Chris Myers
Announcer, reporter and play-by-play studio host
Editor’s Note: During the NFL playoffs, Chris Myers and his analysis crew analyze upcoming matchups, whereas offering information, notes and data for inside entry to info that an NFL broadcaster makes use of to organize to name a sport.
Wildcard weekend
Four groups made the playoffs in contrast to final yr: the Los Angeles Chargers and Denver Broncos within the AFC and the Minnesota Vikings and Washington Commanders within the NFC. It’s the thirty fifth consecutive yr with a minimum of 4 new groups within the playoffs, although six division champions had been repeats with three of the 4 newcomers as wild playing cards. The Rams went from wild card to division winners.
This is the primary time since 2012 that each playoff crew has a minimum of 10 wins. In 2022, no fewer than 5 of the 14 playoff groups didn’t win 10 video games, and final yr the Buccaneers and Packers had been 9-8.
This is the fifth postseason with just one bye in every convention. In the earlier 4 seasons below the present format, 4 of the highest eight seeds have reached the Super Bowl. This is the fourth time the Chiefs have been the AFC’s high seed within the Patrick Mahomes period, with two Super Bowl appearances and one Super Bowl victory within the earlier three.
Only one of many final 4 Super Bowls has been received by a crew with a bye (the Chiefs in SB LVII after they beat one other high seed, the Philadelphia Eagles). The Chiefs had been a 3 seed after they received final yr. Tampa Bay in 2020 is the one crew to win three street video games because the fifth seed to look in (and win) the Super Bowl. The Rams had been a 4 seed after they received in 2021 towards one other 4 seed, the Bengals.
CHRIS MYERS ANALYSIS: “NFL wildcard playoff video games have 8 to 12 extra cameras on the telecast than the typical Sunday common season sport. An enhance of 10 extra is estimated for every spherical of the postseason, and on the Super Bowl that complete, together with all cameras, can exceed 100. No sport is roofed extra extensively, which is a giant consider why NFL drama produces so many viewers.
“With the additional cameras, producers and administrators can dedicate one to cowl each distinguished determine within the sport always. I’ll word the completely different interactions as they unfold.”
Analysis of AFC matches
Los Angeles Chargers towards Houston Texans
Of the six street groups, two are favorites, each in video games involving Los Angeles (the away Chargers are 3-point picks in Houston, whereas the house Rams are 1.5-point underdogs to the Vikings).
Chargers coach Jim Harbaugh is within the playoffs for the fourth time in 5 seasons as an NFL coach. In his three earlier appearances, his 49ers had been 3-0 in begins. Including three CFP playoff video games at Michigan, he’s 7-4 as a postseason coach.
The Chargers completed the common season with three consecutive victories, averaging 36 factors per sport (after averaging 21 factors per sport of their first 14 video games).
The 10-7 Texans went 1-5 towards playoff groups, 9-2 towards others. The solely win was towards Buffalo on October 6.
The Chargers aren’t a lot better, at 2-5 towards playoff groups, with the wins coming by dunking Denver.
The Chargers are 12-5 towards the unfold, 9-2 of their final 11.
The Texans are within the wild card spherical for the eighth time since 2011. And every time they performed within the late Saturday afternoon slot. Houston has an excellent report in these video games at 5-2, together with a win final yr over Cleveland.
MYERS ANALYSIS: “When wanting on the photos of the QB-coach on this one, regulate how a lot Jim Harbaugh will probably be an incredible cheerleader for Justin Herbert. Harbaugh instructed us earlier this season that he empowers his gamers and would not get overly concerned of their decision-making. Herbert identified that with Harbaugh and the quarterback place he has rather more freedom than ever earlier than.”
Pittsburgh Steelers towards Baltimore Crows
Much has been made from the truth that a crew hasn’t began the season 0-4 and made the playoffs because the 1992 Chargers.
How about shedding the ultimate 4? The 2024 Steelers are the primary crew to lose their final 4 video games and nonetheless make the playoffs because the 1999 Lions did so by ending 8-8 as champions of a weak NFC Central. They are two of three groups to take action all-time. Those Lions fell meekly in a wild-card sport to Washington, 27-13.
Pittsburgh averaged simply 14.3 factors per sport over the ultimate 4 weeks of the season after averaging 24.8 of their first 13 video games. With a rise to 27.3 factors allowed per sport.
Meanwhile, Baltimore is 4-0 over the identical stretch, together with a snug 34-17 win over the Steelers.
