Welcome back to The MMQB newsletter. The postseason started off with a bang, as wild-card weekend did not disappoint. Matthew Stafford kicked things off on Saturday, leading the Rams to a three-point win over the Panthers. Later that night, the Bears pulled off an epic comeback win over the Packers. Sunday saw the reigning Super Bowl champions get upended by an injury-laden side, with the 49ers pulling the upset of the Eagles. And Josh Allen put the Bills on his back, taking down a hot Jaguars squad in a back-and-forth affair. But Albert Breer starts his wild-card takeaways with the Patriots' ugly Sunday-night victory over the Chargers, and why it exemplified Mike Vrabel's vision for New England. Plus, Conor Orr lays out what's next for the Eagles after their disappointing playoff loss, Gilberto Manzano argues that this is Josh Allen's year to go all the way and Matt Verderame unpacks what Green Bay's implosion means for Matt LaFleur's future. |
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By Albert Breer Monday is the one-year anniversary of when Mike Vrabel's hire in New England was announced, and there's no other way to describe that decision than as a grand slam for a revitalized brand. And there was no clearer proof of that than what played out Sunday night, two decks of stands below the Patriots' atrium in which he was formally introduced Jan. 13, 2025. Sunday night's 16–3 wild-card round win over the Chargers at home in front of Patriots fans was no work of art, and it didn't need to be. It wasn't Drake Maye's best game. It was, for a while at least, played on the visitor's terms. It was also, more importantly, another example of what Vrabel's built over the past year. Maye threw an interception, one that was tipped at the line, inside his own 10-yard line on the team's second possession. He was also sacked and fumbled on New England's first possession of the second half. Neither yielded points for the Chargers—and the Patriots kept chipping away until the dam broke, controlling the action for the better part of the game, riding out sloppy moments, and leaning on each other, as they had in the 14 wins they notched before this one. And that, the guys here will tell you, is no mistake. In fact, Milton Williams, who was perhaps the Patriots' second-best player this year, saw what he believes is now shining through for everyone to see early on. The Patriots had to pay a tax to get him to back away from a big offer he was close to taking from the Panthers in March. As that was happening, though, something else was tugging on him to go north, rather than south, from Philly, where he won a Super Bowl last year.
It was Vrabel's vision for where he wanted to take the Patriots. |
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Eric Hartline/Imagn Image |
By Conor Orr In what felt like record time, club music faded into boos. The visual of Quinyon Mitchell picking off a Brock Purdy pass, running into the end zone to celebrate and firing the football 13 rows into the stands with the veracity of a cricket bowler, was followed shortly by another slow trot off the field by Jalen Hurts. Then the Eagles' defense—clearly the fun parent—having to make another appearance to quell the emotional damage brought on by the take-your-medicine offense; a nonstop array of steamed vegetables and early, sensible bedtimes that, at best, provided a respite for those who needed time at the concession stand. Here lies the confounding nature of the Eagles' offense in one truncated segment after a disappointing 23–19 loss to the 49ers in the NFC wild-card round of the playoffs—especially what the offense turns into once it grasps even the thinnest modicum of a lead. Up three points at the half, Philadelphia came out and ran the ball twice in 11-personnel before being boxed into a third-down pass, which was dropped by Saquon Barkley. |
Melina Myers/Imagn Images |
By Gilberto Manzano Forget, for a second, that football is a team game. Don't worry about the quarterbacks who aren't a part of this season's NFL playoffs. The time is now for the Bills to win the Super Bowl. It's all set up for them to go all the way, and not because Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs are no longer standing in their way. It's the Bills' time because Josh Allen is officially the best football player on the planet. For those who strongly disagree, take a deep breath. Think happy thoughts and about all the exciting playoff games we've gotten halfway through wild-card weekend. Football is fun, and Allen is a big reason for that. |
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Mark J. Rebilas/Imagn Images |
