Wildcard Review as the Browns stun the Steelers.

Despite all the headlines of 2020 offseason and all the headlines of covid testing and reshuffling of matches, the NFL season has played its 256 regular-season games despite concerns that some people thought we might still be looking at a delayed Super Bowl. The Playoffs have come round, and they are different as they have now changed how the playoffs work. The NFL now has 14 teams in the playoffs 7 in each conference. How does it work simply put the Number 1 seeds, in this case in the AFC it's the defending champions Kansas City Chiefs, and in the NFC the Green Bay Packers will get a bye to the next round. And they had earned home-field advantage throughout the playoffs to the Super Bowl. The remaining 6 teams in each conference play this weekend with the highest seed playing lowest seed. The AFC matches are the Buffalo Bills vs the Indianapolis Colts, the Pittsburgh Steelers vs the Cleveland Browns, and the rematch of last-years' divisional match between the Tennesse Titans vs the Baltimore Ravens. In the NFC it's the New Orleans Saints vs Chicago Bears, the Seattle Seahawks vs the Los Angeles Rams and the Washington Football Team (formerly known as the Redskins) vs the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

This has meant that there will be 2 tripleheaders on and 6 teams will go one step closer to the Super Bowl, and 6 teams will have their season end. Saturday's matches were the Bills vs Colts, Seahawks vs Rams and Washington vs Tampa. Sunday's tripleheader was the Titans vs Ravens, Saints vs Bears and Steelers vs Browns.

Josh Allen looking to take the Bills to Tampa

The Bills entered the playoffs having been champions of the AFC East for the first time since 1995 and have been a team on the rise in the last few years and have been looking to take over from the New England Patriots and they have done it at last with stars like Josh Allen, Stefon Diggs and Josh Norman. Meanwhile, the Colts are back in the playoffs after a few years away and now have Phillip Rivers at the helm and got the seventh seed after falling short of the AFC South title last week. Colts were the first to score after a field goal with 5 and a half minutes left in the 1st quarter. Buffalo then scored their first touchdown in 3 minutes. The first quarter ended 7-3 Buffalo. The Colts then scored a touchdown with 8 minutes to go in the half. Right at the end of the half the Colts tried to extend their lead on a 4th down from the 4-yard line but missed the touchdown play. Buffalo made them pay with a touchdown right at halftime to make it 14-10 Bills. After the Bills scored a field goal, the Colts missed the field goal by hitting the post and bouncing in front of the posts. Buffalo scored their 3rd touchdown courtesy of Diggs from a 40-yard pass. Colts made a quick response with a touchdown and went for the 2 point conversions but was stuffed short. Kicker Tyler Bass kicked a 54-yard field goal to make it 27-16 Bills. Colts got a touchdown to make 27-24. The game went down to the wire as Colts tried to get close enough for their kicker to score the points to take it to overtime. They then tried a Hail Mary, but the pass was incomplete, ending the game. This meant that they will be playing at home next week in the divisional round.

The big match between Ramsay and Metcalf

The next game was the NFC West rivals between the LA Rams and the Seattle Seahawks. The Rams announced that they were starting John Wolford over Jared Goff after he had got a thumb injury in week 16. The Seahawks clinched the NFC West with a 12-4 record, and the Rams had clinched the 6th seed with a 10-6 record. Wolford went off with a potential injury and Goff came in, and LA scored an early field goal. That was the only score in a quick-paced 1st quarter. After another 2 field goals, it's been a physical battle. Then Darius Williams picked off Russel Wilson for a pick-six. Then Seattle got a touchdown of their own with less than 4 minutes to go in the half. Cam Akers made it a 10 point game when he ran in a 5-yard run play to make it 20-10 LA. The third quarter was close, and the only points came off a field goal. The 4th quarter was also quiet until the Rams recovered a fumble on a punt return and then Goff threw the game-clinching touchdown to Robert Woods. Rams won the game with a possible visit to either Green Bay or the winner of the Washington and Tampa game depending on the results of the other 2 NFC games after winning 30-20.

