Groups don’t all of a sudden flip into champions when the postseason begins. If something, the even matchups and heightened stakes pressure opponents to rely extra closely on what they’ve achieved finest all yr since there’s little room for experimentation.
The Payments have adopted quarterback Josh Allen’s daring to the postseason, driving the chance curler coaster the entire means. On the primary weekend of the 2022 N.F.L. playoffs, Buffalo didn’t stray from that routine, and it nearly gave the Miami Dolphins an upset. In the meantime, the Giants used a savvy defensive sport plan to beat the Vikings, and the Jaguars leaned into the resilience they’ve proven all yr to take down the wobbly Chargers.
Josh Allen’s large performs lower each methods.
Allen giveth, and Allen taketh away. One of many league’s most outstanding big-play makers, Allen had probably the most risky sport of his season in Sunday’s 34-31 win over the Dolphins. The deep throws and prolonged performs that buoyed an in any other case hapless Buffalo offense have been the identical performs that led to turnovers and disjointed drives. It was a sport that highlighted each Allen’s singular means to have an effect on a sport and in addition how harmful his determination making could be for the Payments.
Allen began the sport firing on all cylinders. On Buffalo’s second drive, Allen strung collectively two inconceivable throws to bail out the Payments and ultimately rating a landing.
The drive started with a 20-yard pickup, however the Payments shortly confronted a third-and-15 close to midfield — a basic case of the conundrum Allen presents to defenses. Not blitzing provides him an excessive amount of time to search out an open receiver for a bit play, however blitzing Allen opens up the likelihood that he’ll break the pocket on a run or discover an uncovered receiver.
The Dolphins selected to roll the cube on an all-out Cowl 0 blitz, and so they paid for it. Payments receiver Stefon Diggs beat defensive again Xavien Howard one-on-one down the sphere, and Allen nailed Diggs for a 52-yard acquire. On the very subsequent play, Allen scurried to his proper to pin a landing cross simply previous the helmet of a Dolphins defender and into the outstretched arm of tight finish Dawson Knox for the primary rating of the sport.
By the subsequent quarter, Allen couldn’t cease himself from enjoying so aggressively. Offensive coordinator Ken Dorsey continued to dial up shot performs, and Allen had zero reservations about taking them, a technique the Dolphins ultimately wised as much as.
With 6:01 to go within the second quarter, the Payments known as a first-and-10 play-action deep shot close to midfield with receiver John Brown sprinting down the sideline. Brown by no means had the step on his man; Howard, whom Diggs had burned for the sooner lengthy cross, was on prime of Brown the entire means. Allen let it rip anyway, coughing up a mindless turnover when each of his beneath check-down choices — working again Devin Singletary and tight finish Quintin Morris — have been open.
Allen was caught in big-play mode from the start of the second quarter to the center of the third. The Dolphins outscored the Payments, 24-3, over that stretch, together with a strip-sack landing of Allen. Allen lastly recovered by main back-to-back landing drives that included a stunning Cowl 2 gap shot to Gabe Davis for a landing, the sort of throw that reminded everybody watching that it’s nonetheless Allen’s sport to determine.
That’s been a scary means for the Payments to play this season, with their three losses every that includes Allen turnovers. Allen completed Sunday’s sport with 16 interceptions and 22 giveaways this season, together with the playoffs. That’s tops within the league, according to N.F.L. Research (at the least till Dak Prescott performs on Monday).
Maybe Allen wouldn’t be tempted to gamble if the Payments had a extra constant working sport, and if the workforce frequently threw extra within the brief space and chipped away at drives. However Buffalo has banked on Allen’s distinctive eye and expertise for doing the inconceivable. And on Sunday, a Skylar Thompson-led Dolphins workforce couldn’t make the Payments pay. Buffalo might not be so fortunate in opposition to the remainder of a loaded A.F.C. playoff pool.
The Giants gained with their protection.
Protection isn’t what bought the Giants to the playoffs. Accidents stored lots of their finest defensive gamers out of the lineup in the course of the season and robbed them of the prospect to construct up chemistry. They completed twenty fifth in yards per sport allowed and twenty fourth in yards per play allowed. They by no means fairly discovered their footing as a unit underneath new defensive coordinator Don Martindale.
When the workforce wanted them most on Sunday, nonetheless, the protection tightened up. Martindale known as on the teachings he took from the final time these two groups performed in Week 16, a 3-point Giants loss. The protection was most profitable in that sport when it performed with a softer pass-rush strategy and directed its protection consideration towards Justin Jefferson, usually bracketing or enjoying Cowl 2 to his facet of the sphere.
Martindale didn’t ship as many pressures at Kirk Cousins as common, as an alternative favoring extra four-man rushes with softer protection behind it. Per the N.F.L.’s Next Gen Stats, the Giants performed a season-high 65 % of their snaps from split-safety coverages. The Giants struggled to have an effect on Cousins straight — he wasn’t sacked and didn’t throw any interceptions — however they took away the wide-open explosive passes he’s used to discovering along with his receivers.
The Giants as an alternative gave Cousins the whole lot he needed over the brief and center components of the sphere. Slants, hitches and shallow crossers have been all accessible, and Cousins, a by-the-book passer, took all these open brief throws with enthusiasm. Tight finish T.J. Hockenson was the largest beneficiary, netting 10 catches for 129 yards. That strategy generally is a harmful sport, too, however the Giants’ protection stepped up when it got here to tackling. Minnesota’s receivers struggled to squeeze out further yardage, and chunk performs after the catch have been powerful to return by.
