NFL wild-card weekend grades from around the league

Not many predictions sent the Cardinals (11-7) to the playoffs. Deeming this season a disappointment is off-base. But going from being the last unbeaten, at 7-0, to crash-landing in this fashion does invite doubt. The Cards averaged 1.5 yards per play in the first half -- the worst playoff first half in 15 years -- and let the Rams run away. Kyler Murray's 7.6 QBR figure wraps another season in which the diminutive talent regressed down the stretch. For as much as Kliff Kingsbury's team tried to create depth around DeAndre Hopkins, its Nuk-less lineup laid an egg Monday. Its no-show underscores a key question ahead of Hopkins' age-30 season.

CARDINALS GRADE: F 

Although the Cardinals employ a top-10 QB who has not reached his ceiling, Murray is now eligible for an extension that will cost north of $40 million annually. The Cards going 0-1 in playoff games during Murray's rookie-deal window squandered the NFL's top roster-building cheat code. Age will also work against the Cards. J.J. Watt and DeAndre Hopkins remained high-level starters when healthy, but the ex-Texans megastars missed a combined 17 games. O-linemen Rodney Hudson and Justin Pugh will soon be 33 and 32, respectively, while Chandler Jones (32 in February) is unsigned. Even before factoring in needs, the Cards face difficult questions. 

Von Miller and Odell Beckham Jr. did not deliver steady production during their initial weeks in Los Angeles. But the Rams (13-5) added those free agents-to-be for the playoffs. Through one night, the bets paid off. Marooned on QB-limited Broncos teams since Super Bowl 50, Miller made pivotal early advances into Arizona's backfield and finished with a sack and three tackles for loss. Beckham lacks the every-down impact he possessed as a Giant, but his high-point TD showed he is still a needle-mover. Either he or Tee Higgins is the best WR2 left in the playoffs. The Rams beating out the Packers in the low-cost OBJ free agency derby is becoming crucial. 

RAMS GRADE: A | NEXT: at Buccaneers (Sun.)

Sean McVay's team underachieved at points this season. But it houses two lock Hall of Famers (Miller and Aaron Donald) and more talents moving toward Canton conversations. Los Angeles' best players (save for Robert Woods) are healthy, and Cam Akers' comeback from a late-July Achilles tear is pushing to rival Terrell Suggs' rehab odyssey for the Super Bowl XLVII-winning Ravens. The Buccaneers are more consistent, only the Panthers, Jets, and Eagles do not paint a clear picture of their passing game's viability without Chris Godwin and Antonio Brown. The Rams boast a better roster than when they handled the Bucs in Week 3, and the defending champions are worse. A prime opportunity exists for Matthew Stafford and Co.

A few teams contained the Chiefs' aerial show this season, injecting doubt about the team sustaining its historic pace. The Steelers failed to do so in both meetings, giving the Chiefs more juice as they aim to defend their AFC title again. Sporting a top-10 pass defense, the Steelers (9-8-1) crumbled after a solid start. Letting Travis Kelce and Tyreek Hill go by them for easy TDs reminded Kansas City viewers of previous seasons. Patrick Mahomes finished with 662 yards and an 8-1 TD-INT ratio in two Steelers meetings this season. With Cam Heyward 33 in May, Joe Haden likely exiting and Minkah Fitzpatrick soon set to make much more money, Pittsburgh's equation looks more difficult going forward.

STEELERS GRADE: D-minus 

Entering Sunday, Ben Roethlisberger was the only QB with a 400-yard, five-touchdown playoff game -- a 2017 shootout loss to the Jaguars. Mahomes accomplished the TD part barely five minutes into the second half. Needing just 11 minutes, 31 seconds of game action to do this -- appreciate Andy Reid's goal-line play sheet while you can -- Mahomes got to five TD tosses quicker than anyone in playoff history. This has not been the smoothest ride for the Chiefs (13-5), with teams' two-high coverage efforts stifling Mahomes frequently. Devin Bush's INT notwithstanding, the once-pick-prone passer has a 17-2 TD-INT ratio since Week 14. Mahomes-Josh Allen IV will be a scene, man. 

