BALTIMORE — Sanity was the big early winner of Wild Card Weekend, when common sense prevailed with the NFL’s decision Thursday evening to move the Monday night game out of SoFi Stadium to Glendale, Arizona because of the wildfires that ravaged the Los Angeles area. The early resolution allowed tens of thousands of fans of the Rams and Vikings to make plans to travel to Arizona, the Rams to fly two planes full of players, their families and pets out of town, and the Cardinals and the league to do all it could to make it feel like a Rams home game — including sending the appropriate color paint for the end zones. Most importantly, it meant that resources that were desperately needed elsewhere did not have to be diverted for the game as the threat of more fires lingered in Southern California.
With that settled, the AFC took the spotlight on Saturday, here are the winners and losers from the first day of the playoffs.
Winners
1) Lamar Jackson: Just check out his pocket movement on the touchdown pass that gave the Ravens a 20-0 lead over the Steelers. He moved laterally, he stepped up, he backpedaled — and then he completed a pass. There are no more superlatives left — Jackson was unstoppable as a passer, a runner and as an orchestrator of magic. Jackson has admitted in the past he has been antsy at the start of playoff games. Not Saturday. He was so focused on this game he didn’t even want to talk to his mom when she called. “I was just chill,” he said after the game.
2) Ravens rushing attack: Their second touchdown drive was a demonstration of physical dominance, 13 plays, 13 runs, all but one by Jackson or Derrick Henry (a tush push by Mark Andrews). It gave the Ravens a two touchdown lead, bled the clock and demoralized a Steelers defense that had no hope of stopping it. Henry finished with 186 yards rushing, averaging 7.2 yards per rush. Overall, the Ravens had 299 yards on the ground. Their abandonment of the running game in last year’s AFC Championship Game loss to the Chiefs is a very distant memory. Jackson said watching Henry was like watching Lightning McQueen in Cars and he said Henry handling such a big load has kept him fresh.
3) The King Henry Wildcat: Henry lined up as a Wildcat quarterback for just the third time all season on Saturday, with Jackson in motion before the snap, a terrifying sight for the opposition. Even worse for defenders is that Henry’s stiff-arm is a devastating weapon, as Minkah Fitzpatrick, who took a Henry swat to the face and went tumbling, can attest.
4) Ravens defense: Since Week 11 (against the Steelers) the Ravens had allowed more than 100 fewer total yards per game and passing yards per game than they did in the first 10 weeks of the season and 10 fewer points per game. The turnaround continued on Saturday, with an effort so complete the Steelers had the ball for nearly 20 minutes fewer than the Ravens.
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5) Houston Texans defense: The Chargers had the 11th-ranked scoring offense in the regular season, and had scored at least 34 points in each of their last three games. They were unrecognizable against the Texans, though. Justin Herbert was intercepted four times — he threw three in the entire regular season — including a pick-six late in third quarter that all but iced the game. But the tone was set right from the start. In the first half, Herbert was held to 8 completions in 20 attempts, the running game was limited to 2.9 yards per rush and the Texans stuffed the Chargers twice deep in Houston territory early, when the Chargers could have run away with the game. With C.J. Stroud under siege and holding the ball too long early, the defense kept the Texans close, giving Stroud time to find his groove late in the second quarter.
6) The Texans’ reputation: Consigned again to the early Saturday timeslot, the Texans had become something of a punchline last week as the team nobody believed in and nobody was particularly excited about. The win should serve as a reminder: with DeMeco Ryans and Stroud, the Texans have advanced to the Divisional Round for the second straight season — they were underdogs in both wild-card games. Perhaps it’s time to stop underestimating the Texans in the playoffs.
7) The Chargers: Really: It’s hard to see now, but even appearing in the wild-card game was a win for the Chargers, who won five games last season and finished at the bottom of the AFC West. Jim Harbaugh is a turnaround artist, but the Chargers are at least a year ahead of schedule, with a transformed culture and a bright future. The playoff loss will sting, but if they made this much progress with just one offseason, imagine what could happen with another. Hint: In Harbaugh’s second season in San Francisco, the 49ers went to the Super Bowl.
Losers
1) Steelers offense: The tailspin that consumed the final four games carried over to Saturday night. The Steelers had two — TWO — first downs and ran just 17 plays in the first half. It was clear Mike Tomlin had no confidence in his offense early. He punted on fourth-and-2 in the first quarter and fourth-and-1 in the second, that one coming after Russell Wilson threw short of the sticks on third-and-2. They went into halftime with just 59 total yards and they only moved the ball when Wilson finally started throwing it downfield, as they did on their first touchdown drive. The problem was that came midway through the third quarter. The Steelers ran just 45 plays, compared to 72 for the Ravens.
2) Steelers quarterback situation: The Steelers were good enough to make the playoffs, but not good enough to win the division or the wild card game, and they are never bad enough to be in position to draft a top quarterback. The spark Wilson provided when Tomlin made him the starter over Justin Fields early in the season disappeared in the final month, costing the Steelers the division and a home playoff game. Wilson wasn’t bad on Saturday, especially when the attack opened up in the second half, (20 of 29, 270 yards and 2 touchdowns), but midway through the fourth quarter, with the Steelers driving, Wilson took a seven-yard loss on a sack that backed the Steelers up to midfield. Wilson can still sling it downfield, but his mobility is not what it was, and it has limited his game. Wilson and Fields are due to become free agents this offseason and after the way the season ended, the Steelers have big decisions ahead about who to bring back and at what price.
3) Steelers defense: The strength of the team was embarrassed on Saturday, showing little resistance against the run and, sometimes, an alarming lack of top-level effort. The replay of Henry’s 44-yard run, wherein he raced untouched past a bevy of Steelers, will draw a harsh grade whenever it is watched. The Ravens had 242 yards rushing with five minutes remaining in the third quarter. It continued a trend that doomed the Steelers’ season. They finished on a five-game losing streak in which they were outscored by 66 points. Four of the five losses were by at least 14 points.
4) Fans of clean football: The Chargers-Texans game was a carnival of mistakes — bad decisions, dropped passes, turnovers and an absolutely awful blocked Chargers extra point attempt that turned into two points for the Texans. The damage especially accrued to the Chargers, who should have had a two touchdown lead just nine minutes into the game after taking their first possession inside the Texans’ 15-yard line and their second to Houston’s 21. The Texans survived the avalanche, but they won’t get much further unless they clean up their game.
5) Chargers wide receivers: A weakness all season, the receivers bedeviled the Chargers with drops and passes that skipped off fingertips and turned into interceptions. Herbert was not blameless — his passes sometimes sailed — but he got no help from anyone not named Ladd McConkey, who had a pass go over his head for an interception. But he had 197 receiving yards. Everybody else combined for 45 receiving yards. Priority No. 1 for the Chargers this offseason has to be getting Herbert better, more sure-handed receivers.