Plus, Taron Johnson’s pick-six the play of the postseason, a mortal Aaron Donald, Justin Tucker doinks, and much more.
Reacting and overreacting to everything that happened in the Divisional Round playoffs...
Things That Made Me Giddy
Taron Johnson Runs 101 Yards Into the End Zone . . . and Into Our Hearts: “The 101 yard interception-return touchdown was a big play” is the kind of analysis you come here for. But, honestly, for Johnson, in a game where points were at a premium, to gather himself and take off rather than just taking the touchback was the biggest play of the postseason so far.
This Packers Offense: Aaron Rodgers left a couple throws on the field (including a red-zone miss that cost them four points on the first drive) and Allen Lazard had a pretty nasty drop in the third quarter. Yet when it was all said and done, they had 32 points, nearly 500 yards of offense on one of the league’s three best defenses.
Leslie Frazier Does His Part to Ruin the QB Duel: Last week, the Colts really had a bead on Buffalo’s zone coverages, and ultimately the Bills were lucky to escape. Facing a much more difficult Baltimore offense on Saturday night, there was no luck needed. as Frazier stunned the Ravens early with a heavy dose of athletic blitzers, and mixed in coverage calls at the right time—like showing blitz then dropping seven on Taron Johnson’s 101-yard pick-six.
Tremaine Edmunds Shows Up: He had a down year, but Saturday night might have been his best game of the year, and his athleticism was absolutely crucial in defending the Ravens.
Hook-and-Lateral for Two: Though, one might ask, if we only award two points for this, then are we even deserving of something so beautiful?
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Regrets
It Ends Too Early for Lamar Jackson: On a rough night due to high winds, snap issues and a Leslie Frazier defense with a really good game plan, Jackson had to be excellent in this game; the red-zone pick-six was devastating, and one on which he has to use his eyes to move defenders facing him in the tight red zone. But to have a concussion—suffered when having to chase down another bad snap and save a safety—keep him in the locker room for the Ravens’ fourth-quarter comeback attempt seemed especially cruel.
Tyler Huntley’s Ravens: No offense to Tyler Huntley, who did what he could and scared the Bills back into coverage with that near miss on the Hollywood Brown up-and-out. But it was a bummer watching him try to orchestrate a fourth-quarter comeback.
A Mortal Aaron Donald: Credit to the Packers’ front five, specifically Elgton Jenkins, but Donald looked awfully uncomfortable, probably because it’s difficult to breathe with injured ribs. He was invisible, save for the 15-yard personal foul he committed in the first quarter.
And a Mortal Jalen Ramsey: "Torched" would be overstating it, but he lost a couple battles and the overall war to Davante Adams, and Adams also feasted on other DBs with Matt LaFleur dictating matchups. But the Rams aren't going to win a playoff game with Donald and Ramsey having off days.
Josh Allen Earns a Tony Award: He was also singing during this pratfall. It was like something out of Pippin. (Does Pippin have any pratfalls in it? I've never seen Pippin.)
Justin Tucker Keeps Doinking: Midway through the second quarter, he was on pace to become the first kicker to hit each of the field’s four uprights in a single game.
Shotgun Snaps in Western New York: Was it really a wind thing like Michele Tafoya reported at halftime?
A Broken PAT: What would you do in an emergency situation? Would you run toward the danger, or run away from it? Or would you shovel the ball to your 36-year-old kicker with the expectation that he’ll weave his way into the end zone?
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Moments We’ll Tell Our Grandkids About
Davante Adams in Motion: Adams coming full speed on the motion is a nightmare—and, surely, Jalen Ramsey isn’t expected to chase him down. But this causes beautiful chaos in the Rams’ defensive backfield.
Josh Allen Overcomes Uncontrollable Falling Down Syndrome: Remember, from Brad Goodman’s Feel Bad Rainbow?
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What We’ll Be Talking About This Week
So Help Me God if We Have to Relive Lamar-in-Big-Game Debates: He walked into a buzz saw against a very good Bills defense in some very difficult conditions. He made a brutal red-zone mistake—with seven zone defenders staring into the backfield in the tight red zone, he has to be able to manipulate them with his eyes. But he’s 25, he has a come-from-behind road playoff win under his belt, and he did it while surrounded by a lot of fill-ins. He will lose some big games in the future, and he will also win many.
Brandon Staley Has Some Interviews Coming Up: I suspect the 38-year-old will grab one of the remaining open jobs and further grow the Sean McVay coaching tree. So someone teach him how to tie a Windsor knot. Because they don’t like it when you wear one of those t-shirts with the tie painted on it.
What of Jared Goff?: He played pretty well at Lambeau all things considered (“things” as in the pins in his thumb), but for all the neat ways they attacked horizontally the lack of explosive plays in the Rams’ passing game this year was noticeable. Goff is indisputably their guy next year, and perhaps deceptively fast Van Jefferson emerges as a field-stretcher, but it will be interesting to see what Sean McVay cooks up to get those chunk plays back again.
Is the New Jake From State Farm Also in a Hyundai Commercial?: Is that allowed? I feel like we all should have had to sign off on that.
Matt LaFleur Has Been Successful: 26-6 in the regular season and now back-to-back trips to the conference title game is pretty good.
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