Takeaways from the wild-card round of the NFL playoffs

By Kyle Feldscher, CNN

(CNN) — The opening round of the NFL playoffs is one of the best football feasts of the year, but the 2025 edition has so far lacked the usual drama.

After five games, the Houston Texans, Baltimore Ravens and Buffalo Bills have all advanced after blowing out the Los Angeles Chargers, Pittsburgh Steelers and Denver Broncos respectively. The Philadelphia Eagles moved on as well after a tough win over the Green Bay Packers.

But it was the matchup between the Washington Commanders and Tampa Bay Buccaneers that was the highlight of the weekend. The close, back-and-forth game ended on an incredible game-winning field goal that doinked off the upright and bounced through to give the Commanders a 23-20 upset over the NFC South Division champions.

There is still one game to be played in this opening round – the Minnesota Vikings and Los Angeles Rams on Monday night in Arizona.

Here are some initial takeaways from the opening round of the NFL playoffs:

Jayden Daniels outduels Baker Mayfield in a classic

The Washington Commanders have found themselves a good one in Jayden Daniels, the rookie quarterback who outdid Tampa Bay’s Baker Mayfield in the weekend’s standout game.

It was Daniels leading Washington down the field on a game-winning drive, putting the exclamation mark on an incredible game: 24-of-35 for 268 passing yards and two touchdowns while leading the team in rushing with 36 yards.

Daniels was returning to the scene of his first NFL start, which ended in a brutal 37-20 loss in Week 1. But the rookie who took the field on Sunday night was a different version of the Commanders quarterback.

The former LSU Tiger looked like he’d been on this stage many times before, rushing and passing as he had all season and taking control of long drives that ended in Commanders points.

Mayfield, meanwhile, continued his renaissance year with another strong performance – though a couple of key mistakes cost his team.

Mayfield fumbled the snap on a drive that started in Tampa territory after the Bucs defense stopped Washington on fourth down. Linebacker Bobby Wagner jumped on the ball to give the Commanders near the Bucs end zone early in the fourth quarter.

That turnover turned into a Daniels touchdown pass to wide receiver Terry McLaurin to go up 20-17.

Mayfield answered that drive with one of his own to tie the game, making big plays with his arm – though a miscommunication with his center on a critical third down meant that the Bucs had to go for the three points instead of pushing for a go-ahead touchdown.

After that it was time for Daniels to work his magic in the final minutes, as he had nearly all season. Needing points with the score tied 20-20, Washington found themselves with a third-and-six but Daniels found wide receiver Dyami Brown for a 21-yard strike to keep the drive going. A couple plays later, it was a beauty of a pass to Austin Ekeler that put the Commanders deep in Tampa territory, allowing them to start killing the clock.

The rookie out of LSU made one final game-winning play, picking up a crucial first down on third-and-short after making a man miss when it looked like he’d be stopped in the backfield. From there, it looked elementary – except when Zane Gonzalez doinked the field goal off the upright. Luckily for the Commanders, it bounced through and handed Washington a postseason upset.

Washington faces a tall task next as they face the NFC top seed Detroit Lions at Ford Field next weekend.

The hard-hitting Eagles force a big turnover on the game’s first play, batter the Packers

It was a defensive struggle throughout the Philadelphia Eagles’ 22-10 win over the Green Bay Packers, but the tone was set on the game’s first play.

Philly linebacker Oren Burks laid the boom against kick returner Keisean Nixon, who lost control of the ball. The Eagles emerged with the ball and possession on the Green Bay 27-yard line just seconds into the game. The Eagles were up 7-0 before two minutes had run off the clock.

From there, it was a physical, smashmouth game and multiple Packers had to leave the game with injuries. The Packers, already playing without top wide receiver Christian Watson after a torn ACL in his knee last week, lost their top wide receivers Romeo Doubs and Jayden Reed to a suspected concussion and an upper-body injury. Packers quarterback Jordan Love threw two interceptions that didn’t result in any Philly points but kept the Packers from establishing any sort of offensive rhythm.

The game largely stayed as an exchange of punts until late in the third quarter after the Packers used a lengthy drive to get their first field goal of the game. After that, physical runs by Eagles tight end Dallas Goedert and Green Bay running back Josh Jacobs provided a bit of spark as the physicality ratcheted up even further.

Goedert’s touchdown run to put the Eagles up two scores was the kind of physical, Football Play (capital F, capital P) that gets the heart going. He delivered two punishing stiff arms and a lowered shoulder to the Packers’ Carrington Valentine and rumbled into the end zone, blunting the Packers’ momentum after they had just kicked a field goal at the end of a 12-play drive.

On the ensuing drive, it was Jacobs’ turn to make another Football Play, running through and over Eagles defenders for 31 yards. His shirt was stretched out behind him as defenders hung on any way they could. He was initially signaled to have gotten into the end zone but was ruled down just short of the goal line.

A play later, he drove it that final yard into the end zone to get the Packers within striking range. But the tough Eagles defense would not allow the Packers to go further than their own 41-yard line on their next possession and a turnover on downs largely put the game out of reach for Green Bay.

