Former Hawkeye George Kittle went down, but several others are moving on in the NFL playoffs.
There’s only one story that truly matters from Wildcard Weekend. What a GD bummer. Ugh. Let’s recap the weekend.
George Kittle and Cooper DeJean
San Francisco’s been a great story all year. Decimated by injuries and an amazing fringe theory on why, they somehow made it to 12-5 and even had a shot at the 1-seed in Week 18 but lost to Seattle. That meant a drop to 6th in the NFC and a road game at the defending champion Eagles.
But the one story that matters here is that of George Krieger Kittle, and it’s an awful one. I won’t post the video of the injury. I saw it live, then saw a couple of replays from Fox. That was enough for me. Kittle caught 1 pass for 6 yards in San Francisco’s shock 23-19 win, and on that reception planted with his right foot as he came down with the ball. You saw that odd wiggle in the calf when his foot planted. He went down in a heap along the sideline and it was later confirmed he tore his Achilles. That is a 9-12 month recovery time so perhaps we see Kittle in late 2026. What a terrible moment for Kittle, who’s had an excellent career but has also been ravaged by injuries. Just hope he can get through this one and be back late next season.
On the other sideline, Cooper DeJean’s incredible season – one that saw him earn first-team all-Pro honors – comes to an end after 2 tackles and 2 passes defended. Philly – weird team. Do they all like each other? Seems like a firm no.
San Francisco and their insane list of injuries head to the Divisional Round and a date in Seattle Saturday night.
Lukas Van Ness, Nick Niemann, and Tory Taylor
Now that we’re done mourning, we move onto the rest of the weekend. Saturday and most of the Sunday games were fun! We’ll start in the Windy City as the Bears managed a remarkable comeback to upend Green Bay, 31-27. Tory Taylor didn’t punt a single time. I was surprised when I looked at the box score but there it is – No Chicago Punting.
On the other sideline, Lukas Van Ness logged 3 tackles and a sack, while Nick Niemann picked up 1 tackle. I don’t know how the heck Green Bay lost this game. I’m just happy this rivalry is back in our lives. The teams don’t like one another, the coaches don’t like one another, the fans don’t like one another…YES. Welcome back, Chicago-Green Bay rivalry! The league is better having you back. We got three fantastic games from them this year. Keep that going for the next decade, please!
Chicago hosts the Los Angeles Rams Sunday.
AJ Epenesa
Really quick on AJE. The defensive end had 1 tackle as the Bills won late over Jacksonville, 27-24. Not much to report here, other than Buffalo advanced Sunday afternoon. They head to Denver for a date with our man Riley Moss Saturday afternoon. Buffalo’s injury situation is pretty close to that of San Francisco’s, and especially in their wide receiver room where only three receivers remain from the active roster.
Yahya Black and Kaleb Johnson
Good and bad here. Yahya Black had a nice game, collecting 2 tackles and recovering a fumble. That’s the good! The rest is really bad. Kaleb Johnson was a healthy scratch for the fourth-straight game, capping a disastrous rookie year in which he had just 28 carries. Oh and of course, the Steelers were shot into outer space by Houston, 30-6, Mike Tomlin fired himself on Tuesday, and they don’t know if Aaron Rodgers is coming back or not. That one might actually be in the good category…
Category: General Sports
