Ranking the 5 dumbest mistakes from the NFL’s chaotic Wild Card Weekend

Let’s be honest: we’re all still trying to recover from Wild Card Weekend. The first four games of the 2020 NFL playoffs were stressful for even neutral fans, and agonizing for any partisans.

For the second year in a row, three road teams emerged victorious from the Wild Card Round. The lone home team that won, the Texans, trailed 16-0 in the third quarter. Two games went to overtime. All four were decided by one score. The Saints have a bone to pick with the officials. The Patriots lost.

Phew, just reliving that leaves us catching our breath again. It was a helluva way to open up the postseason, and we can’t help feel bullish about what lies ahead for the rest of the playoffs.

Don’t worry, though. Through all the frenzy, there were still plenty of gaffes to go around — we mostly have a few quarterbacks to thank for that (including two of the greatest the NFL has ever seen).

These are the five dumbest mistakes from Wild Card Weekend.

5. Josh Allen nearly lateraled the game away

Bills coach Sean McDermott, in the wake of Saturday’s thrilling loss to the Texans, suggested his quarterback was trying to “do too much.” After looking back at Allen’s fourth quarter, it’s easy to see what he meant.

The second-year passer’s fluctuations between brilliant and baffling took center stage in the Wild Card Round, even as he led Buffalo back to force overtime. That spectrum was on full display over the course of one play that perked up the Bills’ hopes and then nearly dashed them entirely a split-second later.

Allen’s unnecessary lateral put a stain on a 20-yard scramble, but fortunately didn’t cost his team the game. Tight end Dawson Knox, who would have added approximately five yards to the end of the play had he been able to corral his quarterback’s reckless flip, wisely batted the ball out of bounds once it hit the turf, retaining possession for the Bills. Buffalo kicked a game-tying field goal eight plays later, but would go on to lose in overtime.

4. Tom Brady threw two different sure-thing pick-sixes to Logan Ryan

Brady’s last pass of the 2019 season — and possibly the last pass of his Patriots career — was a pick-six to former teammate Ryan.

That snuffed out the Patriots’ hopes of a game-winning 99-yard drive in the final 15 seconds, but it wasn’t the only time Brady had a tipped pass carom directly into Ryan’s orbit.

Brady’s first-and-10 flip to tight end Ben Watson at the end of the second quarter bounced off his target’s hands and directly into Ryan’s stomach. The typically sure-handed cornerback, who has 19 career interceptions, couldn’t haul it in as it floated toward him. The drop negated what would have almost certainly been a Tennessee touchdown.

Fortunately for Ryan, the Patriots’ drive sputtered out without any lasting damage on the scoreboard — and Brady did him a solid by giving Ryan a chance for a do-over:

That was only the second pick-six Brady has thrown in the playoffs, and he almost No. 3 too.

3. The Eagles fell into the Cover 0 trap against Russell Wilson

Seattle had a 17-9 lead late in the game and was trying to milk the clock against the Eagles. But the Seahawks couldn’t find any room on a pair of runs and were stuck facing a third down on their own 11-yard line. If they couldn’t get 10 yards, the Eagles would get one more shot at a game-tying touchdown.

Then the Seahawks got 36 yards on a deep bomb to DK Metcalf.

How did the Eagles lose the Seahawks’ 6’3, 228-pound tank of a wide receiver in the secondary? By making the mistake of calling a Cover 0 defense.

That means a coverage that provides no safety help and covers every receiver one-on-one. The advantage is that it frees up several players to rush the quarterback with an all-out blitz. The weakness is a deep ball lobbed over the top of the defense. And Russell Wilson has made a career out of burning every team silly enough to employ it against him.

The Eagles probably figured the Seahawks would run one more time to burn Philly’s final timeout. A pass play was a brave move by Seattle, and it worked out beautifully against an overly aggressive Philadelphia defense. Maybe someday NFL teams will learn to stop trying to flummox Wilson with Cover 0.

2. Josh Allen just straight-up dropped a vital fumble

The Bills needed to answer after Houston cut their lead to 16-8 headed into the fourth quarter. Allen stepped on up third down near midfield with an opportunity to lead his team back to a two-possession advantage. Then, with Whitney Mercilus bearing down on him, the ball came squirting out and into linebacker Jacob Martin’s hands.

While the turnover looked like a classic strip-sack from the veteran pass rusher, replay showed he barely got a finger on the ball — if he touched it at all:

The Texans took the ensuing possession 27 yards before kicking a field goal to make the score 16-11.

To add insult to injury, Allen had been the only qualified quarterback who didn’t have a fourth-quarter turnover all season.

1. Drew Brees’ first fumble of the season came at the worst time

The Saints set an NFL record for fewest turnovers in a season, with just eight in 2019. Brees especially was a master of avoiding them. In 11 games during the regular season, he threw only four interceptions and fumbled zero times.

His clean sheet in the latter category came to an end in the playoffs. And it was kinda embarrassing, too.

Viking pass rusher Danielle Hunter was closing in when Brees loaded up the ball in order to throw it away. Instead of firing the ball downfield, however, the 40-year-old ... just sorta dropped it.

The Saints had all the momentum at that point. Do-everything weapon (and one of Brees’ backups) Taysom Hill had just turned a 10-yard gain into 28 yards through sheer power, setting New Orleans up for a possible game-tying, or go-ahead, score. Then Brees fumbled a play later.

So instead of second-and-10 at the Minnesota 20 in a 20-17 game, the Saints handed the ball back to the Vikings with a chance to close out the ballgame.

Fortunately for Brees, Minnesota couldn’t — a late Wil Lutz field goal sent this game into overtime tied at 20-all. Unfortunately for Brees, the Vikings won in overtime, becoming the latest heartbreaking playoff loss for the Saints.