Seven Former Cards Reach Divisional Round of 2023 NFL Playoffs

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Wild Card Weekend for the 2023 NFL Playoffs is now in the books, and with it, we now move onto the Divisional Round, where teams are just two wins away from reaching Super Bowl LVIII. This round of playoff games will take place on Saturday, Jan. 20 and Sunday, Jan. 21.

As you can imagine, a few former Louisville football players remain in the hunt for the Lombardi Trophy. Out of the 11 former Cardinals on rosters for the 14 teams that clinched playoff berths, seven of them remain out of the eight teams in the Divisional Round. In fact, three of the four games this weekend feature at least one former Louisville player on either team's roster:

CB Jaire Alexander - Green Bay Packers
QB Teddy Bridgewater - Detroit Lions
QB Malik Cunningham - Baltimore Ravens
OLB YaYa Diaby - Tampa Bay Buccaneers
DE Jonathan Greenard - Houston Texans
QB Lamar Jackson - Baltimore Ravens
DT Sheldon Rankins - Houston Texans

Wide receiver Tutu Atwell and safety Russ Yeast of the Los Angeles Rams, offensive lineman Geron Christian of the Cleveland Browns, plus wide receiver Dez Fitzpatrick of the Pittsburgh Steelers were the quartet of former Cards to get eliminated during Wild Card Weekend.

Out of the seven remaining former Louisville players in the playoffs, two will be seeing their first playoff action of this postseason this weekend. Lamar Jackson and Malik Cunningham had Wild Card Weekend off, as their Baltimore Ravens clinched the No. 1 seed in the AFC as well as a first round bye.

They will get their postseason run started against two of Jackson's former teammates in Jonathan Greenard and Sheldon Rankins, as they helped the No. 4 Houston Texans secure a dominating 45-14 win over the No. 5 Cleveland Browns. The two teams will fight for the right to go to the AFC Championship on Saturday, Jan. 20 at 4:30 p.m. EST on ESPN.

The Texans were in the Browns' backfield all night long, but both Greenard and Rankins had quiet games. After missing the final two games of the regular season due to an ankle injury, Greenard came off the bench against Cleveland and logged only a quarterback hit. Rankins started, but did not log any stats.

Over in the NFC, Teddy Bridgewater and the No. 3 Detroit Lions are moving on after capturing their first playoff win in 32 years. They'll be facing YaYa Diaby and the No. 4 Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday, Jan. 21 at 3:00 p.m. EST on NBC.

Much like the majority of the games during the regular season, Bridgewater didn't see the field in the Lions' 24-23 win over the No. 6 Los Angeles Rams. As for Diaby, he started in the Bucs' 32-9 win over the defending Super Bowl runner-up and No. 5 Philadelphia Eagles, logging a solo tackle in the process.

Staying in the conference, Jaire Alexander and the Green Bay Packers pulled off a massive opening round upset, taking down the No. 2 Dallas Cowboys 48-32 to become the first seventh-seed to win a game in NFL Playoffs history. Their reward is a date on the road with the top-seeded San Francisco 49ers on Saturday, Jan. 20 at 8:15 p.m. EST on FOX.

Despite being questionable against Dallas due to an ankle injury, Alexander did in fact play, and proved to be a major factor in the final outcome. He logged seven tackles, and caught an interception late in the first quarter to set up Green Bay's second of seven touchdowns on the afternoon.

(Photo of Jaire Alexander: Kevin Jairaj - USA TODAY Sports)

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