By Conor Orr Not long after Nate Scheelhaase arrived at Iowa State as a running backs coach in 2018, he was in the office of athletic director Jamie Pollard a few times a month. The program thought it best to install these mentorship sessions to give Scheelhaase a chance to talk about his coaching vision and how he might run a program one day. Specifically, the hope was that he'd run their program. Then Iowa State head coach Matt Campbell (recently named the head coach at Penn State) was receiving head coaching interest from multiple Power 5 programs and with both the NFL's Jets and Lions. Meanwhile, Scheelhaase became a kind of Forest Gump–like figure in the background of arguably the best era of football in Cyclones history. He recruited Breece Hall. He developed Jaylin Noel. He became the offensive coordinator in time to call plays for the rise of a future seventh-round pick named Brock Purdy. Despite being just over 30 years old, he was the heir apparent. That is, until the NFL got eyes on him. |
David Butler II/Imagn Images |
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By Gilberto Manzano Drake Maye's heroics and toughness in his first NFL playoff game have made it increasingly difficult to defend Justin Herbert. But I'm going to do my best to defend the Chargers' supremely talented quarterback anyway. Blame coach Jim Harbaugh for how high he's propped up Herbert from criticism since being hired in 2024. This is the same coach who dreams about making Herbert a Hall of Famer. Harbaugh would look deep into your eyes and tell you that coaching Herbert is the greatest accomplishment of his life without cracking a smile. It sounds delusional, but he's dead serious, and now Harbaugh needs to back up his words by making drastic changes to help his star quarterback. He needs to save Herbert from the Chargers squandering the career of another franchise signal-caller.
Herbert played poorly in an ugly 16–3 wild-card loss in New England on Sunday night. But he's not the problem. It's everyone else around him that's the problem. It doesn't matter that he's 0–3 in the postseason in six seasons. Yes, forget about the 27-point collapse in Jacksonville, the four-interception performance in Houston and that he couldn't make a play against a stout New England defense when Maye managed to do it against a defense just as good, if not better. |
Bill Streicher/Imagn Images |
By Matt Verderame, Gilberto Manzano
The NFL playoffs are so far living up to the hype and then some. The NFC gave us two classics on Saturday, with the Rams rallying to beat the Panthers and the Bears coming from 18 points down to beat the Packers. And the AFC followed suit on Sunday. The Bills defeated the Jaguars 27–24 in Duval, with Josh Allen accounting for 306 yards and three total touchdowns, including two in the fourth quarter. It was Allen's first road playoff win in his fifth try, while the Jaguars turned their record from 4–13 in 2024 to 13–4 and winning the AFC South. As it turned out, the NFC had one more with the 49ers clipping the Eagles, 23–19, in Philadelphia on Sunday. Brock Purdy threw two touchdowns and survived a pair of interceptions, while Christian McCaffrey totaled 114 yards and two receiving touchdowns in the upset win. As a result, the Niners will now travel to play the Seahawks on Saturday while the Bears will host the Rams next Sunday. |
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Mark Hoffman/Milwaukee Journal Sentinel/USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images |
By Matt Verderame Matt LaFleur stood on the thick white sideline, watching the Packers' last gasp from the 28-yard line. When Jordan Love's last-ditch heave hit the turf, the game had ended. At the same moment, LaFleur's career in Green Bay quite possibly ended as well, amid a stunning 31–27 loss to the Bears at Soldier Field in the NFC wild-card round. The postgame scene spoke volumes. LaFleur and quarterback Jordan Love took the podium, both searching for answers they couldn't find. Both trying to make sense of the nonsensical. The Packers had a 21–6 fourth-quarter lead and lost, becoming only the third team in NFL history to allow 25 fourth-quarter points in a playoff game. Green Bay never seemed in serious trouble until it was in dire straits. The Packers were plus-2 in the turnover battle and perfect in their three red-zone trips. They averaged a robust 6.0 yards per play while Jordan Love threw for 323 yards and four touchdowns. The Packers led 21–3 at halftime. They led by double digits at different points in each of the last three quarters. With less than six minutes left, Green Bay had a 96% chance of winning, according to Next Gen Stats. Then, suddenly, poof. |
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