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NFL Wild Card Weekend Tidbits Plus

The 2023 NFL Super Bowl Tournament in the name of Super Wild Card Weekend got off and running over the weekend. There as always when the NFL is involved plenty of story lines concerning every one of the five games played. 

Jaguar's / Chargers - The story line here remains the Chargers, no matter from San Diego or Los Angeles, they find a most interesting way how to blow it in the end. Taking nothing away from Jacksonville and their never die attitude, coming back from a 27-0 deficit, it's almost totally impossible to lose a game where you have zero turnovers versus a team with five give aways. Easy to lay blame on a young inexperienced coach but this one goes on every Charger who suited up. I say take way their Lightning Bolt helmets as punishment.

49er's / Seahawks - First off, I hate the Seahawks and their gum chopping cheating head coach. They were a surprise playoff team this year having trading away their franchise QB Russell Wilson, substituting a well traveled Geno Smith in his place. This was a game that when played over 40 minutes gave a massive talent advantage to the home team 49er's. Even playing with a third string rookie QB, San Francisco held all the cards to move on and in the end they simply overpowered their rivals. Seattle needed more than their 12th Man in this one.

Giants / Vikings - We were warned the Vikings were the most overrated 13-4 team of the year and they proved it in spades on Sunday. They had already lost to the Giants when played in London earlier in the year and they seems to have made zero adjustments heading into their playoff game. The NY Football Giants made major strides this year behind first year head coach Brian Daboll who furthered the development of QB Daniel Jones and Running Back Saquon Barkley.

The crowning highlight for this encounter was a 4th and 8 play in the waning minutes. Viking QB Kurt Cousins elected to throw a 3 yard pass that failed to achieve a first down. A very typical Cousins encounter. The Vikings need to remember their Purple People Eaters past to ever move forward.

Bills / Dolphins - This one really surprised me in that Buffalo was playing at home against a 3rd string QB. There was also the emotional edge with Damar Hamlin back in Buffalo, nearly a week after suffering cardiac arrest in a game versus the Bengals. Then again you have to play the game and the Dolphins were more than willing to play the game. To his credit as being a top QB, Josh Allen for all his offensive skills as a passer and runner has had a glaring problem with play control turnovers this year. This is playoff football and a single series can change the complexion. In order to move on and be a legitimate Super Bowl contender, Josh Allen needs to clean up his ball control in a hurry. For the Dolphins, its back hoping Tua can solve his concussion protocols.

Bengals / Ravens - In the end, Who Dey got the job done. But it wasn't a pretty game to watch. The tide turned on what had to be one of the strangest offensive play calls I have ever seen. With the ball on the Cincy 2 yard line, the Raven QB ran a quarterback sneak. I would like to know who called that play and why hasn't that coach been shown the door. You see the Ravens have a power back and he was only a bystander. Sure enough the QB lunged up, falling short of the goal line, loosing and fumbling the ball, picked up by the Bengals Sam Hubbard for a 97 year TD. End of threat, end of Raven's chance of winning. I often think of the money spent on coaches salaries especially when they are brain dead when it counts the most. Throw in horrible clock management by coach Harbaugh at end of game and the Ravens are headed back to Baltimore where the Colts once roamed.

Cowboys / Buccaneers - A storyline best held until tomorrow. I'll bet there will be a whopper of a story. Will Brady be the central character?

Last observation. Playoff football is intense and comes with split second reactions by players and coaches. For right now, I'll pick on the Head Coaches. They seem to be lost, by themselves on an island. They have coordinators but they don't seem to jive all the time. Might one consider taking a page out of MLB where Managers have a Bench Coach helping with those needed quick decisions. If I was an owner, I would pony up the extra cash to make it happen.