Huskers in the NFL Playoffs - Wildcard Round

It’s Wildcard Weekend and we have eight former Huskers on playoff teams looking to help their teams advance for a chance to win the Super Bowl. It was a bit of a quiet day as only the Tampa Bay duo played a majority of their game while most of the others only saw limited time. Here’s a look at how our former Huskers did during the opening weekend of the playoffs.

Top Husker Performer

Lavonte David, Tampa Bay

In his first playoff game of his career, Lavonte David did not disappoint, leading the Bucs with nine tackles and a key fourth quarter sack on Washington’s final drive that forced fourth and 21. But where David had his biggest impact was in the passing game as he helped limit Washington’s talented pass catching running backs JD McKissic and Antonio Gibson to only 12 total yards. It was a great game all around for David.

Had a Good Day

Khalil Davis, Tampa Bay

Not only was Davis active for the Bucs in their playoff win over Washington but he played 18 total snaps throughout the game. The highlight for Davis was a forced fumble on Washington QB Taylor Heinicke but it was whipped away because of a coaches challenge. Outside of the play Davis was still able to get some pressure getting into the backfield and flushing Heinicke out of the pocket on the scramble for a touchdown at the end of the third quarter.

Up and Down Game

Ndamukong Suh, Tampa Bay

Suh was solid for the Bucs against Washington but far too much he disappeared for long stretches of the game. Suh only finished with three tackles and a quarterback hit but he still did get some pressure that didn’t show up in the stats. But Suh is a huge part of the Bucs strong run defense that limited Washington to 86 yards rushing in the game with an average 3.7 yards per carry.

No Impact

Andy Janovich, Cleveland

You would have thought that with the Browns jumping up early that they would lean heavily on the run and we’d see plenty of Andy Janovich opening up holes for Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt. Instead Janovich only played four total offensive snaps. Maybe next week against the Chiefs we’ll see more of him.

Joshua Kalu, Tennessee

It was a quiet day for Kalu in their loss to the Ravens. Kalu played only on special teams and left the game with no tackles and no other impact on the team.

Will Compton, Tennessee

Compton may have been dressed for success but that didn’t translate to much on the field as he only saw two snaps on defense and didn’t register any tackles on either snap or on any of the special teams plays.

Sam Koch, Baltimore

After missing week 17 due to Covid, Koch was back to restart another consecutive game streak. Against the Titans Koch was only asked to punt twice, averaging over 50 yards per punt. Both times the Ravens were backed in their own side of the field and Koch had to try and flip the field.

Carlos Davis, Pittsburgh

There were some questions as to whether Carlos Davis would be active for this game after hitting teammate Isaiah Buggs last week. And while Davis was active he only played five defensive snaps and wasn’t able to make an impact on any of them.