The NFL's first ever Super Wild Card Weekend is in the books, setting the stage for eight teams to duke it out in the Divisional round. Two of those teams hail from the AFC North, and neither one is the team that won the division. That's because the Pittsburgh Steelers, who claimed this year's AFC North title at 12-4, made a first-round exit after meeting their division rivals, the Cleveland Browns, at Heinz Field on Sunday night.
While the Browns only won by 11 points, the game was not as close as the final score indicated. In this week's numbers to know, we'll take a closer look at Cleveland's colossal first quarter and how it helped them put the Steelers away almost as soon as the game began. We'll also examine the other AFC North team that won this weekend, the Baltimore Ravens, who were propelled by the explosive efforts of quarterback Lamar Jackson. In between those notes, we'll bounce around the rest of the Wild Card fallout, picking out the numbers that we found most interesting from the six games that were played.
Let's get it started with No. 1.
1
This will go down as nothing more than a weird bit of NFL trivia, but Washington is the one and only team in league history to win its division with a losing record…and then lose its first playoff game. Only two teams before this season had ever won a division title with a losing record: the 2010 Seattle Seahawks (7-9) and the 2014 Carolina Panthers (7-8-1). The '10 Seahawks beat the New Orleans Saints thanks to the play now known as "The Beast Quake," while the '14 Panthers upset an Arizona Cardinals team that was down to its third-string quarterback in Ryan Lindley.
No one expected Washington to knock off a Tampa Bay Buccaneers team led by Tom Brady (more on him later), but the WFT actually put up a good fight. Taylor Heinicke, who was signed to the practice squad just last month, started the game at quarterback and delivered a heroic performance. His shining moment was a scramble that resulted in an eight-yard touchdown run, cutting Tampa Bay's lead to two points late in the third quarter. Heinicke finished the game with over 300 yards through the air and proved that he belongs in the NFL, after serving as a backup in the XFL last spring.
3
Russell Wilson has only won three of his past nine playoff games. This 3-6 stretch comes after Wilson started his career 6-1 in the postseason. Saturday's 30-20 loss to the Los Angeles Rams was a particularly painful one for Wilson and the Seahawks. John Wolford (zero career touchdown passes) and Jared Goff (fresh off thumb surgery) had a better-combined passer rating (86.1) than Wilson did in the game (72.1). The Rams were also without Aaron Donald for much of the second half and still managed to sack Wilson five times.
The end of Wilson's 2020 campaign was a serious disappointment. He may have led the Seahawks to an NFC West title at 12-4, but Seattle was ultimately ousted by a division rival in the first round of the playoffs. He was the runaway midseason MVP, and now he's unlikely to earn a single vote. The Seahawks averaged 34.3 points per game through their first eight games, then saw that figure drop to 22.8 points per game over their last nine. Letting Russ cook was a good appetizer, but the main course left a lot to be desired.
9
The Chicago Bears only scored nine points in their 21-9 loss to the New Orleans Saints. That is the fewest points scored by a Bears team in the playoffs since Chicago scored just three points in a Divisional round loss to the New York Giants in the 1990-91 playoffs. The Bears scored 30-plus points in four of their final five games in the regular season, but that short-lived offensive success came to a screeching halt against the Saints.
Mitchell Trubisky may have won the NVP (Nickelodeon Valuable Player), but his performance was not award-worthy. He mustered just 107 passing yards on Chicago's first nine drives of the game, then had 92 yards on a meaningless drive at the end of the game. He helped the Bears convert just one of their 10 attempts on third down (and went 0-for-1 on fourth down). Thanks to Trubisky and the Bears' hapless offense, the Saints had an opportunity to warm up their defensive muscles in the Wild Card round. They're going to need them against Brady and the Bucs next weekend.
10
Lamar Jackson won his first playoff game on Sunday. It was also the first time he's led a comeback after trailing by at least 10 points. The Tennessee Titans were leading the Baltimore Ravens 10-0 at the end of the first quarter, and Jackson's critics were getting ready to craft the "0-3 in the playoffs" narrative. The electric signal caller had other plans, though, and changed the direction of the game with a 48-yard scoring sprint in the second quarter. That play tied the game, and the Ravens never looked back from there.
Jackson didn't have his best day throwing the ball — he finished with 179 yards, no touchdown passes and an interception — but his performance on the ground is what broke the game. In total, Jackson rushed for 136 yards on 16 carries. Titans running back Derrick Henry, by comparison, was limited to 40 yards on 18 carries after rushing for over 2,000 yards during the regular season. As a team, the Ravens have rushed for over 200 yards in five of their past six games. Baltimore is rolling, and Lamar is leading the charge.
28
The Cleveland Browns jumped all over the Pittsburgh Steelers in their Wild Card rematch and were leading 28-0 by the end of the first quarter. With that start, the Browns tied the NFL records for most points scored and largest lead in the first quarter of an NFL playoff game. Cleveland gained its massive advantage by capitalizing on Pittsburgh's early mistakes, including a bad snap that was recovered in the end zone for a Browns touchdown. Three of the Steelers' first four drives ended in turnovers that directly led to touchdowns for the Browns.
The Steelers slowed the bleeding and fought back in the second half, but the hole they had dug for themselves was too deep and they lost by a final score of 48-37. Ben Roethlisberger threw the ball a total of 68 times, completing 47 of them for 501 yards and four touchdowns — but his efforts were nullified by four interceptions. The win was Cleveland's first at Heinz Field since 2003, and it was the franchise's first playoff victory since 1994. The Browns have to feel good about themselves heading into the Divisional round, after picking up back-to-back wins over the Steelers in consecutive weeks.
31
After taking down the Washington Football Team, Tom Brady now has 31 career postseason victories. That is near twice as many as Joe Montana (16), who has the second most in NFL history. Brady's 31 wins have come against 17 different teams, meaning he's beaten more teams in the playoffs than any other QB has total postseason wins. That is thorough domination over the league.
Brady also built upon his NFL record for playoff touchdown passes, after throwing two in the Wild Card round. He's now up to 75 in his career, which is 30 more than any other player in league history. Brady will do battle with a familiar foe, Drew Brees and the New Orleans Saints, for a potential 32nd career postseason victory (against potentially the 18th different team). The Saints got the best of Brady in each of their two regular-season meetings, but good luck keeping the GOAT down for a third straight game. The Buccaneers have won five in a row since their bye in Week 13.
300
If you like good, clean quarterback battles, then the Buffalo Bills' 27-24 win over the Indianapolis Colts was the game for you. Josh Allen and Philip Rivers both threw for over 300 yards, and neither team had a turnover. That is the first time in NFL postseason history that has ever happened. Allen gave Buffalo a 14-point lead with his 35-yard touchdown strike to Stefan Diggs early in the fourth quarter, but Rivers rallied the Colts with two fourth-quarter touchdown passes of his own. Rivers also completed a two-point conversion to get the game within three points.
While neither quarterback turned the ball over, Allen did have a fumble on Buffalo's final drive of the game. Had one of Allen's linemen not been able to secure the loose ball, the Colts would've had the ball in Bills territory with less than four minutes left in regulation. No one knows what could've happened from there, but Indy's chances of victory would've been significantly improved. Allen has been playing at an MVP-level all season, but the margin for error will only get slimmer from here. He cannot afford any more of these blunders moving forward.