NFLSU Wild Card Weekend Recap

Float like a butterfly, STING like a bee

Monday night marked the end of one of the greatest five day stretches ever for football fans. While the College Football Playoff sadly did not feature the LSU Tigers, plenty of our alumni showed out in the first round of the NFL Playoffs. Tigers participated in five out of the six Wild Card games, and some of them put on shows. Let’s break them all down.

Chargers 12 at Texans 32

Fresh off being named a First Team All-Pro in his third professional season, Derek Stingley Jr. showed the world why he’s the best corner in the league.

Justin Herbert only threw three interceptions in 17 regular season games. He threw two to Derek Stingley Jr. in one playoff game.

Sting had an absolutely spectacular day with four tackles and FIVE pass breakups, including one on a 4th and 1 in the 3rd when the game could still go either way. Sure, the Chargers receiving corps is not exactly elite (we’ll get to one of them in a minute) but it was still an awesome showcase, and we can’t wait to see him go against the best QB on the planet this weekend. Danielle Hunter had three tackles as well.

DJ Chark played in his first career playoff game and caught one pass for 10 yards. He lost most of his season to injury, so I have no idea if he’ll be a Charger again next year. He’s been on four teams in four years so I expect the wind to continue blowing him somewhere random next year. Cover your eyes and throw a dart at the map… congratulations on being a Colt, DJ Chark! Kristian Fulton had three tackles. It didn’t look like he was having fun out there. Still, pretty cool to see both starting corners from 2019 LSU start an NFL Playoff game.

NFLSU Score: 8/10

Steelers 14 at Ravens 28

For the second time in a month, Patrick Queen racked up a bunch of tackles in his former home stadium, but it still wasn’t enough. Queen had 10, second-most in the game, while Donte Jackson had two. Tre’Davious White played some snaps, but did not record a stat for the Ravens. He will now be like Queen and travel to his former home for a Playoff game.

NFLSU Score: 5/10

Broncos 7 at Bills 31

Reid Ferguson long snapped. Bo Nix lost, proving he is without a shadow of a doubt the second-best QB Drafted in the First Round in 2024 Who Started All Five Years in College At Both SEC And Pac-12 (RIP) Schools. We’ll get to the best in a second.

NFLSU Score: 1/10

Packers 10 at Eagles 22

Skip this shit man, I wanna talk about Jayden Daniels.

NFLSU Score: 0/10

Commanders 23 at Buccaneers 20

On the first day of 2024 Jayden Daniels’ team played a postseason game in Raymond James Stadium, but he did not participate. In 2025 Jayden Daniels’ team played a postseason game in Raymond James Stadium, and he put the team on his goddamn back.

In Week 1 the Bucs defeated the Commanders in Tampa 37-20. Here Is what I wrote in that week’s NFLSU Recap:

“We expected a rough first season with Jayden Daniels given the state of his team. While the Commanders were not exactly competitive in his pro debut, it was still a solid showing! 17/24 for 184 yards is respectable, but Daniels ran 16 times for 88 yards (more than any Commanders or Bucs RB) and two TDs. That rushing ability is what made him astonishing in purple and gold, and the fact a pretty good NFL couldn’t keep a lid on it is a great sign. He could use some better receivers, but he’ll get there.”

I have prided myself on being a Jayden Daniels believer since Day 1… but I would not have predicted the there I was referring to would come on that same field four months later.

Jayden Daniels was stellar in his Playoff debut, going 24/35 for 268 yards, 2 clutch TDs, 0 INTs, and a team-high 36 rushing yards. The numbers look good, but they don’t even tell the full story of how good he was. He was in complete control all night as the Commanders offense confounded the Bucs. This was only the second time in NFL history an offense had zero punts and zero turnovers in a Playoff game. The first was quarterbacked by a guy named Peyton Manning.

More important than all the stats and historic milestones… the Commanders won. They won a Playoff game since 2005. The last time they won a Playoff game was Les Miles’ first season at LSU. That is a long time.

After 19 years of garbage ownership, terrible QBs, multiple team names and playoff failure, Jayden Daniels has brought what used to be one of the proudest franchises back into relevancy. While I’m obviously happy for those long-suffering fans, it’s so cool for Jayden considering his LSU tenure was marred by many losses that were not his fault. Also cool that two of his teammates who were also not responsible for those losses got to see it!

While I wish Jayden could have had the opportunity to bring a championship to Baton Rouge like Joe Burrow did, it’s so validating to see him follow in his footsteps in effortlessly bringing swagger and excitement to a moribund franchise. It takes more than just good QBs to do that, Andy Dalton and Kirk Cousins were good QBs, but Joe and Jayden are different.

The first word that will always come to my mind thinking back to his LSU career was electric. While he has yet to have a 300-yard passing / 200-yard rushing game in the NFL (give it time) it’s hard to think of any other word to describe what he’s done in 18 games. I’m so excited we get to watch him one more game this year, and for potentially another decade-plus. If we ever get a Burrow-Daniels Super Bowl, the state of Louisiana might ascend to the Astral Plane.

In other news, Deion Jones had two tackles and a pass breakup. Like I said previously, he only needs to suit up for the Saints to complete the NFC South Cycle. Come home, Debo!

NFLSU Score: 9/10

Vikings 9 at Rams 27

Unfortunately, Justin Jefferson’s second playoff appearance was more disappointing than the first. Jefferson caught five passes for 58 yards, none of which came in the second half. The Vikings Rams’ front seven absolutely beat ass and all of a sudden it is a lot less clear who will be throwing to our beloved JJettas next year.

Omar Speights had four tackles for a dominant Rams defense. I make a lot of jokes about L.A. pro football fans, but they’ve had a difficult week and did a great job showing out in Arizona.

NFLSU Score: 4/10