The first weekend of the Super Wild Card Weekend slate featured a little bit of everything: Tom Brady made his 42nd all-time Playoff game start and it was against Taylor Heinicke who was making his NFL debut, Lamar Jackson scampering to the end zone, Browns and Bills breaking lengthy playoff droughts, players getting slimed in the Nickelodeon debut broadcast, and of course - ProCanes.

Due to injuries and teams being eliminated from playoff contention, there were just 12 ProCanes in action amongst the 12 teams. Thus, there were limited highlights.

One of the main highlights occurred before the Titans-Ravens game, when veteran Ravens DE, Calais Campbell, was seen egging on Titans players as he walked towards his tunnel. There is a rivalry brewing between the two clubs surrounding some logo drama, a la Terrell Owens/Dallas Star, so it did not go unnoticed.

Another highlight came in the final game of the weekend when the Cleveland Browns walloped the Steelers. Second year Browns Safety and ProCane, Sheldrick Redwine, contributed to the dominant defensive first half when he came up with an interception on a Ben Roethlisberger throw that was errantly high. The ball tipped off of his receiver’s fingers and Redwine sprawled forward and returned it 30 yards into scoring territory. At the time, Cleveland already had a 21-0 lead in the first quarter.

While these two highlights were great, the greatest moment of the weekend came at the conclusion of the Saints-Bears game, which brings us to my Wildcard Round ProCane of the Week: In some ways, Bears TE, Jimmy Graham, was likely looking at this matchup as a revenge game against his former team. Unfortunately, that did not work out as the Saints won 21-9. However, the score easily could have ended 21-3.

However, the game’s NVP (Nickelodeon’s Valuable Player), QB Mitch Trubisky, heaved a 19-yard pass towards the goal line on the final play and Graham sniped the ball out of mid air and lunged backwards into the endzone, whilst barreling over two Saints’ defenders. Even though the catch was awesome, what happened next was even more legendary: Graham immediately got up and jogged towards the tunnel located behind the goal posts... and never came back (some believe he is still running down that tunnel). The 34-year old has one year left on his two-year deal. But, the “aight I’ma head out exit” would be a helluva end to an illustrious career.

Saturday Games:

Los Angeles Rams (10-6) (+6.5) @ Green Bay Packers (13-3)

This game features the best offense (Green Bay) vs. the best defense (Los Angeles), based on total points. The only ProCane is Jonathan Garvin, who was inactive, or played a minimal role, for most of the Packers final games. Miami’s 2019 OL Coach, Butch Barry, also serves as a Senior Analyst for Green Bay.

ProCanes Updates Wild Card Round:
Packers:
DE Jonathan Garvin - BYE Week.
Rams:
No ProCanes.

Baltimore Ravens (11-5) (+2.5) @ Buffalo Bills (13-3)

Similar to the above matchup, this game features the second best offense (Buffalo) vs. the second best defense (Baltimore). This game will feature Calais Campbell on Baltimore’s defensive side, who should get ample attention from OG, Jon Feliciano. RB, Gus Edwards, who technically transferred to Rutgers so entered the NFL as a Scarlet Knight, has been an effective role back for the Ravens. Jaquan Johnson has been featured predominantly on Special Teams. The biggest news off the field out of the Bills camp is that their personnel director and former Cane, Dan Morgan, was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame.

ProCanes Updates Wild Card Round:
Ravens:
DE Calais Campbell - 2 Tackles, 1 QBHit
RB Gus Edwards (transferred to Rutgers) - 8 carries, 38 yards
Bills:
S Jaquan Johnson - 3 Tackles, 16 ST Snaps
OL Jon Feliciano - 59 Offensive Snaps (100%) (62.0 PFF Grade)

Sunday Games:

Cleveland Browns (11-5) (+10.0) @ Kansas City Chiefs (14-2)

The Chiefs are coming in cocky against the underdog Browns, but Cleveland has something that Kansas City does not: ProCanes. And four of them. As mentioned above, Redwine was the star ProCane for the Browns on Sunday night with his INT. TE, David Njoku, has been fairly ineffective as TE3 on the Browns and only contributed on reception for 7 yards. There have been rumors about his potential departure, but we will wait until after his playoff run to explore those more deeply. DE, Olivier Vernon, will be out for the playoffs due to a ruptured achilles in week 17. DE, Joe Jackson, was also part of a large Cleveland contingent that was marked as inactive prior to last Sunday’s game.

ProCanes Updates Wild Card Round:
Browns:
DE Joe Jackson - Inactive
S Sheldrick Redwine - 3 Tackles, 1 Interception
TE David Njoku - 1 Reception for 7 Yards
DE Olivier Vernon - Inactive (Season-Ending Injury Week 17)
Chiefs:
No ProCanes.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers (11-5) (+3.0) @ New Orleans Saints (12-4)

This tilt should be featured on the History Channel as 43-year old Tom Brady tries to out duel 42-year old Drew Brees, something he has been unable to do in the two previous matchups.

ProCanes Updates Wild Card Round:
No ProCanes.

Wild Card Round Departures:

Chicago Bears (8-8)

ProCanes Updates Wild Card Round:
Bears:
FS Deon Bush - 20 Defensive Snaps
P Pat O’Donnell - 7 punts, 2 inside 20, 40.1 yards per punt, 49-yard long
CB Artie Burns - Injured reserve
TE Jimmy Graham - 2 receptions for 25 yards and 1 TD

Indianapolis Colts (11-5)

ProCanes Updates Wild Card Round:
Colts:
DE Al-Quadin Muhamad - 1 Tackle For Loss

Seattle Seahawks (12-4)

ProCanes Updates Wild Card Round:
Seahawks:
RB Travis Homer - Inactive
TE Greg Olsen - Inactive (season-ending injury)
RB DeeJay Dallas - Inactive
WR Phillip Dorsett - Inactive (Injured Reserve)

Pittsburgh Steelers (12-4)

ProCanes Updates Wild Card Round:
Steelers:
OL Danny Isidora - No Plays

Washington Football Team (7-9)

ProCanes Updates Wild Card Round:
Washington:
RB Lamar Miller - Inactive

Tennessee Titans (11-5)

ProCanes Updates Wild Card Round:
Titans:
No ProCanes.