Jordan Love and Jalen Hurts rank third and ninth, respectively, in terms of annual average salary among quarterbacks. Both players were extended after playoff runs — Hurts after the Eagles made the Super Bowl in February 2023, and Love after winning a playoff game last January.
But despite paying a premium for their quarterbacks, both the Eagles and Packers rely on the ground game offensively. Philadelphia and Green Bay ranked second and fifth, respectively, in rushing yards per game during the regular season. It’s not particularly surprising, as both teams signed accomplished running backs in free agency before the season (Josh Jacobs for the Packers and Saquon Barkley for the Eagles).
And each quarterback is mobile in his own right, in particular Hurts, who is effective on designed runs in addition to the infamous ‘Tush Push.’
Expect both offenses to try to dominate on the ground as this game continues.
The Packers converted one third down on their latest drive but couldn’t extend it with another after Nolan Smith Jr. sacked Jordan Love by the ankles. With 5:19 left in the opening quarter, it’s still 7-0 Philadelphia. Star Packers running back Josh Jacobs has four carries for just 11 yards.
Philadelphia couldn’t extend its lead on its second drive. Credit Green Bay’s defense for forcing a punt after a five-play drive.
After fumbling the opening kickoff and going three-and-out before punting on their first drive, the Packers look like a team affected by postseason nerves. Quarterback Jordan Love’s opening pass sailed over the head of his intended receiver and was nearly intercepted. Philadelphia takes over the ball at its own 35-yard line.
Green Bay’s fumble on the opening kickoff has proved costly. Only three plays after Philadelphia recovered the fumble, it leads 7-0 after Jalen Hurts threw an 11-yard touchdown to Jahan Dotson less than 1:40 into this game.
Green Bay received the opening kickoff and promptly fumbled it right back to Philadelphia. Officials reviewed the play but upheld the initial call that the Eagles had recovered. It is the Eagles’ league-high 23rd forced fumble of the season, and gives their offense the ball only 28 yards from the end zone.
Philadelphia has the combination of talent, complimentary football and big-game experience that really nobody else playing this weekend has. The Eagles may not be as exciting as the Lions, but there’s almost too much lack of noise around a team that nearly won a Super Bowl only two years ago.
The Bills survived a very early scare and ultimately dominated the Broncos to advance to the Divisional Round.
The Broncos scored on their opening possession and then never again.
Josh Allen was clean and efficient, completing 20 of 26 passes for 272 yards and two touchdowns.
Next up for Buffalo: The Ravens! Should be a great matchup.
The Eagles and Packers are up next.
Facing a 24-point deficit, the Broncos went for it on 4th-and-17 after Bo Nix was sacked on third down. His fourth-down heave was nearly picked off by Damar Hamlin but the ball hit the ground.
The Bills could end this game on their upcoming drive.
Buffalo took a good chunk of clock out of the fourth quarter, running 13 plays in a drive lasting almost seven minutes. It ended with a 34-yard field goal by Tyler Bass.
The Bills lead 31-7 with 4:37 left in the game. The Broncos have no timeouts remaining.
Though not a No. 1 seed, Buffalo has already beaten the AFC’s No. 1 seed, Kansas City, to break the Chiefs’ 15-game win streak, and their resume also includes a Dec. 15 win on the road against Detroit, the eventual No. 1 seed in the NFC. Few NFL franchises are more snakebitten in the postseason than Buffalo, but if there were ever a season to break Kansas City’s hold on the AFC, this might be it considering how well Josh Allen has played en route to potentially becoming the NFL’s Most Valuable Player.
Not sure about that play call from the Broncos.
Denver, trailing 28-7, went for it on 4th-and-2 but Bo Nix threw well short of the sticks to running back Jaleel McLaughlin, who did not gain enough for the first down.
The Bills now take over on their own 13, and presumably will be looking to chew some clock.
That feels like the dagger.
On 3rd-and-6 from the Buffalo 45, Josh Allen floated a perfect pass to Curtis Samuel, who then outran the Denver defense for a 55-yard touchdown.
It’s a 28-7 Bills lead. The Broncos haven’t scored since their first possession.
It’s not looking good for the Broncos right now. They just went three-and-out for the second straight time. Through four possessions in the second half, the Bills have run 17 plays compared to Denver’s six. And Buffalo has outscored the Broncos 11-0.
After a good return, the Bills start with the ball on their own 41 with a 21-7 lead.
That’s a backbreaking play for the Broncos, and maybe the gamebreaker for the Bills.
Buffalo opted to go for it on 4th-and-1 from the Denver 24, and after Josh Allen had several seconds to throw, he finally found Ty Johnson for a touchdown in the back of the end zone. Johnson just barely stayed in bounds as he slid to make the catch.
An incredible play by both Allen and Johnson.
The Bills now lead 21-7 after a two-point conversion, the first time either team has led by more than one score today.
Sean Payton said coming out of halftime the Broncos need to win the time-of-possession battle. Their most recent drive isn’t going to help.
Denver’s first possession of the second half was a three-and-out. Bo Nix tried to hit Troy Franklin on 3rd-and-5, but the ball went through Franklin’s hand.
The Broncos still haven’t scored since their first drive of the game.
The Bills will take over the ball from their own 27.
Another really nice stop for the Broncos defense, who for the second time today forced a Bills field goal from inside the 10.
Josh Allen had all day to throw on 3rd-and-goal but couldn’t find a receiver and was eventually sacked.
Tyler Bass hit a 27-yard field goal to give Buffalo a 13-7 lead. Denver still hanging around!
And the Bills will have the ball first, starting from their own 36-yard line.
That’s a brutal end to the first half for the Broncos.
