NFL · 1 year ago

The 5 Biggest Disappointments of the NFL Playoffs

Grant White

Host · Writer

The Philadelphia Eagles
What an unadulterated mess these guys turned out to be. Without question, the biggest disappointment of the NFL playoffs thus far was the performance of the Philadelphia Eagles. Billed as a Super Bowl contender just a few weeks ago, the Eagles came unglued at the worst time of year. Philadelphia dropped six of their last seven, falling from the first seed in the NFC to a Wild Card berth and a road playoff game. Worse, they punctuated that collapse with one of the worst playoff performances of the past few years. The Eagles mustered an embarrassing nine points on 276 yards, basically gifting the Tampa Bay Buccaneers a free pass into the Divisional Round. In a playoffs filled with controversy, ineffective coaching, and gratuitous glam shots of Taylor Swift, the Philadelphia Eagles easily take the cake for the year's biggest disappointment.
The Absence of Old School, Hard-Nosed Football
Once upon a time, people used to say that defense won championships, but that mantra doesn't fly in today's NFL. This year's postseason has been highlighted by high-scoring games and free-flowing offenses. Things that Lawrence Taylor, Ed Reed, or Brian Urlacher never stood for. The Baltimore Ravens are the only team still carrying that defense-first torch. The San Francisco 49ers have emphasized their offensive attack more recently; the Kansas City Chiefs continue to rely on Patrick Mahomes, and the poor Detroit Lions don't even know what defense is. Here's hoping the season's last three games reverse this disappointing trend.
Taylor Swift
Nobody cared what Taylor Swift thought about football before she started dating the former best tight end in the game. But now, the Kansas City Chiefs can't get a first down without a cameraperson panning to get Swift's reaction. On behalf of all football fans, please stop. Not one person with a rooting interest in the game cares about what Taylor Swift thinks. Or what her reaction might be to the Chiefs being gifted another first down. Until Kansas City is eliminated, you can include unnecessary Taylor Swift shots as one of the biggest disappointments of the playoffs. You know what, Taylor? Maybe you need to calm down.
Kyle Shanahan
Granted, Kyle Shanahan has only had one game to show us the best he's got, but that might be all we needed to see. With three extra weeks to prepare for the Divisional Round, Sunday's effort was arguably the San Francisco 49ers' worst showing of the season. That's on Shanahan for not doing more to prepare his team. This isn't the first time the Niners have fallen flat in the postseason. San Francisco has a robust resume of regular-season successes, but every time the playoffs roll around, they can't get out of their own way. That almost came to a head against the Green Bay Packers, with the Niners narrowly escaping a humbling Divisional Round home defeat as -10 chalk. Really, if not for Christian McCaffrey, this team would be doing some profound soul-searching about what went wrong again. The answer would have been their head coach. Shanahan's playoff disappointment isn't limited to 2024, but that doesn't absolve him from inclusion on this list.
Bills' Fourth-Quarter Decision Making
We get it. These wounds are still fresh for Buffalo Bills fans, but that's part of what makes this an abject failure. Down 27-24 in the fourth quarter, Josh Allen had eight minutes to get the Bills into scoring position. Buffalo has been playing a possession-driven game all season, so it wasn't out of character for them to milk the clock and give themselves a chance to win or tie it late. But there were a few missed opportunities precipitating the Bills' demise. First, the Bills wasted a timeout too early in the second half. It's easy, in retrospect, to reconsider turning points, but Allen needs to be more aware of circumstances. Second, Stefon Diggs and Trent Sherfield had dropped/missed passes that negated significant gains. Third, Allen again made a desperation throw to the endzone instead of hitting a wide-open Diggs on a crossing route. Lastly, and most prominently, Tyler Bass aimed dead center with the winds blowing right. No singular play sunk Buffalo, so we blanket it all into ineffective Bills' decision-making.
The Philadelphia Eagles
What an unadulterated mess these guys turned out to be. Without question, the biggest disappointment of the NFL playoffs thus far was the performance of the Philadelphia Eagles. Billed as a Super Bowl contender just a few weeks ago, the Eagles came unglued at the worst time of year. Philadelphia dropped six of their last seven, falling from the first seed in the NFC to a Wild Card berth and a road playoff game. Worse, they punctuated that collapse with one of the worst playoff performances of the past few years. The Eagles mustered an embarrassing nine points on 276 yards, basically gifting the Tampa Bay Buccaneers a free pass into the Divisional Round. In a playoffs filled with controversy, ineffective coaching, and gratuitous glam shots of Taylor Swift, the Philadelphia Eagles easily take the cake for the year's biggest disappointment.
The Absence of Old School, Hard-Nosed Football
Once upon a time, people used to say that defense won championships, but that mantra doesn't fly in today's NFL. This year's postseason has been highlighted by high-scoring games and free-flowing offenses. Things that Lawrence Taylor, Ed Reed, or Brian Urlacher never stood for. The Baltimore Ravens are the only team still carrying that defense-first torch. The San Francisco 49ers have emphasized their offensive attack more recently; the Kansas City Chiefs continue to rely on Patrick Mahomes, and the poor Detroit Lions don't even know what defense is. Here's hoping the season's last three games reverse this disappointing trend.