL, McConkey obviously has hit the ground running. He attributed his success to the coaches at GA who got him ready for the big leagues. “I feel like coach [Kirby] Smart and everybody at Georgia kind of prepared me for this… We practiced hard at Georgia, we take game reps at practice, so now it’s just transitioning over here and continuing that, but taking it to another notch.” Indeed, McConkey has done himself proud on the pro level in his first year and his future looks bright, whether he is the average size of an NFL receiver… or not.
DEFENSE – (JARED VERSE DB, RAMS) MIN 9 at LAR 27
One of the surprising performances of the week in the WC round was that of the Rams defense against the Vikings. As a unit, they performed at an extraordinarily high level, recording 9 sacks on Minnesota QB Sam Darnold, which tied for most in a playoff game in the Super Bowl era and set the Rams’ playoff franchise record. Additionally, 8 different players earned at least 0.5 sacks in the game for the Rams, the most of any team in a playoff game since 1982. Four of the 9 sacks came on third and fourth downs, too. Meanwhile, LA’s defense held the Vikings offense to 269 total yards (163 passing + 106 rushing) and forced 1 fumble and 1 interception. Several players attributed to the collective effort, but rookie phenom OLB Jared Verse stood out in the game, as he has all season long for the Rams. In the game, the 24-year-old first-round pick scooped up a fumbled football and ran it back for a 57-yard TD, reaching 19.88mph on the play. And with that, Verse became the fastest 260-plus pound player over the past 7 seasons to carry a football, and he also became the first rookie with a defensive TD in a playoff game since J.J. Watt did it in 2011. In 16 games during the 2024 regular season, Verse had 2 passes defended, 2 forced fumbles, 2 fumbles recovered, 4.5 sacks, had 66 tackles combined (26 solo, 11 TFL) and ranked first in pressures with 17 (acc to Pro Football Network). For his efforts, Verse was named a Pro Bowler in his first year and has become a favorite to win the league’s Defensive Rookies of the Year award. But as good a player as Verse is, he’s also proving he can hit hard with the trash talk too. Leading up the Divisional Matchup between the Rams at the Eagles this weekend, he told the LA Times straight out, “I hate Eagles fans… They’re so annoying. I hate Eagles fans… When I see that green and white I hate it. I actually get upset. Like I actually genuinely get hot.” Verse seemed to be scarred by all the insults slung at him by Philadelphia fans when the team visited LA in November. “I didn’t even do nothing to ‘em,” he said. “It was my first time playing… Oh, I hate Eagles fans.” At least Rams HC Sean McVay has his back. When he heard about Verse’s comments, he said, “He told his truth. I’m riding with the Rams.” For me, I tend to agree with Eagles RB Saquon Barkley who said this week about Verse’s comments, “Probably not the smartest thing to say when coming to Philadelphia…” Barkley said with a smile. “Prob wouldn’t want to give [the fans] any extra fuel. Pretty sure Philly fans seen that comment and it was already going to be loud and rocking so, that’s just only gonna add to it.”
SPECIAL TEAMS – (ZANE GONZALEZ, COMMANDERS) WAS 23 at TB 20
I’m convinced there can be no more stressful job in the NFL than as a kicker. This is especially so in the post season, when hard fought games between high powered teams can come down to a field goal made. Combine this with having a kicker diagnosed with OCD- no, nothing could be more nerve-racking… A prime example of this is in the Wild Card game matchup between the Commanders and Buccaneers this past weekend when Washington came out on top thanks to a FG by kicker Zane Gonzalez. With the game on the line at the end of regulation, the former AZ State alum was asked to step up and make a 37-yarder for the win. He did make it, but the football doinked the right upright and managed to bounce in for the 3-points and the win. It was the first playoff win for Washington in 20 years, and it helped propel Commanders QB Jayden Daniels in the record books by becoming just of 1 of 12 rookie QBs to win a road playoff game… For Gonzalez, it was a peculiar road which led him to that moment in the WC game and appearance on the national stage. Before coming to Washington, he had other stints with AZ as a kicker (3 yrs – only 68% FGs made) and as a kickoff specialist in CLE (2 yrs) and CAR (1 yr). He hadn’t worked as a kicker in the league for 3 years since, until Washington brought him in, and he was elevated from the practice squad in Week 10 due to the team’s kicker crisis. Gonzalez became the fourth different kicker the Commanders have had this season and seventh since the spring. In 5 regular season game appearances for Washington, Gonzalez would make 5 of 7 (71.4%) FGs but during wild card weekend he was perfect, making all 3 of his FGs (including the game winner) and 2 PATs. Amazing achievement considering the long road that led him there while dealing with OCD, a disorder that has affected him since he was in grade school. “I remember as a kid, I would get really upset to the point where it was like I really couldn’t even do my homework…. My dad would take me outside on a walk, go play soccer — do something to get my mind off it, and then come back to it. That was their way of addressing it for me: Just getting me away from whatever that was. It was pretty much crippling me at that time.” Gonzalez said he tried to conceal his condition from others. “I used to be a little bit more self-conscious, not as confident as a person,” Gonzalez said. “You’re more adamant about trying not to show people. You’re just like, ‘Oh, I don’t want people to think whatever, this or that.’ I mean, you saw the reaction. People were always like, ‘Oh, he’s nervous…It’s like, it’s not nervousness. It’s just kind of a tic-type deal.” Gonzalez addressed the media about his condition this week after his pre-kicking “routine” went viral after the game. It included repeated adjustments to his sock, hair and a tapping of his helmet before finally putting it on his head. Today, Gonzalez has a great attitude about his disorder and the public attention is has gotten. “You’ve got to have humility, and if not, you’ll drive yourself crazy. It’s stuff that I’ve always kind of laughed at.” He also said he’s gotten a “tremendous amount of support” and hearing other people’s accounts has helped. Washington HC Dan Quinn summed up Gonzalez’s journey well, “I am super happy that he was able to discuss that… And if that is a chance for him to assist one other person, I think that takes just a lot of courage and tells you a lot about who he is, not just as a ballplayer but as a man.”
QUICK SHOUTOUT TO JAYDEN DANIELS
One of the most talked about players coming out of the 2024 season was Commanders’ rookie QB Jayden Daniels. His first season in the NFL has been historic and he could continue to break records if the Commanders beat the Lions on Saturday night in the NFC Divisional Round.
Daniels, who was the No. 2 overall 2024 draft pick after winning the 2023 Heisman Trophy at LSU, accumulated 3,568 passing yards, 25 touchdowns to 9 interceptions through while amassing 891 rushing yards (most for a rookie in NFL history) and 6 rushing TDs in the regular season. The 24-year-old also had a 69% completion percentage (an all-time rookie record) and had a 100.1 passer rating.
If Daniels brings his Commanders to another victory this weekend, this heavy favorite to win the Offensive Rookie of the Year would tie Ben Roethlisberger for the most wins by a rookie QB in NFL history (14). (Daniels took Washington to a 12-5 record in the regular season and has 1 playoff win against Tampa Bay in the WC round.)
It will be interesting to see if this rookie QB can continue his magical season for Washington who haven’t made it this far into the playoffs since 2005.
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