Bo Nix led the team into field-goal range with only five seconds left on the clock in the second quarter, but Will Lutz doinked a 50-yarder off the right upright and the kick was no good.
Instead of a 10-10 game at the break, the Bills lead 10-7. And Buffalo will receive the opening kick in the third quarter.
Still, a fun game so far! Denver is hanging around.
While the Bills got the ball out of the shadow of their own end zone, their latest drive eventually stalled out as they approached midfield.
Buffalo had a 2nd-and-8 from its own 40, but a false start penalty and then a sack led to a 3rd-and-21 the offense couldn’t convert, forcing a punt.
The Broncos will take over from their own 10, trailing 10-7. They have all three of their timeouts and 1:52 on the clock.
That momentum shift was short lived.
Three plays after their fake punt, the Broncos punted for real. Denver was on the very edge of field goal range, but opted to kick the ball away from Buffalo’s 39-yard line.
The Bills will now start from their own 1 with a 10-7 lead.
Wow! Gutsy Sean Payton is back!
The Broncos were lining up to punt on 4th-and-8 from their own 43 but instead dialed up a fake punt. Punter Riley Dixon lofted a perfect pass to Marvin Mims for 15 yards and a first down.
Denver is still driving.
That was a bruising drive by the Bills.
Buffalo went 81 yards in 13 plays, doing quite a bit of damage on the ground. James Cook capped the 7:35-long drive with a five-yard touchdown run.
The Bills are now in front 10-7.
Bo Nix couldn’t find an open receiver on 3rd-and-5 and the Broncos punted after their second drive. Nice stand by the Bills, who were gashed on the game’s opening possession.
Buffalo is back on the ball from its own 19.
The Bills drove 59 yards in 12 plays, but the Broncos defense stood them up in the red zone. Overall, that’s a win for Denver.
Buffalo had 1st-and-10 from the 11-yard line but after a short run, Josh Allen threw incomplete on back-to-back plays. Tyler Bass then came in for a 26-yard field goal.
The Broncos’ lead is now 7-3 with 7:07 left in the first.
Whoa! What a start for the Broncos!
Five plays into the game and Denver has a touchdown. Bo Nix took a deep shot from the Buffalo 43 and found an open Troy Franklin for a score. Nix also made a nice pass earlier in the drive to convert a third down.
Denver leads 7-0.
Day 2 of Wild Card Weekend is underway. The Broncos are on the field first against the Bills. Let’s see how rookie Bo Nix does in his first playoff action.
Buffalo has done everything but reach the Super Bowl. Merely winning the wild-card round isn’t enough anymore. The pressure can quickly become unbearable when anything short of a title is considered a failure, and many Bills fans believe head coach Sean McDermott is the only thing standing between them and the Lombardi Trophy.
If McDermott feels the fear and coaches “not to lose” on Sunday, he could be signing his own pink slip.
Both of these teams are designed to win shootouts and have playmakers all over the field. Jayden Daniels is the most exciting young player in football, but Baker Mayfield may have somehow been the most exciting player, period, this season. He was second in the NFL in passing touchdowns and first in turnovers.
No matter what, this one is going to be interesting.
After missing the last two games of the regular season with a concussion, Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts was cleared from concussion protocol and practiced Wednesday, which was a significant boost for the Eagles. But how will he look Sunday against a Packers defense that forced 31 turnovers — fourth-most in the NFL — including 17 interceptions?
Philadelphia has won because of its running game but the Packers have been above-average stopping the run this season, allowing the third-fewest rushing yards among playoff teams.
Leave it to the New England Patriots to steal a little thunder from their division rival just hours before the Bills showdown on Wild Card Sunday. The Patriots announced they’ve signed Mike Vrabel as their next head coach.
It’s a homecoming for Vrabel as he played linebacker for the Pats from 2001 to 2008 and was a member of three Super Bowl championship teams. Vrabel served as Tennessee Titans head coach from 2018 to ‘23, with a 54-45 regular-season record and 2-3 mark in the playoffs, which included a trip to the AFC Championship Game in 2019.
If Denver has a chance to beat Buffalo on the road, they’ll have to do it with their elite defense. The Broncos led the NFL with 63 sacks and ranked third in scoring defense (18.3 points per game allowed).
The task won’t be easy against Josh Allen and the Bills, who put up 30.9 points per game, the second-best mark in the NFL.
The Packers and Eagles squared off in Week 1 and so did the Commanders and Buccaneers. Tampa Bay, led by four touchdowns by Baker Mayfield, won the matchup 37-20.
The Buccaneers would go on to rank fourth in scoring offense this season (29.5 points per game) while the Commanders were fifth (28.5). Sunday’s game will mark the first Wild Card game since 2020 to feature two teams that averaged over 28 points per game in the regular season.
Green Bay and Philadelphia played one prior this season, an opening week win by the Eagles in Philadelphia. In that matchup, running back Saquon Barkley had 132 scrimmage yards (109 rushing, 23 receiving) and three touchdowns (two rushing, one receiving). The game propelled him towards one of the greatest seasons ever for a rusher.
Barkley ended the regular season with 2,005 yards and 13 touchdowns on the ground.
Washington rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels and Denver rookie quarterback Bo Nix both face tough tests in their first playoff game. The Commanders will travel on the road to face the Bucs in Tampa Bay while the Broncos head to Buffalo for a matchup with the Bills.
According to the NFL, only three rookie quarterbacks have won their first career playoff start on the road: Joe Flacco (2008 Wild Card with Baltimore at Miami), Mark Sanchez (2009 Wild Card with the New York Jets at Cincinnati) and Russell Wilson (2012 Wild Card with Seattle at Washington).
