{"id":35982,"date":"2023-01-18T11:28:57","date_gmt":"2023-01-18T16:28:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/?p=35982"},"modified":"2023-01-18T11:28:57","modified_gmt":"2023-01-18T16:28:57","slug":"the-two-minute-drill-what-we-learned-from-wild-card-weekend","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/2023\/01\/18\/the-two-minute-drill-what-we-learned-from-wild-card-weekend\/","title":{"rendered":"The Two-Minute Drill: What we learned from Wild Card Weekend"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Brendan Nordstrom<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

The first round of the NFL playoffs, now known as Super Wild Card Weekend, isn\u2019t typically known for its parity. Last season, only one upset occurred (the Dallas Cowboys QB draw decision is still mindboggling), and there were only two games that kept it within a score. <\/span><\/p>\n

This season differed vastly with multiple nail-biting, down-to-the-wire finishes. The Miami Dolphins nearly knocked off the favorites but took a boneheaded delay of game; the Baltimore Ravens were <\/span>0.6 yards<\/span><\/a> from cleaning up the defending conference champions; and the Los Angeles Chargers, well, Chargered.<\/span><\/p>\n

With even more at stake this weekend, this is what we found out from our Wild Card winners.<\/span><\/p>\n

San Francisco 49ers: They really are that good<\/b><\/p>\n

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Photo Credit: Cooper Neill\/Getty Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

While other favorites faltered, the 49ers displayed dominance on all sides of the ball. <\/span><\/p>\n

Christian McCaffrey cracked 100 rushing yards as six receivers recorded multiple receptions, including Deebo Samuel, who scored a 74-yard touchdown. <\/span><\/p>\n

Rookie Brock Purdy is proving to be a suitable game manager with 300+ yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions. Some people saw the seventh rounder as a liability, but he\u2019s been more than serviceable \u2013 I still expect his inexperience to slip out along the way, but his team\u2019s good enough to cover it up. <\/span><\/p>\n

The defense shut down Seattle\u2019s early threats, but if there is a weak spot, the secondary needs to tighten up against the Cowboys next week, limiting CeeDee Lamb in what should be a more competitive game. I really had to dig to find a weakness, though, as San Francisco looks to be in prime Super Bowl form.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Jacksonville Jaguars: Good enough to clean up a lot of mistakes<\/b><\/p>\n

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Photo Credit: Kevin Sabitus\/Getty Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Jaguars are now 1-1 in games where Trevor Lawrence throws four interceptions in a half \u2013 which honestly isn\u2019t a bad percentage for that stat. <\/span><\/p>\n

What looked like a classic Wild Card man-handling by the Chargers turned out to be the best game of the weekend. I\u2019ll give a shoutout to Chargers safety Asante Samuel Jr. for his three interceptions, which got lost in the chaos of the game. <\/span><\/p>\n

The Jaguars defense played very well despite some ugly cards dealt to them early on. I was most impressed with Lawrence\u2019s tenacity down the stretch, fitting throws in ridiculously tight windows with a rocket-like zip on the ball. Head coach Doug Pederson is steering a ship with a full head of momentum and nothing to lose that could be on pace for an improbable, 2020 Bengals-type run.<\/span><\/p>\n

Buffalo Bills: Need better preparation<\/b><\/p>\n

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Photo Credit: Adrian Kraus\/AP Photo<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

While I love Josh Allen, it would be unfair not to scrutinize him for his two interceptions and three fumbles on Sunday afternoon. Unfortunately, that\u2019s a consequence of his play style. <\/span><\/p>\n

In the last 11 games, Allen has thrown 12 interceptions and fumbled 13 times, but has 26 total touchdowns, according to a <\/span>tweet<\/span><\/a> by Mike Catalana. <\/span><\/p>\n

Boxing in Allen may lead to less giveaways, but it also leads to less touchdowns. It\u2019s similar to an NBA team that lives and dies by the 3-pointer \u2013 a great formula to win, until the shots don\u2019t fall. <\/span><\/p>\n

The Bills defense has been top-notch all season, but nearly let seventh-round rookie Skylar Thompson upset their Super Bowl bid. The truth of the matter is that the Bills haven\u2019t looked prepared the last couple weeks. Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow is much more formidable than Thompson, so it\u2019s a problem that needs to be addressed soon. <\/span><\/p>\n

