THREE UP
Brian Daboll: The Bills' 46-year-old offensive coordinator became an even hotter head coaching candidate by basically calling the perfect game against Bill Belichick. With eight possessions, the Bills scored seven touchdowns and took a knee in a 30-point win. Josh Allen had fewer incompletions (four) than touchdown passes (five), the running game cranked out 174 yards and a 6.0 average, and six of seven third downs were converted. Not a bad night for a guy who spent 11 seasons as a Belichick assistant.
Deebo Samuel: There isn't a running back in the league who runs harder or is more physical coming out of the backfield than Samuel, a 49ers receiver. The player who edged the Vikings' Justin Jefferson for a spot on the Associated Press' first-team All-Pro squad averaged 7.2 yards on 10 carries with a 26-yard touchdown as San Francisco beat Dallas to become the only one of six road teams to win on Super Wild Card Weekend.
Matthew Stafford: A few months ago, Vikings Hall of Famer Fran Tarkenton held the record for most starts by a quarterback before winning a playoff game (174). Stafford passed him and was at 186 starts, including playoffs, when his Rams beat the Cardinals 34-11 on Monday night. The outcome didn't require much heavy lifting on Stafford's part. While the Cardinals' Kyler & Kingsbury Flop was unfolding, Stafford was completing just 13 of 17 passes for 202 yards, two touchdowns, no turnovers and a 154.5 passer rating.
THREE DOWN
Kellen Moore: The 33-year-old Cowboys offensive coordinator and red-hot head coaching candidate was thoroughly outcoached by 49ers defensive coordinator DeMeco Ryans. (Both are the Vikings' interview request list.) Dak Prescott looked unprepared, throwing 20 incompletions while posting a 69.3 passer rating as the No. 1 scoring attack mustered just seven points through three quarters. Ryans even held off the Cowboys' comeback without his two best defenders — Nick Bosa (concussion) and Fred Warner (ankle). Moore also didn't do himself any favors with that game-ending quarterback draw with 14 seconds left and no timeouts.
NFL officiating: It was fun to see Cincinnati break a 31-year playoff drought with a victory over the Raiders. It wasn't fun to see the officials help the Bengals do it with an inadvertent whistle on Joe Burrow's touchdown pass to Tyler Boyd. The down should have been replayed, but, ho-hum, it was just another week with another NFL officiating controversy.
Seventh seeds: Created in 2020, seventh seeds fell to 0-4 with losses of 16 and 21 points. The Eagles and Steelers were no match for the Buccaneers and Chiefs. Philly was down 31-0 before losing by 16. Only last year's Colts, who were 11-5, have come within one score of winning as a seventh seed. Meanwhile, this expanded playoff field hasn't done Miami any favors yet. The Dolphins are the only team to post winning records the past two years and still not make the playoffs. Brian Flores went 10-6 last year and 9-8 this year, and got fired.
