What we learned from Super Wildcard Weekend: Trevor Lawrence’s insane comeback, Brock Purdy’s historic debut

The first day of the NFL postseason didn’t seem like a lot of fireworks. After he was trailed by one at halftime, the San Francisco 49ers ran away from the Seattle Seahawks after the break to take a convincing win. Next for the 49ers is a trip to the divisional round, where their opponents will be decided after Sunday’s match between the New York Giants and the Minnesota Vikings.

But the nightcap turned out to be silly. The Chargers led the Jaguars by his 27-0 lead, but Jacksonville put up an amazing rally to win him 31-30, the third-biggest comeback in NFL postseason history. Jacksonville will see if he faces the Chiefs in Kansas City at the end of Sunday’s game (he’s still two games away in the AFC).

Ahead of Saturday’s Wildcard game, here’s what we learned from both competitions and how it will carry over into the divisional rounds and next season.

Lawrence was historically bad in the first 28 minutes of his playoff debut, throwing three interceptions in the first quarter, making him one quarter of a playoff game since Carson Palmer recorded three in the fourth quarter of 2015. Became the first player to record three or more interceptions. his NFC championship game against the Carolina Panthers. He threw an interception in his first playoff attempt since Aaron Rodgers in 2009.

Lawrence passed 5-of-18 for 35 yards without a touchdown and had four interceptions with two minutes remaining in the first half as the Jaguars trailed 27-0 (his passer rating was 0.0). As soon as his two minutes passed, Lawrence turned the corner.

Lawrence threw 23 of 29 yards for 253 yards, had four touchdowns without an interception, and had a passer rating of 142.9 as the Jaguars edged the Chargers, 31-3, in the final 32 minutes. Jacksonville scored a touchdown on his fourth consecutive possession from Lawrence’s pass, before Lawrence led the Jaguars to his goal on the game-winning field with zero time remaining.

If Lawrence doesn’t play like a top-five quarterback, the Jaguars can’t win the game.

Charger can’t run the ball and collapses

Especially when the team that had a 27 point lead evaporated and lost. In fact he had a 75% dropback percentage after the Chargers built a 27-0 lead. That’s higher than the Jaguars at 70%. Which team is 27 points behind again?

After building a 27-0 lead, Los Angeles had only 19 rushing yards and rushed for 20 yards (2.5 yards per carry) seven times in the second half, 13 of which were Justin Herbert runs. Austin Ekeler recorded 5 carries for 0 yards and a total of 6 touches for 4 yards in the second half.

Brandon Staley’s team is as hard to throw the ball as it is to throw it, but the Chargers’ offense got nothing out of the run game after going 27-0. Combined, these two make for one of the worst playoff losses in NFL history.

Doug Pederson’s aggressiveness still pays off

The man we once called the “Philly Special” at the Super Bowl is back with his old tricks. As the Jaguars closed in on the Chargers, Pederson scored his two runs to cut the score to 30-20 in the third quarter. The Jaguars failed to convert Lawrence’s pass, but that didn’t stop the head coach from getting aggressive.

On the Jaguars’ next touchdown, Pederson again decided to score two instead of kicking an extra point to make it 30-27. Thanks to Joey Bosa’s unsportsmanlike conduct penalty, Pederson let Lawrence sneak in from the 1-yard line to cut the lead to 30–28.

Jacksonville then forced a three-and-out to regain the ball, and after the ball was driven into Chargers territory in the final minutes, Pederson had one more trick up his sleeve. In the fourth and first game from the 41-yard line with 1:27 left, Pederson lined Travis Etienne into the T formation and gave his best to return the ball. Etienne gained his 25 yards and scored the game-winning kick to Riley setting up his Patterson. There was no time left.

The Jaguars are on good terms with Pederson, and his aggressiveness in games is why he has a 5-2 postseason record in the first place.

Brock Purdy makes historic playoff debut despite slow start

Purdy looked like the last player to enter the NFL Draft in the first half of his first career playoff start (and his first game against a team that had already faced him). went just 9-of-19 for 147 yards with a first-half touchdown and a passer rating of 91.3, missed several throws to receivers, and escaped without an interception as the 49ers trailed 17-16 at the half. I was.

Then into the second half, Purdy finished with 9 of 11 yards for 183 yards, two passing touchdowns and a perfect rating of 158.3. Purdy also added a rushing touchdown as the 49ers scored 25 unanswered points against the Seahawks for the win.

Purdy finished with 332 passing yards, three passing touchdowns, and a rushing touchdown. He surpassed Dan Marino as the youngest quarterback in the Super Bowl era, scored three passing touchdowns in a playoff game, and was the lowest drafted quarterback to earn his first career playoff start since Tom Brady. Purdy is the youngest quarterback (at 23 years old) to pass for 300 yards, three passing touchdowns, and no interceptions in a playoff game.

The 49ers quarterback turned things around in the second half – made history in the process.

Kyle Shanahan and 49ers skill players deserve credit

Shanahan was the architect behind Purdy’s historic start with the 49ers, and that was evident through Saturday’s victory. When Purdy struggled early on, Shanahan took advantage of runs by Christian McCaffrey (15 carries, 119 yards) and Deebo Samuel (3 carries, 32 yards) to set up his play play. Purdy tallied 8 of 13 for 172 yards, 3 touchdowns and no interceptions, finishing with a 145.0 rating.

All of Purdy’s touchdown passes were thrown out of pocket, and 49ers’ pass catchers averaged 10.3 yards after a catch. This is his fourth highest number in the game since he was first tracked by the YAC in 2006. A touchdown while the receiver was more than five yards out shows that this scheme had something to do with his impressive performance.

Purdy was 9th out of 20 with 153 yards and had a 71.5 passer rating when the target was no more than 5 yards away. This is something to watch as the 49ers push further into the playoffs.

Seahawks’ offensive line shows youth

Seattle started Charles Cross and Abraham Lucas in 16 of 17 games in the regular season, but the rookie’s tackles again struggled against the 49ers’ defense. Lucas allowed a sack and was beaten with 4.9% of pass block snaps, including Geno Smith’s Charles Omeniff strip sack that was the turning point of the match.

Cross allowed three pressures and played Nick Bosa most of the night. Bosa gave his Smith the first pressure and in the pocket he set up Omenihu and forced a fumble (Bosa recovered). Bosa had five tackles in the game and was finding the football even though he hadn’t reached the quarterback.

Cross and Lucas had to play near-perfect games for the Seahawks to have a chance. Both were solid, but both have plenty of room to grow over the next few years. Inside of – veterans Gabe Jackson and Austin Bryce – bookends newcomers, with all the pressure coming from the A and B gaps, didn’t wield either side.