01/13/26 02:06:00
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01/13 02:05 CST NFL's wild-card weekend was full of fourth-down fun and folly
along with a dearth of punts
NFL's wild-card weekend was full of fourth-down fun and folly along with a
dearth of punts
By ARNIE STAPLETON
AP Pro Football Writer
The NFL set a record for fewest punts per game in 2025, and wild-card weekend
was filled with fourth-down fun and folly as punters were mostly spectators,
especially Chicago's Tory Taylor, who never stepped off the sideline in the
Bears' come-from-behind win over the Green Bay Packers.
In all, teams converted 15 of 29 fourth down attempts on wild-card weekend,
when there were only 41 punts, nine of them Monday night in the Houston Texans'
30-6 rout of Aaron Rodgers and the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Bears first-year coach Ben Johnson was particularly aggressive, going for it a
half dozen times in fourth down Saturday night, including two backfires in the
first half that led to a pair of Green Bay touchdowns and put the Bears in a
21-3 halftime hole.
Caleb Williams was intercepted on fourth-and-6 from the Packers 40-yard line,
leading to Jordan Love's 18-yard touchdown throw, and Williams threw incomplete
on fourth-and-5 from his own 32. That one led to Love's TD throw on
fourth-and-goal from the Bears 2 that gave Green Bay an 18-point halftime
cushion.
The Packers couldn't capitalize on another turnover on downs by Chicago just
before halftime because Brandon McManus missed a 55-yard field goal on the
final play after Williams threw incomplete deep on fourth-and-4 from the Green
Bay 37.
When Prime Video's sideline reporter Kaylee Hartung asked the Bears' coach
about his aggressive approach and going for it on fourth down multiple times on
his own side of the field, Johnson replied, "Yeah, we want to maximize our
possessions and we want to go for fourth-down plays."
Her follow-up was about how to slow down Green Bay's efficient offense.
"That's a big reason why we're being aggressive on offense, so that we can
extend our drives and score points ourselves," Johnson insisted. "It's a really
good offense we're going against."
Although the Bears would convert just twice on their six fourth downs --- Green
Bay was 3 for 3 on fourth down --- that strategy paid off in the end. Williams
threw a 27-yard pass to Rome Odunze to the Packers' 30-yard line, which led to
the TD that pulled Chicago to 27-24 with 4:21 remaining.
Johnson said the game plan featured an aggressive fourth-down mentality, and "I
think where it gets misconstrued is, there's a lack of confidence in your
defense when you do that. I think the opposite, I think it's because I have
confidence in our defense and their ability to stop teams in the red zone."
"I'm never going to apologize for being aggressive or doing things that might
be a little unorthodox," Johnson added, "if it's what we deem is best for us to
win a ballgame."
Johnson was the Lions' offensive coordinator when Detroit blew a 17-point
halftime lead and lost the NFC championship to San Francisco 34-31 after the
2023 season. In that game, Lions coach Dan Campbell went for it on fourth down
twice in field-goal range but came up short, later saying he'd do it again if
he could.
Those failures didn't curtail the Lions' aggressive fourth-down philosophy, one
that Johnson took to Chicago when he was hired by the Bears a year ago.
He had plenty of company over the weekend as a trend from the regular season
continued. There were just 3.55 punts per game per team this season and that
figure fell in the first round of the playoffs with teams averaging just 3.41
punts per game.
The Panthers and Rams got the fun going Saturday when early fourth-down
failures led to touchdowns by each team.
Trevor Lawrence thought he had the first down when the Jaguars went for it on
fourth-and-2 from the Buffalo 9 only to see the review reveal his shin had hit
the ground shy of the first-down marker, a fourth-down faux pas that proved
pivotal in Jacksonville's 27-24 loss to the Bills.
The Bills twice went for it on fourth-and-1 deep in Jaguars territory. Josh
Allen had a 4-yard keeper on the first one and was carried 9 yards on an
astonishing tush push to the 1 that also led to a Buffalo touchdown.
The 49ers didn't attempt a single fourth-down conversion in their 23-19 win at
Philadelphia, where the Eagles were 3-for-5 on fourth down.
The Patriots converted their only fourth-down try, on fourth-and-4 from the
Chargers' 30, which led to a field goal. When the Chargers took a delay after
failing to induce an offsides call and then punted from midfield, NBC analyst
Cris Collinsworth said, "I think Jim Harbaugh's been watching the games this
weekend."
And when Steelers coach Mike Tomlin chose to take the three points with a
32-yard field goal try rather that chancing it fourth-and-3 from the Houston 14
Monday night, ESPN analyst Troy Aikman commented: "We're in a time as we all
know when a lot of offenses would be going for it ... But points are going to
be (at) a premium. You've got two defenses that are capable of dominating their
opponent. Get 'em when you can."
Well, points certainly were at a premium for Pittsburgh, which hung in there
most of the night before the Texans' 23-0 fourth-quarter blitz in what might
have been Rodgers' farewell game.
If so, Rodgers' final pass was a pick-6 by safety Calen Bullock, whose 50-yard
interception return for a touchdown came on ... you guessed it, fourth down.
___
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