Neil Reynolds of Sky Sports had the final say on NFL Super Wild Card Weekend; join Neil and the guests of Inside the Huddle every Tuesday at 9:00 pm on Sky Sports NFL as they revisit the highlights of the weekend…
Super Wild Card Weekend was the stage for late-night drama in Dallas, Josh Allen’s magic in Buffalo, and a look ahead with Joe Burrow in Cincinnati as the NFL’s Super Bowl LVI race was shortened to the final eight.
I thought Paul Brown Stadium had a fantastic atmosphere. You could tell how much it meant to Bengals fans to move closer to a playoff victory, like the Browns did with the fans in Cleveland last year. As for me, I’m just looking forward to watching Joe Burrow and Ja’Marr Chase for the next 10 years. It’s no surprise that this game is over considering the Raiders won six games in the final game, but I thought the best team won and I love watching Joe Burrow and Ja’Marr Chase and we’re going to enjoy it for years to come.
If you look at Burrow, he’s gained a bit of arm strength this year, but he cuts the guard surgically, and when I think about who’s done it the best in history, it’s Joe Montana and Tom Brady, and it’s interesting that Steve Spanuolo compared him to Brady. also a few weeks ago. I think Joe Burrow is really special for Bengalis.
It took the full 60 minutes to find out who wins the Bengals and Raiders game, I think it took about six minutes to find out who wins this game in Buffalo. We saw something historical. Josh Allen and the Bills offense was historic, having more touchdown passes than missed ones, five touchdowns to four missed.
I actually saw a quarterback do it live, it was Kurt Warner in the 2009 Wild Card game, I was at that game and Warner threw five touchdowns against four unfinished indoor games. Josh Allen just did it in minus 13 degrees Celsius. Just a historic performance, there was no negative play all night and they were of a different class. The place was amazing, Fitz was there shirtless, I would love to join him and watch this game with him, a very special night for Buffalo. We’ve all seen something really special about Josh Allen, he’s sensational.
It was an almost routine win for Tampa Bay, and they will be worried about injuries to their offensive line, especially now that the Los Angeles Rams come out in the next round. But I think they were very effective offensively, they just did enough. And they confused and confused and dominated Jalen Hurts, it was just a reminder that Jalen Hurts was three years old when Tom Brady won his first Super Bowl; on the one hand rich experience, on the other – no, and Jalen Hurts just was not ready. It was kind of a reminder from the Bucks that they have two sides to football because it’s fair to say we talk so much about Brady and his history and everything he strives for in his quest for an eighth Super Bowl, but Tampa Bay recalled Sunday they also have a good defense. I think it was a very good performance on their part.
This game has been delivered. We talked about it, promoted it, and it really worked out. Obviously everyone is talking about the play at the end. I have a few thoughts that I want to get across: firstly, I think it detracts from the fact that the 49ers deserved to win the game, I thought they were the best team, I thought they were more efficient, and The Cowboys shot themselves in the foot from penalty after penalty. The only thing that bothers me about the 49ers is that they get tight late games and Jimmy Garoppolo gets tight late games and we will always question the wobbliness that sometimes happens to Kyle Shanahan in the playoffs due to his history. It’s always up in the air for the 49ers, but they’ve won eight out of 10 and look good.
It frustrates and annoys me that Mike McCarthy walks out after this game, turns to the journalist and says, “Is that the quote you were looking for?” because he criticized the officials. It’s about Mike McCarthy having some control issues, it’s about Duck Prescott being executed, I think the CBS team explained it perfectly on Sunday night. It has nothing to do with officials, it has nothing to do with the Dallas Cowboys, and the sooner they take charge, the better. If you don’t give up and get close to the defender, then you will get tangled between your arms and legs and that defender will try to keep you on the floor, secondly, you also risk your receivers having to come back from the field in time and you have to pass the ball to the referee, so that it was all in Dallas.
Jerry Jones has made it clear that he thinks his lineup is good enough to win the Super Bowl and if Mike McCarthy has no issues in the next couple of weeks I think he will enter 2022 in a hot spot.
