Home Sports Asked & Answered, Wild-Card Weekend: Lamar Jackson and Derrick Henry are the most lethal 1-2 punch in football

Asked & Answered, Wild-Card Weekend: Lamar Jackson and Derrick Henry are the most lethal 1-2 punch in football

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TAMPA, FLORIDA – JANUARY 12: Jayden Daniels #5 of the Washington Commanders carries the ball during the first half of an NFL football wild card playoff game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Raymond James Stadium on January 12 2025 in Tampa, Florida. (Photo by Kevin Sabitus/Getty Images)

Each week of the NFL season brings a host of new questions…and answers some old ones, too. Let’s review what we learned from Wild Card weekend… and what we’ll be asking ourselves in the divisional round and beyond.

Look, we all knew Baltimore was probably going to rough up Pittsburgh, even given the usual AFC North rivalry warnings. Pittsburgh came in on a four-game losing streak, with little indication that there was any consistency in their offensive game plan or, indeed, any sanity in their locker room. Still, the merciless stomps Baltimore unleashed left jaws dropping. The Ravens built a 21-0 halftime lead, and just as Pittsburgh managed a single touchdown and the smallest flame of hope flickered, BOOM, here comes Derrick Henry with a 44-yard touchdown to put out that flame in the cold. reality.

Without Zay Flowers in the lineup, Baltimore switched to run-first, and holy cow did it work. Henry had 186 yards and two touchdowns, Lamar Jackson added another 81 yards and Pittsburgh was never close, as Art But Make It Sports so eloquently described:

Make time for next week’s Baltimore-Buffalo game. Given the way Buffalo boned Denver with ruthless efficiency, this will be a classic.

We don’t recommend earning through doink, but we don’t necessarily disapprove of it either; In the postseason, you do what you have to do to advance, even if it means a shot off the right post. Washington escaped Tampa Bay on Sunday night with a victory, and in doing so could have given the rest of the NFC a real break. Tampa Bay, quarterbacked by Baker Mayfield, was the most infuriating team in the playoffs, a bunch of filthy pugs who never acknowledged defeat until it was beaten.

With all due respect to Tom Brady, Joe Montana et. al., but this season Mayfield became the safest possible bet on late comeback drives, finding open men and fighting into daylight to keep drive after drive alive. That’s why it was so shocking to see Tampa Bay come up short on two drives late in the game, the most crucial being a Mayfield fumble that Washington turned into a go-ahead touchdown. Tampa Bay was the meanest playoff team, the one that bites you at the ankles while you pass them by, and the rest of the NFC should be grateful they’re gone.

Jayden Daniels carries the ball during the first half of an NFL football wild card playoff game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Raymond James Stadium. (Photo by Kevin Sabitus/Getty Images)

Jayden Daniels’ abilities were never in doubt coming into this postseason, but his ability to perform under playoff pressure? Well, you never really know how you’ll do until you’re in the pot and the water is boiling. Daniels absolutely shined Sunday night in his postseason debut, throwing for 268 yards and two touchdowns. More than that, he led Washington through a see-saw game that included two deficits and two ties. Washington didn’t punt once, Daniels didn’t throw a single interception, and the Commanders still held the ball for a surprising 10 minutes longer than the Bucs. You can’t do that if your quarterback is faltering in any way, and Daniels showed he has what it takes to survive and thrive in the playoffs.

The key: Daniels’ final drive, 10 plays to cover 51 yards in the final 4:41 of the game. He led Washington to a game-winning field goal and never gave the Bucs a chance to fight back. How will Daniels do against Detroit? The Lions allowed 244 passing yards per game this season (only two teams are worse) and if you give Daniels some space, he’ll likely claim it all for himself.

Hey, remember when Pittsburgh thought they had their answer at quarterback in Justin Fields? And remember when Pittsburgh thought they had an even better answer at quarterback in Russell Wilson? Yes, good times. That old saying that when you have two quarterbacks, you have no quarterbacks is almost literally true in Pittsburgh, where the Steelers are left searching for answers after another early playoff exit and disappointing quarterback play.

Pittsburgh’s veteran options are limited: Kirk Cousins? Sam Darnold? – and picking 21st overall in the draft doesn’t exactly allow for many rookie quarterback options. There are a lot of things going wrong in Pittsburgh right now, but it all starts with the quarterback position.

The playoffs tend to expose narratives like “Green Bay is the under-the-radar team that could do damage.” As it turned out, Green Bay was flying under the radar because they couldn’t fly higher than that and only caused damage to themselves. Jordan Love, injured or not, threw three interceptions. Philadelphia did not convert them into points: the successive drives were two punts and the end of the game. Even without that, Philadelphia’s opportunistic defense and offense kept the Packers in check from the get-go. Philadelphia has won 13 of its last 14 and no one should take the Iggles lightly right now.

So, depending on whether you were watching Nickelodeon’s simulcast of the Chargers-Texans game, you may or may not have known that Jim Harbaugh was kidnapped mid-game by Dirty Bubble, a fearsome SpongeBob SquarePants villain. Here, look at the carnage:

Now, we’re not saying that the Dirty Bubble shaped this game, but we are saying that Houston outscored Los Angeles 32-6 after that hijacking. This game was tremendously ugly for Los Angeles, one of many in the playoffs, and it leads to an inevitable question: Is “Chargering” too much for even Jim Harbaugh to overcome?

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