• Lamar Jackson and Derrick Henry lead the way: The Baltimore Ravens‘ superstar backfield duo rushed for 267 yards in the 28-14 win against the Steelers.
• Jayden Daniels was excellent in his first-ever playoff game: The Washington Commanders quarterback was instrumental in the 23-20 win against the Buccaneers.
• 2025 NFL Draft season is here: Try PFF's best-in-class Mock Draft Simulator and learn about 2025's top prospects while trading and drafting for your favorite NFL team.
Estimated reading time: 7 minutes
Houston Texans 32, Los Angeles Chargers 12
Why the Texans won: The Texans lit Justin Herbert up for four quarters, completely shutting down the Chargers quarterback and the passing game in the process. Herbert was sacked five times on 40 dropbacks, pressured on 51.4% of his dropbacks and completed just four of 15 pass attempts on those dropbacks while also throwing two interceptions when pressured. In total, the Texans pressured Herbert 25 times, where Will Anderson Jr. led the way with six pressures and two sacks.
Winning up front against the Chargers two excellent tackles would be key for the Texans, as Joe Alt and Rashawn Slater both allowed four pressures each. However, three of the five Texans' sacks were allowed by the weaker interior of the offensive line.
Why the Chargers lost: Justin Herbert threw just three interceptions in the regular season, however, the Chargers quarterback threw four against the Texans in the playoffs. Those interceptions, however they came about, were instrumental in the Chargers' demise. One interception, an overthrow intended for Ladd McConkey, was returned by Texans’ defensive back, Eric Murray, for a touchdown while another was a heave late in the fourth quarter, picked off by Derek Stingley.
However, two of Herbert’s interceptions were down to poor execution by the Chargers’ receivers. Quentin Johnston was boxed out by a cornerback considerably smaller than him on the first interception, while Will Dissly failed to secure the ball and tipped it to a Texans defender on Herbert’s third. Poor execution all around, and turnovers proved to be more than costly for the Chargers.
Baltimore Ravens 28, Pittsburgh Steelers 14
Why the Ravens won: The Ravens, as they have to great effect all season, relied on the rushing duo of Lamar Jackson and Derrick Henry to lead the team to victory. Henry and Jackson combined for 267 yards on the ground, while Henry added two rushing touchdowns. The Ravens averaged 6.0 yards per carry as a team, beating up on the Steelers and opening up a 21-0 lead by halftime.
Henry led the way with 186 yards on 26 carries, and he added four rushes of over 10 yards, including a 44-yard touchdown run in the third quarter, as well as forcing seven missed tackles. He earned an 80.9 rushing grade. Jackson added 15 carries for 81 yards and took advantage of the Steelers defense selling out to stop Henry early in the game, setting up an early touchdown drive.
Why the Steelers lost: This wasn’t a performance synonymous with the way the Steelers play football. There was a distinct lack of heart and drive at times, especially in the first half as the Ravens opened up that 21-0 lead. But what stuck out was the amount of missed tackles for the Steelers on defense. The defense had 14 missed tackles in the game, their third-most in a game this season, and though half of those missed tackles were forced by Derrick Henry, it was an uncharacteristically sloppy tackling performance from a defense that always plays hard. Five Steelers’ defenders finished with tackling grades below 30.0, including T.J. Watt.
Buffalo Bills 31, Denver Broncos 7
Why the Bills won: The Bills offense has been much better at running the ball in 2024. The offensive line is playing meaner, James Cook has improved, and Josh Allen is still one of the best dual-threat quarterbacks in the NFL. They put it all together for an excellent rushing game against the Broncos on Wild-Card Weekend. Collectively, the Bills carried the ball 44 times for 210 yards and a touchdown, averaging 4.8 yards per carry.
Cook led the way as the team’s bellcow, carrying the ball 23 times for 120 yards and a touchdown, earning a 69.9 grade, and forcing four missed tackles, while the offense as a whole forced nine missed tackles and had four runs of over 10 yards, with Cook breaking off three of those runs.
