The six winners of the wild-card round will join the Seahawks and Broncos in the divisional round
By COLINA HARVEY— sports@theaggie.org
On Jan. 10, the National Football League (NFL) playoffs kicked off with the first of six wild-card games, determining who would move on to the divisional round. Already waiting in the next round were the Seattle Seahawks and Denver Broncos, who placed first in their respective conferences and earned a first-round bye.
The first wild card game saw the Los Angeles Rams take on the Carolina Panthers. Although the Panthers were an underdog with a losing record of 8-9, they won their division, earning themselves home-field advantage for this game.
The Rams were looking good to start, scoring a touchdown on their first drive and intercepting a Panther pass early. Rams wide receiver (WR) Puka Nacua started off strong, scoring the first two touchdowns for his team.
A touchdown by running back Chuba Hubbard and then another touchdown by quarterback (QB) Bryce Young kept the Panthers in the game. At the half, they trailed by three with a score of 17-14.
In the fourth quarter, a deep pass from Young to WR Jalen Coker got the Panthers into the redzone, and they were able to convert it to a touchdown, putting them ahead for the first time. However, the Rams responded with a touchdown of their own, taking the lead back.
With just over four minutes to go in the game, the Panthers blocked a Rams punt, and the Panthers capitalized, scoring a touchdown and putting themselves ahead by four with less than three minutes left in the game.
Unfortunately for the Panthers, they could not pull off the upset win. A 25-yard touchdown catch by Rams tight end Colby Parkinson with 40 seconds left won the game for the Rams.
One of the most exciting games of the weekend was between the Green Bay Packers and the Chicago Bears. Although the Bears had a strong season, they struggled to break through the Packers’ defense for most of the game. On the Bears’ first drive, they got into the red zone but could not convert, opting for a field goal. On their second drive, QB Caleb Williams threw an interception.
Meanwhile, the Packers scored three touchdowns in the first half, building a large lead over the Bears. To end the half, the Packers missed a field goal attempt, but still went into halftime with a 21-3 lead.
Although it had been looking bleak for the Bears, they began to mount a comeback. They found their first touchdown in the fourth quarter after scoring two field goals, making it a one-possession game. The Packers responded with a touchdown, making it a two-possession game once again; however, they missed the extra point.
On the Bears’ next possession, facing a fourth down on their own 40-yard line, Williams rolled to his left and completed an improbable cross-body throw under pressure, which was caught at the 30-yard line. The next play, the Bears scored a touchdown and successfully attempted a two-point conversion, narrowing the Packers’ lead to three. On the Packers’ possession, they attempted a 44-yard field goal and missed, giving the Bears just under three minutes to try to win the game.
With less than two minutes to go, Williams threw a deep pass to WR DJ Moore, who was left wide open, pulling off a comeback win for the Bears.
Nevertheless, this is not new territory for the Bears. This season, they achieved seven comeback wins in the final two minutes of the fourth quarter or overtime, setting an all-time record for a single season.
Another close game was the matchup between the Buffalo Bills and the Jacksonville Jaguars. For most of the game, the two teams traded leads, remaining close until the very end.
With less than three minutes to go, Bills QB Josh Allen made a deep pass, getting the Bills into the red zone. Allen then scored a touchdown on a miraculous 10-yard tush push, taking the lead with a minute to go.
The Jaguars had one minute to make something happen, but instead, QB Trevor Lawrence threw an interception, ending the game.
The next match saw the San Francisco 49ers facing off against the Philadelphia Eagles.
The 49ers started the scoring early with a touchdown on their first possession. The Eagles responded with a touchdown of their own, but missed the extra point. Another touchdown for the Eagles gave them the edge at the half, leading 13-10.
An Eagles field goal in the third quarter extended their lead even more. However, an impressive touchdown pass by San Francisco WR Jauan Jennings to running back Christian McCaffrey gave the Niners the lead in the fourth quarter. A last touchdown for the Niners sealed the win against the reigning Super Bowl champions.
In the next game, the New England Patriots won over the Los Angeles Chargers, who failed to score a single touchdown against a strong Patriots defense. New England ended up winning 16-3 and moving on to the next round. Although the Chargers had a solid season, they have struggled to perform in the postseason in recent years.
To round out the wild-card round, the Houston Texans had a 30-6 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers. Although there was not much scoring through the first three quarters, the Texans exploded in the fourth with three touchdowns.
Overall, it was a strong week in football, with many rising victorious and others just falling short.
Written by: Colina Harvey — sports@theaggie.org
