NFL Playoffs delivered the closest Wild Card Weekend ever with four nail-biters

One game remains this Wild Card Weekend, but even before the Pittsburgh Steelers and Houston Texans clash later tonight, a theme has emerged.

Wild Card Weekend has lived up to the hype.

Of the five games played so far, four have been decided by one score or less. The weekend slate began with the Los Angeles Rams knocking off the Carolina Panthers by a final score of 34-31, followed by the Chicago Bears stunning the Green Bay Packers by a final score of 31-27.

Then on Sunday the festivities opened with the Buffalo Bills defeating the Jacksonville Jaguars by a final score of 27-24, followed by the San Francisco 49ers going into Lincoln Financial Field and defeating the defending Super Bowl champions by a final score of 23-19.

By that point, history had been made:

Only Sunday night’s game between the New England Patriots and the Los Angeles Chargers broke the streak, as New England won 16-3 in something of a defensive slugfest.

That scoring margin was not the only history made this weekend. The Rams, Bears, and Bills all scored touchdowns in the final two minutes of their games, making this Wild Card Weekend the first time in NFL history that three different games were decided by a game-winning touchdown in the final two minutes. There were also a record 12 lead changes in the first four games, another NFL record.

The drama began when Matthew Stafford and the Rams “snatched” the Panthers’ hearts, on this touchdown pass to Colby Parkinson with under a minute remaining to give Los Angeles the lead for good:

That was the fourth — and final — lead change in the fourth quarter alone, which tied another NFL Playoff record:

That drama continued into Saturday night, as the Bears capped off a comeback with this touchdown pass from Caleb Williams to D.J. Moore:

Chicago trailed 21-3 at the half, and 21-6 at the end of the third quarter, before scoring 25 points in the fourth quarter for their latest dramatic comeback effort.

Then came Sunday, and along with it more lead changes, and more dramatic endings. The Bills and Jaguars matched the effort from the Rams and Panthers, as those two AFC titans delivered four lead changes of their own in the fourth quarter. In fact, the first four possessions of the final frame saw those teams trade touchdown drives.

Trevor Lawrence connected with Parker Washington with 12:55 left in the fourth quarter to give Jacksonville their first lead of the game, 17-13. Buffalo responded with a touchdown pass from Josh Allen to Dalton Kincaid at the 8:56 mark as the Bills took a 20-17 lead.

Jacksonville came right back with a ten-play drive, capped off with a Lawrence touchdown pass to Travis Etienne Jr. with 4:03 remaining in the game to give the Jaguars a 24-20 lead.

But that left too much time for Allen and the Bills:

Finally, Sunday afternoon’s game between the 49ers and the Eagles provided the last true drama of the weekend. While the deciding points came on a Brock Purdy touchdown pass to Christian McCaffrey with just under three minutes remaining, the biggest play of the afternoon might have been this touchdown reception for McCaffrey on the first play of the fourth quarter, with Jauan Jennings throwing the pass:

While the Patriots and Chargers did not deliver the same level of drama we saw over the first four games, there is still one playoff game left this Wild Card Weekend, which will see the Steelers host the Texans.

And with the visiting Texans favored by three points, there is a chance we see even more drama.

But do not forget, this is just the first weekend of games in what could be the most thrilling postseason in recent memory. Looking ahead, early odds on the three matchups that are already set indicate we could be in for even more excitement. The Bills will head to the Mile High City to take on the Denver Broncos, and early odds have Buffalo favored by 1.5 points.

While the Seattle Seahawks are favored by a touchdown for their third meeting with the 49ers, the Rams are considered 3.5-point favorites over the Bears.

As for the Patriots, they will face the winner of tonight’s game between the Steelers and the Texans.

The bigger question might be this: Why are we seeing so many close games?

Parity is an easy answer. After all, the NFL has aimed at a level playing field, given the structure of the salary cap, weighted schedules, and the draft. The league packages hope each offseason, giving each fan base a reason to believe that this year could be the year.

But it is more than that. This year saw some incredibly talented teams end up in Wild Card spots, such as the Rams, 49ers, and Bills. All three of those teams played on the road last weekend, despite being in the mix for at least a division title — if not the No. 1 seed in their conference — throughout the season. That led to another fascinating statistic, from NFL Media:

With such talented teams missing out on division titles, it set the stage for this kind of drama.

And given how this postseason has started, more drama would certainly not be a surprise.