Why the Broncos lost: The Broncos offense started hot, with Bo Nix throwing a 43-yard touchdown on the first drive of the game. After that, the offense didn’t score another point and the Bills ran away with the game. The passing game struggled, as Nix completed just 13 of 22 pass attempts for 144 yards. Where the Broncos' passing game struggled was with drops, suffering four drops in the loss. Devaughn Vele had two drops, while Courtland Sutton and Troy Franklin suffered one each—a tough 23.5% drop rate to end the season.
Philadelphia Eagles 22, Green Bay Packers 10
Why the Eagles won: The Eagles continued the trend of teams winning on Wild-Card Weekend by letting their rushing game take care of business. It wasn’t Saquon Barkley’s most devastating performance, but the Eagles running back carried the ball 25 times for 119 yards, averaging 4.8 yards per carry. The fact that those numbers seem frankly modest in the catalog of Barkley’s season is a testament to how good he’s been.
But as a team, the Eagles ran over the Broncos, rushing for 169 yards and averaging 5.0 yards per carry. They also forced eight missed tackles and broke off four rushes of over 10 yards, with Barkley sealing the win with a 17-yard gain.
Why the Packers lost: The Packers suffered a string of injuries to some important pass-catchers, but Jordan Love was flustered by the Eagles' defense all day, particularly when he had to push the ball down the field. Love finished 17 of 21 on throws between 0-9 yards, but on throws of 10 yards or more, he struggled, completing just three of 10 passes while throwing three interceptions.
Love had four throws graded as turnover-worthy plays in total, and earned a 28.7 grade on intermediate throws between 10-19 yards, while he earned a 54.9 grade on deep throws. A bad day passing for the Packers quarterback.
Washington Commanders 23, Tampa Bay Buccaneers 20
Why the Commanders won: Jayden Daniels’ rookie fairy tale continued with an excellent performance against the Buccaneers. Daniels completed 24 of 35 pass attempts for 268 yards and two touchdowns, earning a 76.7 grade. However, Daniels really stepped up when pressured by the Buccaneers defense. He was pressured on 37.5% of his dropbacks and completed 58.3% of his pass attempts for 97 yards and two touchdowns.
The stage wasn’t too much for Daniels in those moments, and he had a 8.3% big-time throw rate on pressured throws and earned a 90.8 grade for his efforts. The Buccaneers were only able to sack Daniels once on 15 pressured dropbacks too, as the rookie quarterback showcased his ability to avoid sacks.
Why the Buccaneers lost: The Buccaneers' defense struggled to get its hands on Daniels, but it also struggled to get their hands on the Commanders receivers, mainly Terry McLaurin and Dyami Brown. McLaurin and Brown combined for 178 yards and two touchdowns on 12 catches, causing the Buccaneers secondary issues all night. Brown was able to flash his ability to create after the catch, averaging 9.0 yards after the catch per reception, while McLaurin caught an excellent contested catch downfield, and has more contested catches than any other receiver in the NFL in 2024.
Both players earned excellent grades too. McLaurin earned a team-high 88.1 grade, while Brown earned a 79.1 grade for his efforts. Their efforts were just too much for the Buccaneers secondary.
Los Angeles Rams 27, Minnesota Vikings 9
Why the Rams won: The Vikings blitzed Matthew Stafford aggressively all night, sending five or more rushers on 69% of his dropbacks to fluster the Rams quarterback and put him under pressure. However, Stafford responded emphatically, completing 13 of 19 pass attempts for 179 yards and two touchdowns, averaging 9.4 yards per attempt and earning an 86.0 grade.
Sending blitzes is the Vikings' bread and butter on defense, and they’ve been one of the best teams in the NFL at creating disruption from those blitzes, but Stafford handled everything the Vikings threw at him, just as he did in Week 7.
Why the Vikings lost: While Stafford handled everything the Vikings threw at him, Sam Darnold went completely the opposite way. The Rams pressured Darnold on 48.0% of his dropbacks, and the Vikings quarterback combusted in those moments. Darnold completed seven of 14 pass attempts for 85 yards and an interception on 24 dropbacks, and he was sacked nine times by the Rams defense. Darnold was shellshocked by the Rams' defense and earned a 39.1 grade when pressured.
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