The 2024 NFL Playoffs began with two lopsided scores. On Saturday, the underdog Houston Texans overcame a slow start to defeat the Los Angeles Chargers 32-12. For the nightcap, the Baltimore Ravens recorded a 28-14 victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers, but it wasn’t as close as the final score indicated.
Houston’s win was clearly a surprise result on Saturday, with many expecting Justin Herbert to finally get his first playoff win. Baltimore’s win wasn’t all that surprising, but the way they handled the Steelers in the first half was unpleasant. Both are impressive and should be a force to be reckoned with in next week’s divisional round. Conversely, the Chargers and Steelers enter the offseason after being eliminated from the playoffs early.
Here’s what we learned from each of the four teams that played Saturday.
texans
As mentioned above, many thought Houston was ruled out after their late-season losses to the Chiefs and Ravens. Those doubts appeared to be justified Saturday after a very slow start to Saturday’s game.
But if we’ve learned anything about the Texans moving forward, it’s that you don’t want to let them hang around, especially when you have a chance to put them away early. The Chargers had chances to pull away from the Texans early, but failed to make a field goal and capitalize on C.J. Stroud’s interception early in the second quarter.
Houston’s defense, including a pass rush centered around Will Anderson Jr. and Mario Edwards Jr., played a role in Los Angeles’ inability to pull away early. Fittingly, the biggest play of the game may have been Herbert’s six-point pick that Eric Murray homered. The team led 20-6 heading into the fourth quarter.
The defense led the way, but Stroud did his part, throwing for 282 yards on 22-of-33 passes. Nico Collins had seven catches for 122 yards, and Joe Mixon had his first 100-yard game in more than a month.
Do the Texans have a chance to win on the road next week? I’m not going to count on it, but as Saturday showed, you don’t want to let Stroud and the Texans hang around.
charger
In retrospect, the Chargers may have gotten too much credit heading into this game after starting the season 7-3. Conversely, the Texans’ 31-2 loss to the Ravens in Week 17 likely created a false narrative regarding their postseason prospects.
After all, the Texans won a playoff game last year and are clearly building something. Just making the playoffs this year was a success for first-year Chargers head coach Jim Harbaugh, as the Chargers had just come off a 5-12 season. It’s safe to say Houston’s recent playoff experience influenced Saturday’s outcome.
Obviously, the most surprising thing about the Chargers’ loss was Herbert’s four interceptions. After all, Herbert only threw three times all year, and the Chargers offense as a whole committed just nine turnovers all year. It’s safe to say that some of Herbert’s mistakes on Saturday were due to Houston’s lack of pass rush and running game.
Herbert is an exceptional quarterback, but the Chargers put too much of this game on his shoulders. The game was largely on Herbert’s shoulders as J.K. Dobbins (recently returned from injured reserve) and Gus Edwards ran for just 50 yards on 18 carries. It didn’t help that Herbert’s No. 2 receiver, Quentin Johnston, couldn’t catch any of his five targets. Herbert got a big game from rookie Ladd McConkie, who looks like he’s going to be a star.
Sure, it hurts to lose a game you expected to win, and that’s probably how Chargers fans felt going into Saturday’s game. Compounding the injury is the fact that Herbert is 0-2 in the playoffs. But Saturday’s loss shouldn’t erase what has been a successful year for the Chargers. The Chargers made great strides in Harbaugh’s first season in Los Angeles.
ravens
If Saturday night’s fight had been a boxing match, the referee would have stopped the fight at halftime or sooner. The Ravens defeated the Steelers 306-59 and led 21-0 at halftime. Derrick Henry rushed for 100 yards in the first half, but Baltimore’s defense allowed only two first downs in the first 30 minutes of the game.
Ball management and sound defense were two themes as Baltimore closed out the regular season with four straight wins. The same thing happened again on Saturday night. The Ravens couldn’t turn the ball over, and the defense, which struggled at times through the first 13 games of the season, was lights out when needed, especially in the secondary.
Lamar Jackson, who was just 2-4 in the playoffs that started Saturday night, looked like a typical MVP against Pittsburgh. He ran many read options while recording the most rushing attempts in a game since Week 1. Jackson’s running opened up all the other possibilities, including Henry, who gained 186 yards on the ground, the most against a Pittsburgh team in the postseason.
Henry’s presence should allow Jackson to play looser and avoid the mistakes that ultimately doomed him and the Ravens in the postseason thus far. Notably, Jackson’s success came without No. 1 Zay Flowers, who missed Saturday’s game with a knee injury.
steelers
Saturday night confirmed exactly what most of us knew about the Steelers, who are on a losing streak. Pittsburgh’s 8-2 start was largely the result of a congested schedule. The Steelers haven’t been a real contender, so they’ll likely continue to be on the outside looking in until they figure out their quarterback situation.
Russell Wilson had some great moments in his first season in Pittsburgh. However, after a while it becomes clear that the only thing in his arsenal is the famous Moon Orb. If Wilson couldn’t hit a deep pass, he was forced to settle for safe checkdowns to running back Jalen Warren and tight end Pat Freiermuth. That’s not the recipe for success, especially against a good team.
Beyond the quarterback situation, the Steelers appear to have cultural and philosophical issues. The Steelers have invested heavily in their defense, but their offense is one of the cheapest in football. That may have worked in the 1970s or early 2000s, but it doesn’t work in today’s game. The Steelers need to invest more in their offense going forward.
Defensively, that side of the ball Saturday night was even worse than the offensive side. At times, defenders seemed completely uninterested in trying to tackle Henry. This came after weeks of bickering from defensive players who accused some of their teammates of not doing their jobs.
It also concerns cultural issues. Something seems to be happening in Pittsburgh. After Saturday’s loss, prime Taylor Rooks said Najee Harris (likely playing his final game with the Steelers) was worried about the outside noise from the media infiltrating the locker room and that it would be a playoff game. It was reported that he wanted to know what kind of impact he would have on the team he joins. .
There’s a lot wrong with this sentence, but it’s a microcosm of the problems that pervade a proud franchise that has gone eight years without a playoff win, and unless major changes are made, the drought will continue. .