Texans make the necessary plays to come out on top of ugly, weird game with Chargers

The NFL playoffs got off on a strange, weird foot.

The Chargers stormed out of the gate against the Texans but couldn’t get into the end zone on their first two drives and were only up 6-0. The game stayed that way for much of the first half until a turning point that set the tone for a wild second half.

Pinned at the 1-yard line at the start of the drive, Houston’s offense came to life after a broken play, in which Stroud scooped up a botched snap and – while Chargers pass rushers Joey Bosa and Khalil Mack closed in on him near the sideline – the Texans signal-caller connected with wide receiver Xavier Hutchinson for a 34-yard gain. A couple of plays later, Stroud hit wide receiver Nico Collins for a 37-yard strike, and the duo capped the 10-play, 99-yard drive with a 13-yard touchdown for the 7-6 lead.

From there, it was turnover city. The Texans fumbled on the opening drive of the second half and then forced a turnover on downs on the drive on the ensuing drive. Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert suddenly got a case of the yips, throwing three second-half interceptions – he had four in the game, more than he had in the entire regular season – and the Texans turned those picks into a blowout.

The Chargers got one more big play – a long touchdown pass to wide receiver Ladd McConkey – but the Texans not only blocked the extra point but then returned it all the way to the end zone for a two-point conversion.

It was the first time that had ever happened in the postseason and was the final nail in the coffin for the Chargers. The final score was 32-12 in favor of Houston, which will take on the Kansas City Chiefs in the divisional round next weekend.

Ravens bully the Steelers and show their rushing attack is nothing to mess with

Baltimore quarterback Lamar Jackson and running back Derrick Henry might be enough on their own to carry the Ravens deep into the playoffs – and they showed why Saturday in a 28-14 thumping of the Steelers.

The thunder-and-lightning duo highlighted a Baltimore running attack that went for a team postseason-record 299 yards, pacing the Ravens to a 28-14 win over their AFC North rivals.

Henry ran for 186 yards on 26 tough carries, punishing the Steeler defense repeatedly with runs right into the teeth of the defensive line. He found the right seams, breaking for a long touchdown run and a shorter bruiser for his two scores.

Jackson meanwhile was electric as only he can be. He rushed 15 times for 81 yards while also completing 16 of 21 passes for 175 yards and two touchdowns. The rowdy 70,000 fans at M&T Bank Stadium routinely serenaded their star with chants of “M-V-P!”

After the game, Jackson said watching Henry run is like being in a movie – “Cars,” specifically.

“You know when Lightning McQueen just flying, flashing past?” Jackson said. “That’s how Derrick looks when he’s passing all those guys. And it look like a movie, bro.”

Jackson and Henry simply ran through, around and over the Steelers’ defense on a massive drive to start the game, going 95 yards to open the scoring. The biggest play of the drive was Henry taking a direct snap and finding a seam in the Steelers’ front seven, bursting for 34 yards in a play that was punctuated by a brutal stiff arm that sent Steelers star safety Minkah Fitzpatrick reeling. Head coach John Harbaugh said that play was put into the playbook specifically for this game against the Steelers.

The next drive showed it would be a bruising night for Pittsburgh. It was an 85-yard, 13-play drive in the second quarter that featured exactly zero passes. It ended with Henry pounding through the tackles one more time to get into the end zone, putting an exclamation point on a physically dominating drive.

It would end up being the story of the game as the Steelers never got closer than two touchdowns again.

Josh Allen is just unstoppable

Those “M-V-P” chants rang around Highmark Stadium in Orchard Park, New York, Sunday afternoon as Bills quarterback Josh Allen showed why it’s such a tight pick between him and Jackson for the award.

Allen made some truly jaw-dropping throws on Sunday against the Broncos and used his feet to pick up some key first downs in the first half as Denver jumped out to an early lead.

It was a play in the third quarter that truly exemplified where Allen’s game is at right now. On fourth and short near Denver’s end zone, Buffalo decided to go for it and Allen bounced around in the pocket, scanning for a receiver. As the pass rush closed in, it looked like it may be a killer sack.

But just at the last moment, Allen was able to unfurl a gorgeous pass to the back of the end zone for running back Ty Johnson, who made an equally amazing catch – sliding and managing to keep his feet inbounds – for their second touchdown connection of the afternoon. The score was the 22nd postseason passing TD of Allen’s career, surpassing Hall of Famer Jim Kelly for the most in franchise playoff history.

The fourth quarter started with another touchdown pass from Allen, who connected with Curtis Samuel on a third-and-6 pass for what would have been a first down. But Samuel went one better, spinning out of a tackle and sprinting to the end zone for a brilliant 55-yard touchdown.

From there, the final quarter was a formality as the Bills defeated the Broncos, 31-7.

The Bills victory means that there will be an absolutely epic showdown in the divisional round next week: Allen and the Bills vs. Jackson and the Ravens. It’ll be a matchup of two leading MVP candidates who were at the top of their game during this opening round.

Voting for the MVP award took place at the end of the regular season, but maybe everyone should agree that the winner of that game takes home the award?

CNN’s Ben Morse and Homero De La Fuente contributed to this report.

This story has been updated with additional information.

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