CHIEFS GRADE: A | NEXT: vs. Bills (Sun.)

Ben Roethlisberger was predictably overmatched Sunday night. The soon-to-be 40-year-old's inability to keep up with Mahomes ends a steady decline. The NFL is losing another golden-generation QB. Big Ben's ability to extend plays in his younger days produced some of this century's signature highlights. He capitalized on the window the Steelers defense opened en route to three Super Bowls. The Killer B's era left meat on the bone, and Pittsburgh playoff upsets occurred too often post-Super Bowl XLV. But Roethlisberger will coast to Hall of Fame induction. The Steelers did not do enough to find a successor, and if they truly do not intend to acquire a veteran, the franchise faces an interesting path ahead of a shaky QB draft.

Roethlisberger's deep lobs fell incomplete during the relevant portion of Sunday's rout, but it is difficult to articulate the divisional-round level jump that awaits the Chiefs DBs. Josh Allen carved up the Chiefs in October. Chris Jones did not play in that game, and the Chiefs have improved defensively since. But Jones was on the field in Cincinnati, when Joe Burrow (feat. Ja'Marr Chase, a lot) ripped through Charvarius Ward and the Kansas City secondary. Dodging Aaron Rodgers and seeing Dak Prescott stripped of his top two weapons, the Chiefs have not contained a high-end QB this season. This secondary against Buffalo's deep aerial crew provides a captivating test.

San Francisco's defense passively let Dallas' final drive approach the red zone, but Deebo Samuel had ensured the Cowboys needed a touchdown to win. The budding superstar's 26-yard TD run kept Robbie Gould on the sidelines, amid a busy day for the veteran kicker, and gave the 49ers (11-7) a 16-point lead. Samuel is a historically efficient chess piece, reminiscent of Lenny Moore generations ago. Samuel's 72 rushing yards are the most for a receiver in a Super Bowl-era playoff game; he totaled 100 from scrimmage. The All-Pro has moved to the top of the stellar 2019 wideout draft class. Deebo shaking off an injury-plagued 2020 provides a microcosm of why the 49ers are here.

49ERS GRADE: B-plus | NEXT: at Packers (Sat.)

Unlike Willie Beamen's Miami Sharks, who won a dramatic playoff game in Dallas thanks to a surprise final-seconds QB-designed run , the Cowboys could not pull off an opening-round miracle. Even before Dak Prescott's post-scramble procedural gaffe ended the game, the Cowboys (12-6) tied an NFL penalty record. Dallas' 14 accepted penalties match three other teams -- including the 2009 Cowboys -- for the most in a playoff game. That made Sunday's conclusion cruelly appropriate. A besieged Prescott struggled, for the most part, throwing 20 incompletions -- including a 3-for-12 mark on passes of 12-plus yards downfield -- and a costly INT that set up Samuel's back-breaker.

COWBOYS GRADE: C-minus

The Packers drew key pass interference penalties and bested a 49ers defense on a rapid-fire final drive in a walk-off September win. San Francisco will enter its Green Bay rematch -- the teams' ninth playoff meeting; all since 1995 -- with defensive momentum. Despite Nick Bosa's first-half concussion, the 49ers finished with five sacks for a second straight game, 14 QB hits and a season-high 22 pressures. Prescott tangled with Bosa's supporting cast all day, with in-season trade get Charles Omenihu posting 1.5 sacks and three QB hits. Inside rushers, Arik Armstead and D.J. Jones added a sack apiece to cap a frustrating day for Dallas' offense. The Packers may well have a tougher Round 2 opponent to navigate than the Bucs will. 

Over a year's time, the Cowboys went from allowing the most points in franchise history to fielding two defensive All-Pros. Trevon Diggs and Micah Parsons are two reasons for optimism. So is Dak's status as by far the NFC East's best quarterback. But this is a bad ending for a team that went 6-0 against its division but 1-5 against non-NFC East playoff teams. The Cowboys received bounce-back seasons from Hall of Fame-caliber O-lineman Tyron Smith and Zack Martin; both will turn 32 this year. Holding the third-worst cap situation presently, the Cowboys face a somewhat uncertain future following their 2021 rebound.

