Former Wolverines in the NFL: Wild Card Weekend

The NFL playoffs kicked off this weekend in thrilling fashion. The Jacksonville Jaguars pulled off a stunning comeback while the Minnesota Vikings expectedly fell apart. This year, 13 former Michigan Wolverines made the playoffs with four of them having byes on this wild card weekend.

Here’s how each of them performed in the first round of the playoffs:

Josh Metellus, S Minnesota Vikings

As a newly named captain, Metellus led his Vikings into a home playoff game with the New York Giants. He tallied just one tackle in a losing effort. However, his ascent from special teams contributor all the way to team captain in one season is nothing short of impressive. The future is bright for Metellus in Minnesota.

The Vikings fell to the Giants, 31-24.

Tom Brady, QB Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Brady and the Buccaneers certainly did not have the Monday night they envisioned. The Cowboys ran away with the game from the very beginning. Brady ended up going 35-of-66 for 351 yards with two touchdowns and an interception, but most of those stats are meaningless because they had to throw to catch up for virtually the entire second half.

While certainly not the end to the season Brady hoped for, he will likely look to return to the NFL in some capacity next season, though maybe not in a Tampa uniform.

In the end, Brady and the Bucs fell to the Dallas Cowboys, 31-14.

Sean McKeon, TE Dallas Cowboys

McKeon played sparingly on Monday night for the Cowboys but they live to see another day. While he didn’t record anything on the stat sheet, he saw action on a handful of plays and even saw a snap at fullback. Jim Harbaugh must be proud.

Brandon Graham, DE Philadelphia Eagles

On bye. No game.

Ambry Thomas, CB San Francisco 49ers

Thomas missed the wild card game due to an ankle injury. There is no timetable for his return but it is not expected to be season-ending.

The 49ers defeated the Seattle Seahawks, 41-23.

Ben Bredeson, G New York Giants

Bredeson didn’t start the game for the Giants, but he ended up entering the game at left guard and played a majority of the snaps. He ended the game at 50 snaps, good for 69% of New York’s offensive snaps. He was a major contributor on an offensive line that paved the way for 142 rushing yards, 78 of which being from quarterback Daniel Jones. Bredeson appears to have played his way into a starting role moving forward.

Frank Clark, DE Kansas City Chiefs

On bye. No game.

Mike Danna, DE Kansas City Chiefs

On bye. No game.

Chad Henne, QB Kansas City Chiefs

On bye. No game.

Chris Evans, RB Cincinnati Bengals

With Joe Mixon and Samaje Perine both healthy, snaps were going to be hard to come by for Evans. He was a healthy scratch this weekend but still could play later in the playoffs.

Evans and the Bengals defeated the Baltimore Ravens, 24-17.

Daxton Hill, S Cincinnati Bengals

Hill struggled mightily in his NFL playoff debut. He was the recipient of three penalties in one game, two of which were back-to-back. That isn’t exactly an honor you want to have when you’re a member of the defensive secondary and special teams.

However, he did have a chance to make a tackle against his brother, Justice, on a kickoff return. That isn’t something many people can say. It is still only his rookie year and he will likely grow into a fine NFL player. However, rumblings among the Bengals’ fan base are not favorable towards Dax.

Christopher Hinton, DT Los Angeles Chargers

Hinton has been quite the turnaround story this year in Los Angeles. He went from an undrafted free agent elsewhere to a mid-season acquisition to rotational contributor in just a few weeks. On Saturday night against the Jaguars, he didn’t record any stats but did see 26 snaps, good for 35% of all Chargers defensive snaps.

Unfortunately for Hinton, the Chargers hideously collapsed, blowing a 27-0 lead to lose 31-30 to the Jacksonville Jaguars.

David Ojabo, LB Baltimore Ravens

Still recovering from his senior day injury, the Ravens are clearly slow-playing his timetable. Ojabo was active for the Ravens on Sunday against the Bengals but only saw two snaps. It does not appear his lack of playing time was due to injury.

It will be interesting to see how his role expands with an entire healthy offseason between now and the beginning of next season.