There were several juicy storylines entering Super Wild Card Weekend, including the highly anticipated matchup in Detroit between Jared Goff and Matthew Stafford, who both played against their former teams. But one of the main storylines that came out of the weekend was the standout performances from several players making their playoff debuts.
More than a few performances were so good that they are now part of NFL history. All but one of these performances helped lead to a playoff win and a trip to the divisional round.
Here’s our ranking of the top playoff debuts from this past weekend, starting with one of the best performances by a rookie quarterback in postseason history.
Stroud’s playoff debut couldn’t have gone any better. The 22-year-old tied the rookie playoff record with three touchdown passes in the first half as Houston built a 24-14 lead over the Browns at intermission. His 236 yards passing in the first half are a new rookie postseason record.
Stroud’s best throw may have been his 37-yard touchdown pass to Dalton Schultz just before halftime. The score stretched Houston’s lead while putting more pressure on the Browns offense, which surely contributed to Joe Flacco’s multiple pick sixes in the third quarter.
Love was on his way to joining Terry Bradshaw and Peyton Manning as the only quarterbacks to post perfect passer ratings in a playoff game. That was until he was asked to attempt an ill-advised pass after reentering the game at the end of Green Bay’s 48-32 upset win over the Packers.
He didn’t get his perfect rating, but that in no way took away from Love’s epic afternoon. The former first-round pick torched Dallas’ defense to the tune of 272 yards and three touchdowns on 16 of 21 passing. He led Green Bay on six scoring drives while completing passes to seven different teammates.
Nacua capped off his sensational rookie season by posting the most yards receiving by a rookie in a playoff game. The 2023 fifth-round pick out of BYU caught 9 of 10 targets for 181 yards and two touchdowns in the Rams‘ 24-23 loss to the Lions.
The Rams’ surprising playoff berth was largely due to the play of Nacua, who had over 100 yards in eight regular-season games.
“He’s a freaking stud,” Rams coach Sean McVay said of Nacua after Sunday night’s loss, via NFL.com. “I think the same things that you can see. He’s a great competitor. He shows up big, makes…
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