Winners and losers in the NFL from Sunday
On Sunday, our NFL “final four” was finalized, as the Philadelphia Eagles defeated the Los Angeles Rams, 28-22, for a place in the NFC Championship game, while the Buffalo Bills stamped their ticket to the AFC Championship game with a 27-25 victory over Lamar Jackson and the Baltimore Ravens.
Both of these contests came down to the very end, as an Eagles’ red-zone stand saved Philly’s offense some embarrassment, while a Mark Andrews drop in the end zone cost Baltimore a playoff win. Let’s take a look at some winners and losers from the divisional round on Sunday.
Winner: Saquon Barkley and the Eagles rushing attack
The Rams defensive starters hadn’t allowed 10 points in a single contest in four straight games entering Sunday. They allowed 13 points in the first quarter. How? The Eagles’ No. 2-ranked rushing attack was on full display.
Jalen Hurts started off the scoring with a 44-yard rushing touchdown on Philly’s opening drive, and then Saquon Barkley got loose for a 62-yard touchdown. Hurts finished with 70 rushing yards and a touchdown on seven carries, while Barkley rushed 26 times for 205 yards and two touchdowns. Those 205 rushing yards are the fifth-most in a playoff game all-time, and marked Barkley’s second 200-yard rushing game of the season. Both came against the Rams.
This is notable because Philadelphia will host the rival Washington Commanders in the NFC Championship game. Washington finished the regular season with the third-worst rushing defense in the NFL (137.5 rushing yards allowed per game).
Loser: Mark Andrews
To say Andrews had a nightmare fourth quarter would be an understatement. With the Ravens trailing by two points and approaching enemy territory, Andrews fumbled away possession after the ball was punched out by Terrel Bernard. That led to a Bills field goal, as Buffalo extended its lead to eight points.
The game wasn’t over at that point, as Baltimore still had 3:29 for a game-tying drive. Jackson came up clutch, going 88 yards down the field and finding Isaiah Likely for the touchdown. The Ravens needed the two-point conversion to tie the game, so Todd Monken gave Andrews a chance at redemption. He did not take advantage of it.
Following this drop, the Ravens couldn’t recover the onside kick, and the game was over. Andrews won’t forget this one for the rest of his career.
“There’s nobody that has more heart, cares more, fights more than Mark,” Ravens head coach John Harbaugh told reporters after the game. “We wouldn’t be here without Mark Andrews … Mark will handle it fantastic because he’s a high character person.”
The second-year Eagles defensive tackle had a legendary performance vs. the Rams on Sunday. Carter racked up five total tackles, two sacks, one pass defensed, three QB hits and a very important forced fumble on the first play of the fourth quarter.
The Rams offensive line struggled to contain the former Georgia Bulldog, including on the play that may have decided the game:
Loser: Lamar Jackson
The “Playoff Lamar” narrative came up again in the first half of the Ravens’ matchup with the Bills, as Jackson threw an interception and fumbled away possession while Josh Allen rushed for two touchdowns to help secure a double-digit lead at halftime. However, Jackson battled back in impressive fashion with a nine-point run in the third quarter, and then of course led what he hoped would be the game-tying drive late in the fourth quarter.
Still, Jackson comes out of the divisional round a “loser.” The two-time NFL MVP is now 3-5 in the playoffs, and the Ravens have a -12 turnover margin in his five playoff losses. Consider that Jackson has registered multiple turnovers in 50% of his playoff starts, and 15% of his regular-season starts. The Ravens losing the turnover battle 3-0 was a big reason why Baltimore is now turning its attention to the offseason.
Verse’s Rams lost on Sunday, but he absolutely balled on a national stage. If you’re unaware, the Defensive Rookie of the Year favorite said he hated Eagles fans ahead of their divisional-round showdown, and leaned into his headline-grabbing comments by talking trash as soon as he hit the field for pregame warmups. Verse blew kisses to Eagles fans before kickoff, and notched two sacks of Hurts in the first two quarters, making him the first rookie to record two sacks in a postseason game since Nick Bosa in 2018, according to the Rams.
Verse and his young Rams defensive front really showed out over the last two weeks. Los Angeles recorded a total of 16 sacks in its two postseason games. That’s the most in a two-game span in playoff history, and tied for the third-most in a single postseason all-time, according to CBS Sports Research.
Loser: Nick Sirianni/Kellen Moore
It’s not something new: Nick Sirianni and/or Kellen Moore drawing the ire of their fan base despite a winning effort. Philly’s offensive decision-makers made some questionable calls in their divisional-round win over the Rams.
At the end of the first half, Hurts was sacked and fumbled the ball. It was recovered by teammate Kenneth Gainwell, but Philly was now facing a third-and-21 at the Rams’ 47-yard line. Instead of using his final timeout and trying to pick up some yards to get into field goal range, Sirianni allowed the clock to wind down to three seconds for a Hail Mary attempt. Hurts then just took another sack.
With 2:48 remaining in the fourth quarter and the Eagles up six points, Hurts kept the ball off play action on a second-and-7, but fooled no one and was sacked by Kobie Turner. That sack led to a third-and-19, which basically guaranteed the Rams would get the ball back. When Matthew Stafford did get the ball back, L.A. moved the ball all the way to the Eagles’ 13-yard line before the comeback bid fell short.
It reminded me of when the Eagles decided to pass the ball while nursing a three-point lead with 1:46 remaining vs. the Atlanta Falcons in Week 2, instead of running clock when they should have. That costly Barkley drop led to an Eagles loss thanks to some heroics from Kirk Cousins. If the Eagles just ran the ball FORWARD on second-and-7 Sunday, they could have potentially iced the game. Instead, they gifted the Rams an opportunity for a comeback victory. Can you imagine if L.A. had pulled it off?
Winner: The Bills
The Bills are winners because they are off to the AFC Championship game, obviously, but zoom out and take a look at how this season has gone for Buffalo. How did Allen lose his top two wide receivers this offseason and get better on offense? It’s not like the Stefon Diggs and Gabe Davis replacements balled out, either. Rookie Keon Coleman caught one pass for five yards on Sunday, and trade-deadline acquisition Amari Cooper caught zero passes. Yet, the Bills still beat the Ravens in the divisional round of the playoffs.
Many believed the Bills would take a massive step backwards in 2024 with all of their losses on both sides of the ball. Yet they went undefeated at home and are now one game away from the Super Bowl, facing a team they already defeated earlier this season. Allen’s MVP campaign and just how the Bills have played in general is one of the big storylines of the 2024 season.
