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.
NOTE: This column will be updated after Saturday’s Steelers-Ravens game.
1) 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.
2) 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.
3) 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.
1) 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.
2) 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.
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