Martindale and the Giants’ protection weren’t distinctive, however they have been sufficient. They lulled Cousins into dinking-and-dunking the sport away, and so they made certain to sort out properly sufficient to not let the Vikings chew them within the behind. That sort of defensive fortitude goes to have to carry if the Giants wish to trudge ahead in a brutal N.F.C. divisional-round matchup.
Doug Pederson’s calls keyed the Jaguars’ comeback.
Trevor Lawrence’s playoff debut opened in horrible trend, with the second-year Jaguars quarterback throwing 4 interceptions on the primary six drives. That meltdown helped the Chargers to a 27-0 first-half lead.
Every interception was worse than the final, on throws that ranged from unfortunate to wishy-washy to flat-out horrible. Lawrence’s first interception was a tipped ball on a run-pass possibility throw, and his second decide got here on a missed ball during which receiver Zay Jones was roughed up by a Chargers’ defender with no flag thrown. Unhealthy performs, to make certain, however errors that might be forgiven.
Then Lawrence threw a 3rd interception after failing to learn the protection, and he one-upped that two drives later with a throw over the center and straight into site visitors for his fourth interception.
Someway, these errors — and a muffed punt return — weren’t sufficient to slay Lawrence and the Jaguars. Coach Doug Pederson dug deeper into his bag of tips, and the Jaguars’ receivers stepped up within the second half. Tight finish Evan Engram, specifically, took middle stage within the Jaguars’ rally to victory.
The Chargers’ linebackers weren’t adept at coming downhill to sort out, and within the second half, Pederson and Lawrence discovered methods to make them do this relentlessly. Engram raced straight throughout the shallow a part of the sphere over and over, and Lawrence discovered him repeatedly on shallow throws that reaped 10- and 15-yard chunks. Lawrence and Pederson hammered that matchup till the Chargers made an effort to cease it, which lastly opened up the vertical sport for Lawrence.
The entire Jaguars’ efforts got here to a head within the fourth quarter whereas trailing, 30-28. On fourth-and-1 on the Chargers’ 40-yard line, Pederson known as a timeout with 1:28 remaining to get the Jaguars out of a quarterback sneak name. Pederson got here out of the break with a strike of brilliance.
The Jaguars lined up in an old-school T formation — three gamers in a horizontal row behind the quarterback — and despatched working again Travis Etienne on an outdoor rush to the appropriate. Etienne hit the perimeter, made the lone cornerback miss and booked it 25 yards for a primary down, placing the Jaguars on the 16-yard line for a game-winning discipline purpose.
Across the N.F.L.
Bengals 24, Ravens 17: The Ravens performed their hearts out. Defensively, that they had Joe Burrow’s quantity. Baltimore’s well-designed stress schemes and chippy play over the center made it troublesome for Burrow and the Bengals’ passing offense to ever get in a groove. That wasn’t sufficient, although. Ravens quarterback Tyler Huntley, who largely performed a decent match, squandered the sport early within the fourth quarter. After main an 80-yard drive, Huntley reached for the top zone on a quarterback sneak. He was brief by a few yard, and the ball was jarred unfastened proper into the fingers of Bengals defensive finish Sam Hubbard, who ran it again for a landing to interrupt a 17-17 tie. It was a mistake that finally sealed the Ravens’ destiny.
Giants 31, Vikings 24: Each Daniel Jones and Kirk Cousins had a discipline day within the brief space, peppering one another’s defenses with throws designed for yards after the catch. The Giants’ receivers have been only a smidgen higher at evading their opponents and choosing up further yardage, and that was the distinction. The Giants’ speedy receivers moved the ball into the pink zone frequently, and working again Saquon Barkley made certain to complete the job for them a few occasions. It’s arduous to think about the Giants have the juice to go any additional than this within the playoffs, however stealing a postseason win in a “rebuilding” yr with a first-year head coach is a large success.
Payments 34, Dolphins 31: After a 17-0 begin, the Payments collapsed for a few quarter and a half. Quarterback Josh Allen, nice as he’s, couldn’t cease throwing the ball deep to lined defenders. A few these hero throws turned interceptions, giving the Dolphins further probabilities on offense. Miami capitalized on loads of these probabilities, getting spectacular downfield throws from Skylar Thompson in between his 4 sacks. Allen nailed receiver Gabe Davis for a 23-yard landing within the fourth, after which the Payments’ protection stopped a Dolphins’ drive at midfield to finish issues.
Jaguars 31, Chargers 30: It’s arduous to play two extra totally different halves of soccer than the Jacksonville Jaguars did. Quarterback Trevor Lawrence had 4 interceptions earlier than halftime, and the protection consistently folded in its makes an attempt to decelerate Justin Herbert, who bought Los Angeles out to a 27-0 begin. Every thing flipped within the second half, when Lawrence threw landing passes to Zay Jones, Christian Kirk and Marvin Jones, main the third-biggest playoff comeback in N.F.L. historical past. It was additionally the primary playoff sport during which a workforce with 5 extra turnovers than its opponent gained.
49ers 41, Seahawks 23: Rookie quarterback Brock Purdy threw for 332 yards and three touchdowns, and the 49ers scored on 4 straight drives within the second half, giving San Francisco a lead that allowed its cross rush to tee off on Seahawks quarterback Geno Smith (25 of 35 passing for 253 yards, three sacks). Deebo Samuel added a 74-yard landing catch, and Christian McCaffery had 119 yards dashing on 15 carries.