The defense needs to close its gaps and Allen needs to be feeling his 3-point stroke in order to keep their hopes alive in what should be an emotionally charged game against the Bengals in the wake of Damar Hamlin\u2019s recovery.<\/span><\/p>\n

The New York Giants: Rely on the play action<\/b><\/p>\n

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Photo Credit: Matt Krohn\/USA TODAY Sports<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Giants won the upset that everyone saw coming. The Giants defense did a great job limiting Justin Jefferson and Minnesota\u2019s WR2 Adam Thielen to below 50 yards apiece. <\/span>Next week, the defense\u2019s only job is to hold firm and contain Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts. <\/span><\/p>\n

Part of the formula that\u2019s worked so well for the Giants up to this point is the play action. Around 30% of Daniel Jones\u2019 passing plays are play action and nearly 30% of his passing yards are off the play action, according to <\/span>Pro Football Reference<\/span><\/a>. <\/span><\/p>\n

With Saquon Barkley\u2019s massive comeback season, rushing for 1,312 yards, the Giants need to stay committed. The Giants mixed in the play action against the Vikings as well as a slick <\/span>Statue of Liberty<\/span><\/a>. The Eagles\u2019 weak point is their run defense, which ranks 17th in league, so feeding Barkley and moving through the air with convincing sells is the key to offensive success.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Cincinnati Bengals: O-line is (still) a problem<\/b><\/p>\n

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Photo Credit: Darron Cummings\/AP Photo<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

There\u2019s a lot of reasons this Cincinnati team is picked to win it all \u2013 Joe Burrow is playing like a first-overall pick, the Ja’Marr Chase-Tee Higgins tandem is near-unstoppable and the defense is able to keep pace. <\/span><\/p>\n

However, the Bengals only advanced on account of Baltimore\u2019s self-inflicted wounds. Looming over Cincinnati\u2019s Super Bowl dreams is their porous offensive line. While offseason acquisitions have buffed up Burrow\u2019s protection, injuries have left it tattered. Starting right tackle La\u2019el Collins has a torn ACL and starting right guard Alex Cappa has an ankle injury on top of starting left tackle Jonah Williams dislocating his kneecap on Sunday night. <\/span><\/p>\n

With three starters potentially out, the Bills front seven will be nightmare fuel for Burrow, who will have even less time to get the ball out. The good news is that Burrow and the Bengals made their playoff run last year with an even worse situation up front. The Bills and Bengals will make for a great game in next weekend\u2019s marquee matchup. Even if Cincinnati survives, they\u2019ll need to get healthy quick because it\u2019s far from a sustainable winning formula.<\/span><\/p>\n

Dallas Cowboys: Unstoppable when Dak doesn\u2019t throw interceptions<\/b><\/p>\n

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Photo Credit: Chris O’Meara\/AP Photo<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Cowboys had themselves a night in front of the Tampa Bay faithful on Monday. With Dallas\u2019s up-and-down play the last few weeks of the season, I thought they were due for another first-round exit, or at the very least a competitive game. Dak Prescott\u2019s league-leading interceptions and 11 interceptions in the last seven games seemed to be a liability. <\/span><\/p>\n

All credit to Prescott and the Cowboys for taking care of business with a 31-14 victory in what could be Tom Brady\u2019s final ride in Tampa. Prescott shined with 305 yards and four TDs, but most importantly zero interceptions. <\/span><\/p>\n

Dallas and Prescott have a narrow margin for error against a formidable 49ers squad who rank first in interceptions across the league. Dallas can make it a game if Dak stays in this form, but if mistakes start compounding it could get ugly for “America\u2019s Team.”<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Brendan Nordstrom The first round of the NFL playoffs, now known as Super Wild Card Weekend, isn\u2019t typically known for its parity. Last season, only one upset occurred (the Dallas Cowboys QB draw decision is still mindboggling), and there were only two games that kept it within a score. This season differed vastly with […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19990,"featured_media":35984,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1024,1050,1035,19],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35982"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/19990"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35982"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35982\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":35993,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35982\/revisions\/35993"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/35984"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35982"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35982"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35982"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}