NFL wild-card playoffs: What went wrong for five losing teams? - ESPN

Five NFL teams saw their dreams of hoisting the Lombardi Trophy end over the weekend. The Panthers, Packers, Jaguars, Chargers and defending Super Bowl champion Eagles all fell in the wild-card round of the NFL playoffs, each in a game in which it seemed a play or two could have swung the outcome their way. In a postseason that promised to be wide open, we had three games decided by late touchdowns, a fourth come down to a red zone stop and the fifth stay within one score for most of the night before one team (the Patriots) pulled away late.

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Five organizations are moving on to the offseason, and we're here to help. I'm going to break down what went wrong for each of those franchises in the wild-card round, how that might have been foreseeable and what they can do to avoid that same fate next season. Fans invariably want to fire coaches and tear up the roster after a playoff loss, but I'll try to be more level-headed or realistic in projecting what might make sense or what these teams might be thinking.

Let's begin with the Chargers, one of two 7-seeds going home.

Jump to a team:
CAR | GB | JAX | LAC | PHI

Lost 16-3 vs. Patriots

I'm not sure a Jim Harbaugh quarterback has ever been beaten up in a big game the way Justin Herbert was hit over and over again by the Patriots on Sunday. With an underwhelming run game, an offense that couldn't diagnose New England's coverages, a green light to scramble at the first sign of daylight and little in the way of help from his offensive line, Herbert endured 21 hits for the three points the Chargers scored in Foxborough. That number of hits was tied for Herbert's season high and are the most for any Harbaugh-coached QB in a single game going back