Anything Steelers followers can maintain onto? Pittsburgh is 10-2 in playoff video games towards division opponents, together with 3-1 towards the Ravens. But Baltimore’s win got here within the final such assembly in 2014.
Plus, regardless that they fell to Baltimore a couple of weeks in the past, Pittsburgh nonetheless has six wins of their final eight visits to Baltimore.
This would be the thirty eighth assembly between coaches John Harbaugh and Mike Tomlin (wins: Tomlin 21, Harbaugh 16). The solely extra frequent matchup was Green Bay’s Curly Lambeau and Chicago’s George Halas, who confronted one another 49 instances between 1921 and 1953.
Will Lamar Jackson overcome his issues within the playoffs? The Ravens are simply 2-4 within the postseason below Jackson, scoring greater than 20 factors simply as soon as: a 34-10 win over Houston in final season’s divisional spherical. The losses got here towards 4 completely different groups, three of them at dwelling.
It could be the seventeenth playoff begin for Steelers quarterback Russell Wilson – 9-7 in his time with the Seahawks. With two early Super Bowl runs, Wilson is off to a 7-2 begin within the postseason, 2-5 since 2015. Wilson has put 20-plus factors on the board in 12 of his 16 postseason begins – and managed two of 4 factors wherein he performed. No. He has thrown a minimum of one landing go in his final 13 postseason video games.
MYERS’ ANALYSIS: “Mike Tomlin has a expertise for conveying emotion with delicate expressions, not exaggerated gestures. But he is one of many sport’s most adorable sidelines. He would not work together together with his quarterbacks or anybody else, all that, however when he does that’s fascinating Russell Wilson, alternatively, is a really energetic presence on the sideline with each teammates and coaches.
Denver Broncos towards Buffalo payments
Buffalo and Denver have made a mixed 47 playoff appearances, however that is solely the second time the groups have met within the postseason. The different occasion occurred precisely 32 years in the past, when the Bills received the 1991 AFC Championship Game, 10-7, on January 12, 1992.
The groups haven’t met this season, and the final assembly had a considerably stunning final result because the Broncos – who would end the yr 8-9 – received at Buffalo in Week 10 by a rating of 24-22.
This is Buffalo’s sixth straight season within the playoffs. They opened at dwelling in Wild Card Weekend of their final 4 and received all of them (towards 4 completely different opponents).
On the opposite hand, Denver ended a streak of 9 seasons and not using a playoff look in 2024. All 13 different groups on this postseason have made the playoffs within the final 4 years, even Washington, which received the NFC East in 2020 with a 7-9 report. Denver’s final playoff sport was Super Bowl 50 on the finish of the 2015 season.
Eleven rookie quarterbacks received greater than 10 video games and led their crew to the playoffs, together with the Broncos’ Bo Nix and the Commanders’ Jayden Daniels. It’s the third time a pair of rookies have completed so in the identical season: Andrew Luck and Russell Wilson in 2012 and Joe Flacco and Matt Ryan in 2008. None of the opposite 9 made it to the Super Bowl.
Of the 11, Nix threw probably the most landing passes with 29.
And few bystanders had been sexier than Nix. Only Joe Burrow (29) and Lamar Jackson (26) have thrown greater than Nix’s 24 landing passes in his final 10 video games. Josh Allen, by comparability, has 16 landing passes in that span.
Buffalo’s Josh Allen, together with Lamar Jackson, has emerged as the favourite for the 2024 NFL MVP award. If he had been to win, it will be one thing of a profession validation award as he didn’t throw for 4,000 yards for the primary time since 2020. He had surpassed 2024’s complete of 28 landing passes in every of his earlier 4 seasons as nicely. The massive enchancment for Allen was his career-low six interceptions, which raised his passer ranking to 101.4 after averaging 93.6 within the earlier three campaigns.
A enjoyable reality about Allen is that, whereas identified for his wild performs and relative propensity for interceptions, he hasn’t thrown a choose 6 within the common season or postseason since Week 1 of 2019.
MYERS ANALYSIS: “It’s a special vibe than Jim Harbaugh-Justin Herbert when Sean Payton coaches a quarterback. Look for Payton to indicate extra of a teacher-student interplay with Bo Nix, his drafted QB. Sean encourages him, positive , however the cameras will present that he would not disguise his frustration or anger on the sideline when his boy would not do what the coach expects him to do.”
Chris Myers is an Emmy Award-winning play-by-play announcer, reporter and studio host for FOX Sports. Follow him on Twitter @The_ChrisMyers.
Get extra from the National Football League Follow your favorites to get info on video games, information and extra