Brady in new colours

The last game of the Saturday was Washington vs Tampa. Washington came from a bad division in the NFC East and only won the division on the regular season's last game. They also had a tumultuous preseason in which they had to change their nickname, and during the season they had to let their 1st round pick Dwayne Haskins after his conduct. Meanwhile, Tampa was in the playoffs after having an up and down season coming second to the New Orleans Saints. Tampa made headlines in the preseason getting Tom Brady and his mate Rob Gronkowski and added Antonio Brown halfway through the season. The Bucs first drive ended up with a field goal that was converted to make it 3-0. Brady took advantage of a tipped interception and threw a touchdown pass to Antonio Brown. However, the extra point was missed, so the score at the end of the 1st quarter was 9-0 Tampa. Washington responded with a touchdown of their own early in the 2nd.  The Buccaneers scored their second touchdown a couple of minutes later and went for a 2 point conversion which wasn't converted, so it was only 15-7 Tampa. They made it 18-7 at halftime after a 23-yard field goal. Then in the second half Washington came out to fight and they made it more of a contest with a fumble recovery and a touchdown of their own but Tampa added a touchdown and 2 field goals to make it 31-23.

NFL's leading rusher Derrick Henry

Sunday's first game was a re-run of last years divisional round match when the Titans defeated the Ravens in Baltimore. However, the tides have changed, and the Titans look to be the team to keep an eye on with Ryan Tannehill looking impressive and Derrick Henry coming off a 2000 yard rushing season. Last years MVP Lamar Jackson did not have a great season and looked like a shadow to what he did last season. The Titans offence started off bright scoring an early touchdown with AJ Brown catching the ball one-handed making it 7-0. Then on the next drive, the Jackson threw an interception to former Patriot Malcolm Butler. The titans went down the field, and former Patriot Stephen Gostowski kicked a field goal to make it 10-0. The second quarter belonged to the Ravens as they got a touchdown courtesy of Jackson running in himself and a field goal to make it 10-10 at halftime. The Ravens took the lead early in the 3rd with JK Dobbins running in to make it 17-10. The Ravens carried on their dominance and ended the game when Marcus Peters intercepted Tannehill. The Ravens got their revenge winning 20-13.

Mitchell Trubisky looking to take Chicago to the Super Bowl

Up next was the Saints vs Bears game and the Saints want to end years of playoff hurt after having 3 cruel defeats in recent years. The Saints took the 10 minutes into the match after an 11-yard touchdown catch by Michael Thomas, which proved to be the only score of the 1st quarter. The Bears had a better start to the second half with an overturned interception then, they had a fumble recovery. Then the Saints thought they had a fumble recovery, but the referees disagreed. The Bears then had receiver Anthony Miller disqualified (NFL term for a red card in football). The Saints then scored their second touchdown on a broken down 11-yard pass to Latavius Murray. The Saints had looked to have clinched the game with Alvin Kamara running the ball in from 4 yards out. The Bears finished with a whimper with the former Saints tight end Jimmy Graham one hand catching the ball to get a conciliatory touchdown. The win meant that it would be an NFC South rivalry between the New Orleans Saints and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and the LA Rams would go up to Green Bay.

Baker Mayfield looking to end Cleveland's playoff drought

The final game of the weekend was the Pittsburgh Steelers vs the Cleveland Browns. The Browns are in the playoffs for the first time since the 2002 season and win their first playoff game since 1994. Meanwhile, Pittsburgh has been in 3 Super Bowls since and have dominated the Browns for years. The first play of the game was spectacular as the ball went over Ben Roethlisberger's head and the ball was recovered in the end zone by Cleveland to make it 7-0 without the Browns offence even stepping on the pitch. Then on the next drive, Roethlisberger threw an interception. The Browns made them pay three plays later when Jarvis Landry ran in for the first offensive touchdown. The Browns' magical first quarter was carrying on with a Kareem Hunt rushing touchdown to make it 21-0 after 10 minutes into the game. Roethlisberger threw a second interception and stunning everyone in America. Hunt made it 28-0 with 3 minutes to go in the 1st quarter. The Steelers did get 10 points in the second quarter but went into halftime with 35-10. The 3rd quarter belonged to the Steelers with 2 touchdowns and stopping the Browns on all their drives. Then Cleveland realised they needed points to seal the game and they did with a touchdown and 2 field goals and even picked Roethlisberger again. Pittsburgh did get a conciliatory touchdown, and the Browns won the game 48-37 and booked a match against the Kansas City Chief next week.

The divisional round is next week. I'll be back with more next week.

KRO Mark.