The NFL will trade a diluted playoff field for more postseason broadcasts and "Super Wild Card Weekend" references, but thus far, the Philip Rivers-led Colts' near-upset of the Bills is the only thing propping up the 2020 bracket expansion. Derided in this space for much of the season, the race for the NFC's No. 7 seed predictably produced a sitting duck. The Eagles (9-9) followed in the 2020 Bears' footsteps. Fortunately, Jalen Hurts was ineligible for NVP honors. But the Buccaneers toyed with a team that went 0-8 against playoff competition this season. The Eagles' arrow points up, to some degree, after last season's crash. But they and the Steelers did not represent the No. 7 seed well Sunday.

EAGLES GRADE: F

Brady made the Eagles look like the team that was setting completion percentage-against records earlier this season, firing passes during the Bucs' hurry-up mission. Giovani Bernard and Ke'Shawn Vaughn (145 combined scrimmage yards, two TDs) helped the Bucs (14-4) build their lead without Leonard Fournette. While this 29-for-37, 271-yard performance will not rank among the all-timer's best postseason games, it is remarkable the 44-year-old remains capable of this. Especially as his younger peers keep retiring. It will be interesting to see if Brady can replicate his post-Chris Godwin/Antonio Brown form against tougher competition.

BUCCANEERS GRADE: A | NEXT: vs. Rams (Sun.)

Unless the Packers or Seahawks decide to trade one of their future Hall of Fame QBs within the NFC (extremely unlikely), the Eagles standing pat with Hurts is fine. The dual-threat passer proved many wrong this season and will command a better roster -- after the team makes three first-round picks or wheels and deals with those selections -- next season. Still, the 2020 second-rounder did not look good when forced to pass, missing big plays and throwing two INTs. It capped an inconsistent aerial slate. If the Dolphins are truly prepared to pass on Deshaun Watson, the Eagles have to consider re-entering the conversation. Barring that, Nick Sirianni's postgame Hurts endorsement adds up. 

The Bucs' injured front-seven stalwarts returned to action. But their secondary did plenty to swing the lopsided wild-card tilt. The first of Jordan Whitehead's two tackles for loss set the tone for the NFL's top-rushing attack's long day (95 yards), and safety mate Antoine Winfield Jr. forced an ensuing punt with a sack on a blitz. Mike Edwards' goal-line INT, when the Eagles were trying to enter halftime down only two scores, further drained Philly's tank. This defense returning en masse from Super Bowl LV provides an intriguing safety net for a depleted Bucs offense, which now has situations to monitor on its usually sturdy O-line.

Even going back to Belichick's Giants, Browns, and Jets days, he never endured a playoff defeat on this tier. The Patriots' defense had nothing for the Bills in their Saturday rubber match, despite the team fielding a veteran unit. This 30-point loss marked the Pats' worst playoff defeat since Super Bowl XX and Belichick's most lopsided loss since the Lawyer Milloy revenge game 18 years ago in Orchard Park. Allen shredded the Pats (10-8) in the teams' final two meetings, clouding New England's return to the playoffs. With Devin McCourty and Dont'a Hightower's futures uncertain, and J.C. Jackson on track for a monster payday, the Pats' formula may change for the worse in 2022.

PATRIOTS GRADE: F 

The Bills scored a touchdown or knelt down on every drive -- a first for any regular-season or postseason game. No one had previously scored a touchdown on their first five drives of a playoff contest. The Bills (12-6) did this against a No. 2-ranked Patriots defense. If this Josh Allen-directed conquest is not the greatest offensive game in NFL history -- Super Bowl XXIV, played in above-zero-degree temperatures, was pretty good -- it is one of them. In addition to Allen's near-perfect night, Devin Singletary (81 rushing yards, two TDs) continues his best stretch as a pro, adding to this healthy skill corps' scary capabilities.

BILLS GRADE: A-plus | NEXT: at Chiefs (Sun.)

