Wild Card Weekend is in the books, with six NFL teams advancing to the divisional round of the playoffs and another six heading home for an early start to the 2025 offseason. While hopes are high for the clubs that remain, with contenders like the Detroit Lions and Kansas City Chiefs preparing for their own postseason debut, some big questions are swirling around those left to ponder where it all went wrong.
Here are the most pressing queries we have for the teams eliminated during the wild-card round:
Denver Broncos: Can they upgrade Nix’s weaponry?
More specifically, to what degree can they do so? Because Bo Nix showed in his rookie season that he’s got a real feel for the NFL game, especially as a naturally mobile thrower. Now it’s on Sean Payton and Co. to give him a formidable supporting cast. The front proved mostly sturdy throughout 2024, so we’re talking mostly skill weapons: a dynamic ball carrier, perhaps, or a game-breaking pass catcher.
The Packers were solid this season, but they were rarely spectacular, and the biggest culprit might have been injuries: Jordan Love battled at least three notable ailments throughout the season, while some of his top pass targets, including Jayden Reed, Christian Watson and Romeo Doubs, were all sidelined by the finish line. Do they just need a long breather? Better depth? A more reined-in Love? Or all of the above?
Long heralded more for his prolific promise than big-game results, Justin Herbert passed the eye test with flying colors in his first go-round under Jim Harbaugh. But the big stage brought out a scary unwieldiness in the quarterback, which means Harbaugh’s top priority this offseason is twofold: 1.) add a running mate for Ladd McConkey, and 2.) ensure his signal-caller doesn’t let an 0-2 playoff record eat at his confidence.
At the end of December, Sam Darnold looked like a near-lock to secure a big-money contract offer from the Vikings, leading Kevin O’Connell’s offense with fearlessness. Then he went from mildly skittish in a pivotal Week 18 loss to downright listless in an uglier playoff dud against the Los Angeles Rams. How will team brass define his complicated 2024 season? J.J. McCarthy is in tow, but he’s also an unknown.
Management got uncharacteristically aggressive at quarterback last offseason, swapping out Kenny Pickett for both Russell Wilson and Justin Fields, and for a while, it looked as if Mike Tomlin might squeeze a meaningful playoff bid out of them. Not so. With another one-and-done confirmed, will the aggression at last mercifully seep into their offensive philosophy, or will the Steelers, who are apparently still committed to their accomplished but increasingly conservative coach, keep living like it’s 2008, relying on an aging and/or sluggish run-first attack and physical but war-weary defense?
Todd Bowles deserves credit for guiding the Bucs to three playoff appearances in three seasons as Bruce Arians’ handpicked successor. His last two offensive coordinators, Dave Canales and Liam Coen, have gotten beautiful results from a revived Baker Mayfield. And yet, like the Steelers, the Bucs also feel capped as a wild-card hopeful under his mostly conservative watch. At 61, might he be ripe for his own change?
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