NFL Grades after super wild card weekend: Clutch moments and crumbling stars

Wild card weekend is all but done, with just one game left between the Vikings and the Rams. Elsewhere, we saw some big-time plays from big-time players, as well as a few stars of the game crumbling when the lights shone brightest. Let’s take a look at how we graded every team this week.

It looked like it was going to be a long day for the Texans during the first quarter. Slowly but surely, however, the defense started to take over. Will Anderson Jr. looked like the heart and soul of a defense that could be good enough to beat anyone. Nico Collins being healthy completely transforms C.J. Stroud and this offense, too.

The Texans' reward for winning in the wild card round is a trip to Kansas City, which is probably the hardest place to play in the post-season. Houston has the talent to beat KC and will be fired up to beat the hometown favorites. This could be a low-scoring matchup decided by one or two plays.

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This was a collapse of the highest order by Justin Herbert and the Chargers. We have been praising Herbert all season for his decisive play and ball-security, as that is often all that is needed with a defense this good. On Saturday, however, it all fell apart. The defense couldn’t get a stop and Herbert couldn’t carry the team, throwing four interceptions.

This was Jim Harbaugh’s first season in charge in LA, so to reach the playoffs was impressive by itself. However, this offense needs to evolve if they want to beat the best teams in football consistently. Ladd McConkey is a stud, accounting for 197 of Herbert’s 242 yards through the air, per ESPN, maybe adding another option could be helpful…

We expected the Ravens to comfortably beat the Steelers, and that’s exactly what they did. Lamar Jackson was efficient with the ball, and Derrick Henry bullied his way to nearly 200 yards on the ground. The Steelers' offense isn’t very good, so we weren’t expecting the Ravens to allow too many points against them, and that’s exactly what they did. Good performance all round.

The Ravens travel to Buffalo for what should be the one of the most exciting division round matchups we have seen for a long time. Lamar Jackson vs Josh Allen is as good as it gets in the NFL, if there’s some snow involved we might have found ourselves in football nirvana! It’s going to be tough, but this game could go either way.

We didn’t expect the Steelers to win this game, and they didn’t, which explains the grade. They didn’t fail the test, they just did exactly what we thought they would do. Per Mark Kaboly on X (previously Twitter), T.J. Watt recorded zero tackles or sacks through his last 127 snaps of the 2024 season. It’s tough to win when your star edge-rusher is laying an egg like that.

Despite another year ending in disappointment, the Steelers are not planning on moving on from Mike Tomlin any time soon, per CBS Sports. There are big decisions to make elsewhere, with Najee Harris set to be a free agent and question marks at the quarterback position. Another year of unspectacular mediocrity probably awaits in 2025, unfortunately.

LIke the Ravens, we expected the Bills to win their game against the Broncos, and that’s exactly what they did. The Broncos’ defense finished first in EPA/Play on the season, per SumerSports, and yet couldn’t stop anything the Bills were trying to do. Josh Allen is playing transcendent football and James Cook is making the most of every carry.

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The Ravens are heading to Buffalo on Sunday in what looks to be the best matchup we will see all post-season. The Broncos’ first drive looked too easy against this good-but-not-great Bills defense, which could be a worrying sign for Sean McDermott when his teams face the best offense in football.

It all started so well for Bo Nix et al., scoring almost immediately on an aggressively called early deep shot. After that, the offense couldn’t get anything going and this talented defense was torn apart to the tune of 31 points. A season that showed signs of improvement from Sean Payton’s first year in charge, but still a long way to go to become a true contender.

The key to Denver’s future is Bo Nix’s development. He played well in 2024, but there is plenty about his game that he needs to improve, as is the case with almost all rookies. The offense was nicely designed to maximise its players’ strengths, but we’re not sure it is sustainable without big changes.

We had the Eagles beating the Packers, which they did, there are just some lingering concerns about the offense that have led to a slightly lower grade. We don’t think Jalen Hurts played his best game on Sunday, but from what we could see, the offensive design and play calling consistently put him in bad spots. This defense is probably the best unit in the NFL, thought.

The Eagles will host either the Rams or the Vikings next Sunday in what will be an intriguing game. Given the offensive line and the running game, the passing game should be relatively easy, but Philly has struggled to find its groove for much of the season and will play one of two red-hot defenses.

The Packers’ defense kept them in this game, otherwise it could have been a blowout. Jordan Love threw three interceptions that were all preventable. The last was akin to a Hail Mary, so we will forgive that, but the second was unforgivable. Green Bay also seemingly lost half of their starters to injury on the day, which is brutally unlucky.

It’s a tough game to look back on and take too many positives from, given they were soundly beaten from the very first play of the game. We know Jordan Love has the talent to be great, but he is either too risk-averse or throws too many picks. If he can find a happy middle ground, this team should be looking to compete again next year. 

The Bucs probably should’ve won that game, but a bad fumble, a mistimed snap and some strange timeout calls late in the game cost them their opportunity. The defense hung in there against one of the best offenses in football, but Baker Mayfield and his offense didn’t play to their full potential in our opinion.

There is a good chance the Bucs lose star offensive coordinator Liam Coen to a head coaching role, which is worrying for the offense. They dealt with losing Dave Canales as well as you possibly can do, but a constant churn of offensive coaches isn’t conducive to success. This felt a little bit like a missed opportunity for Tampa.

Jayden Daniels makes football look easy at times, which is as high a compliment as we can give him. He just glides across the field and rarely makes a mistake with his arm. For a rookie, his composure is truly phenomenal. Dan Quinn was aggressive on fourth downs in this game, which we like, even with a couple of stops. That will serve this team well down the road.

A trip to Detroit is on the cards for Washington in what could be a genuine shootout, given some of Detroit’s recent struggles on defense. It won’t be an easy game for Washington and Detroit will be heavily favored, but we think there is a good chance the Commanders can pull off the upset.

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