The Patriots' windy triumph put the Bills on the ropes six weeks ago, opening the door to the near-two-decade AFC East kingpins restoring the status quo. Buffalo reeling off such a performance in the playoffs provides a clear divide between these teams, and New England's task of unseating its new top rival looks more challenging. The Pats still have an edge with a rookie-contract QB, though Mac Jones lost his grip on Offensive Rookie of the Year with a slightly concerning stretch run. And Belichick is returning. Jones needs another starter-caliber receiver, and after trading Stephon Gilmore, the Pats have a major call to make on free-agent-to-be J.C. Jackson.

Bills-Chiefs feels slightly overqualified to be an AFC semifinal, reminding of the 2004 Colts-Patriots Round 2 encounter or the 1997 Broncos' second-round trip to Arrowhead Stadium. The Bills entered last year's AFC championship game with the No. 16-ranked defense. This year, they led the NFL. That included an October romp in Kansas City. Micah Hyde's diving INT signaled a bad Saturday night was ahead for the Patriots, and the Bills defense has played well in all but one game without Tre'Davious White. Tom Brady did wound Buffalo's unit without its All-Pro corner, and Patrick Mahomes' current tear presents a tougher assignment for Leslie Frazier's troops. 

Yes, the Raiders technically should not have been charged with the Joe Burrow-to-Tyler Boyd touchdown. The whistle being blown a fraction of a second before Boyd's third-down grab does not erase Las Vegas' 1-for-5 red zone TD rate. The Bengals protected their jungle end zone effectively. While the Raiders (10-8) offered reasonable resistance as well, Daniel Carlson's four field goal makes -- and Germaine Pratt's clincher INT -- reminded the visitors they were not quite good enough. Credit to Derek Carr nonetheless. The eighth-year QB rebounded from his lost fumble, threw for 310 yards, and nearly forced overtime in his first playoff outing. 

RAIDERS GRADE: C-plus 

The Bengals' Marvin Lewis-era nucleus crash-landed at an ideal time, and the reward continues to transform a previously downtrodden franchise. For some reason behind Dak Prescott in Comeback Player of the Year odds despite leading the NFL in yards per attempt and completion percentage, Burrow reminded the Saturday-afternoon crowd of his talents. Relying heavily on Ja'Marr Chase, Burrow also fit in slick short- and mid-range throws to C.J. Uzomah -- the first to put Cincinnati on the board and the second to set up the hosts' debated TD. Burrow moved Cincinnati's rebuild ahead of schedule, and he makes the Bengals (11-7) a very live underdog against the Ryan Tannehill-piloted Titans. 

BENGALS GRADE: B | at Titans (Sat.)

Rich Bisaccia deserves tremendous credit for the Raiders moving into the playoffs, given the Jon Gruden- and Henry Ruggs-created turmoil that engulfed the team. That said, Mark Davis needs to be careful. Listening to his players' endorsements would saddle the team with a 61-year-old career-long special teams coordinator with close ties to Gruden. Bisaccia worked under Gruden throughout his Tampa Bay and Oakland/Vegas tenures. The Raiders also finished with a minus-65 point differential -- fourth-worst by a playoff team since the 1970 merger. The Raiders once stuck with interim HC Tom Cable, but with the team in better shape now, Mark Davis' 2022 decision looms larger than his father's 2009 call. 

Burying the Bo Jackson curse for good with their first playoff win in 31 years, the Bengals are set to face the shakiest AFC No. 1 seed in at least 13 years (the Titans interestingly have the market cornered on odd top seeds). Maybe longer. Trey Hendrickson's sack-strip and Sam Hubbard dropping Carr near his own goal line set the table for the Bengals' game-long lead, while Pratt and Jessie Bates' late-game end zone protection finished the job. Had some of those Marvin Lewis-led Bengal teams won, Peyton Manning- or Tom Brady-quarterbacked squads would have awaited. Zac Taylor's Bengals, who beat the Titans 31-20 last season, have a great shot to become one of the least expected conference finalists in NFL history.