Using Stathead from Pro Football Reference, Yardbarker shines a spotlight on key names and numbers from Saturday’s Super Wild Card Weekend action:
Pick-12: The resurgence of 38-year-old Joe Flacco — one of five starting quarterbacks for the Cleveland Browns this season — was the feel-good story of December and early January. On Saturday, Flacco’s luck ran out as the Browns fell to the Houston Texans, 45-14. On consecutive drives in the third quarter, Flacco had two interceptions returned for touchdowns. This made him the fifth quarterback in playoff history to throw multiple pick-sixes in one game. Flacco joins Todd Collins (Washington, 2007 wild-card round at Seattle), Rich Gannon (Oakland Raiders, Super Bowl XXXVII vs. Tampa Bay), Hall of Famer Brett Favre (Green Bay, 2001 divisional round at St. Louis Rams) and Jim Hart (St. Louis Cardinals, 1975 divisional round at Los Angeles Rams).
Houston has no problems: Rookie quarterback C.J. Stroud threw three touchdown passes in the Texans’ dominant 45-14 win over the Browns, contributing to a new record. Not only had the Texans never scored that many points in a playoff game, but even Houston’s previous team — the Oilers — never reached such a total in the postseason. The former record for most points scored by a Houston team in a playoff game was 38, set by the Oilers in their infamous 1992 wild-card round loss at Buffalo where they blew a 35-3 lead.
MIA offense is M.I.A.: Tua Tagovailoa’s 53-yard touchdown pass to Tyreek Hill was all the Miami Dolphins offense could muster in a 26-7 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs. For the first time in head coach Mike McDaniel’s two seasons with Miami, the Dolphins were held to single digits on offense. The Fins’ last single-digit offensive performance came on Jan. 2, 2022, in a 34-3 loss at Tennessee.
KC D rules the night: While the Chiefs offense put up a comfortable 26 points behind quarterback Patrick Mahomes’ 262 passing yards and running back Isiah Pacheco’s 89 rushing yards, Kansas City’s defense — which allowed the second-fewest points of any team this season — set the tone by holding the Dolphins to just seven points. This was the Chiefs’ best defensive performance in a playoff game since the 2015 wild-card round, a 30-0 shutout of the Texans in Houston. The last time Kansas City allowed so few points in a home playoff game was in the 1991 wild-card round, a 10-6 win over the Los Angeles Raiders.
