Wildcard weekend is in the books. There were a few surprise results but most games went as expected.
Titans 22 Chiefs 21
The Titans stormed back down 21-3 at the half to win 22-21 at Kansas City. Mariota notched an 88 qb rating and Derek Henry had 197 yards from scrimmage. Alex Smith had a 116 qb rating but Hunt was slowed at 3.8 ypc on only 11 carries. Mariota caught his own td pass and Eric Decker caught the game winner. Mike Mularky saved his job. The Titans move on and should be slaughtered at New England on Saturday.
Falcons 26 Rams 13
Playoff experience matters as the fake 6th seed beat the 3rd seed in Los Angeles. Ryan had a 101 qb rating with a big td pass to Julio Jones to build a 26-13 lead. Matt Bryant kicked four field goals and the Rams gave Atlanta 10 points from special teams fumbles. Todd Gurley ran well with 101 yards but Goff was not efficient with a 77 rating in his first playoff game. Falcons defense showed up to hold a good offense to 13 points. Atlanta moves on to face the Wentz-less Eagles in Philadelphia. Atlanta is favored over the one seed.
Jaguars 10 Bills 3
Jaguars defense dominated but Bortles struggled. Jacksonville won at home and moves on to face the Steelers. Jaguars crushed the Steelers this year already. This should be a good matchup in Pittsburgh.
Saints 31 Panthers 26
Brees threw for 376 yards and 2 tds as the Saints held on to win 31-26. Cam Newton had a nice 105 rating day but it wasn’t enough in the end as Cam Jordan forced an intentional grounding to lead to a turnover on downs in Saints territory. Graham Gano nailed five field goals as the Panthers couldn’t finish many long drives but Gano missed a 25 harder which cost Carolina in the end. Carolina ran the ball well but the Daints good run game was shut down despite two rushing tds. New Orleans travels to Minnesota to seek revenge for a week 1 thrashing by the Vikings. Should be a great game with some melts.