What We Learned in the N.F.L.’s Wild-Card Round
The New York Times
Early blowouts between the Bills and Patriots and Buccaneers and Eagles indicate the folly of playoff expansion.
Blowouts in the N.F.L. playoffs are rare. In the absence of an injury to a major star, teams are too good, too focused, and have too many yards of film on their opponents by this point to be overwhelmed or surprised by a breakout performance.
That has not been the case so far in the wild-card round, with the Buffalo Bills routing the New England Patriots, 47-17, Saturday night and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ 31-15 dismantling of the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday afternoon. The expanded postseason field does not augur much distinction to be had in the night game between Kansas City and the Pittsburgh Steelers, whose quarterback earlier this week admitted “we don’t stand a chance.”
There is no larger narrative to wrap around such unbalanced outcomes, and it is tempting to wonder if there was actually anything to be gleaned in this year’s wild-card weekend.
