After all six Wild Card playoff games were finished on Saturday and Sunday, eight teams were confirmed for the conference semifinals and the matchups went as following:

Los Angeles Rams vs. Green Bay Packers

Baltimore Ravens vs. Buffalo Bills

Cleveland Browns vs. Kansas City Chiefs

Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs. New Orleans Saints

However, there are 18 other NFL teams that failed to attend the postseason competition in the first place. What went wrong with them?

American Football Conference (AFC):

Miami Dolphins

The Dolphins managed to lift their record from 5-11 to 10-6 in the second year of rebuilding, thanks to their league-top defense. 22-year-old quarterback Tua Tagovailoa played in 10 games and started in nine of them. However, he still lacks qualified offensive partner in upfront. Coach Brian Flores should make more plays around Tagovailoa as well. Moreover, the Dolphins should not have lost to the Denver Broncos on November 22, 2020.

New England Patriots

The departure of Tom Brady was a huge hit, but that's not the only reason behind the disappointing season of the Patriots. The team's underperforming offense, thanks to their shorthandedness of quality tight ends and wide receivers, is simply too predictable to any opponent. Besides, their quarterback Cam Newton catching COVID-19 in October 2020 led to another eight positive cases later, further worsening things for the team.

New York Jets

It's hard to say which was more depressing: The Jets starting the season with a 0-13 record or that their following two straight wins cost them the first-overall draft pick? The team's quarterback Sam Darnold played 15 games but failed to pass more than 230 yards in any of them. Perhaps last season's 7-9 record gave the Jets wrong impression that they did not need rebuilding, but they should see the facts now.

Cincinnati Bengals

The Bengals failed to win any of the close games at the beginning of the season. Then, in November 2020, they watched Joe Burrow say goodbye to the rest of the season because of a severe knee injury. Burrow's time on the field was hardly enough for him to get used to the NFL so the team will have to be more patient with him in the next season.

Houston Texans

The Texans did not try to fix their terrible defense after watching the Chiefs claim a 24-point comeback win over themselves last January. Instead, they bet on the growth of their young players for a solution, which failed. Despite all the efforts invested in pass-rushing by their defense, the Texans were one of the worst teams this season in forcing turnovers.

Jacksonville Jaguars

The Jaguars have probably the worst quarterback pair in today's NFL. Moreover, the COVID-19 pandemic and injuries destroyed their defense too. The team's 1-15 record happened simply because they have way too many problems to fix.

Denver Broncos

The Broncos were doomed this season after their quarterback Drew Lock underwent season-ending surgery to fix a "freak injury near the ankle" that he suffered during pre-season practice last September. As the season went on, injuries caught the Broncos' players one after another. Once, the team almost played a game without a true starting quarterback.

Las Vegas Raiders

The former Oakland Raiders had the opportunity to impress the league in their first season in their new home, Las Vegas, just like they came so close defeating Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs for the second time on November 22, 2020. Unfortunately, the Raiders failed to do either and went 2-5 in the following seven games.

Los Angeles Chargers

22-year-old quarterback Justin Herbert had an amazing season, but sadly that might be the only thing they could feel happy about in 2020. If injuries are at least unavoidable, stupid decisions by coach Anthony Lynn are why the team lost seven games in which one possession can make a difference.

National Football Conference (NFC):

Dallas Cowboys

Before their quarterback Dak Prescott was ruled out for the rest of the season because of right ankle injury in October 2020, the Cowboys were moving toward the playoffs in a bumpy way. Unfortunately, Prescott was the not the only one haunted by injuries – the team's whole offensive line was. As a result, the Cowboys once lost six of their seven games. After that, it's just too late for anything to change.

New York Giants

The departure of running back Saquon Barkley in last September turned the Giants into the second-worse offensive team of the league, only above the Jets. Quarterback Daniel Jones was not growing as fast as the team had expected him to. He was doing better in the second half of the season but turnovers were still his problem.

Philadelphia Eagles

The Eagles were 3-8-1 in the 12 games Carson Wentz played as the starting quarterback. That's why it's only logical for the team to throw him to the bench. Meanwhile, the Eagles had to come up with 13 different starting offensive lineups in their first 14 games because of injuries. Doug Pederson is not a bad coach but his task is simply too difficult.

Detroit Lions

The Detroit Lions made the right call when they decided to fire coach Matt Patricia in late November 2020, but it took them a painful 5-11 record to come to that decision. The rise of defensive end Romeo Okwara could not save the team's disappointing defensive line. Cornerback Jeff Okudah's work in 2020 was not even close matching the third-overall pick the Lions used to select him in the draft.

Minnesota Vikings

There's no way for the Vikings to see the injuries suffered by defensive ends Michael Pierce, Danielle Hunter, linebacker Anthony Barr or cornerback Mike Hughes. Though their young men worked hard enough, losing seven defenders created too big a vacuum for the team to fill. Moreover, the Vikings' over-reliance on rushing in offense deserves some attention as well.

Atlanta Falcons

Keeping coach Dan Quinn is a bad call and it took the Falcons a 0-5 record at the beginning of the season to realize and cancel it. Furthermore, the Falcons should make good use of their time during the offseason to figure out why they lost three games in which they once led by 16, 17 and 20 points respectively.

Carolina Panthers

Without running back Christian McCaffrey, who missed 13 games this season, the Panthers were definitely hopeless for the playoffs. Meanwhile, the team's quarterback Teddy Bridgewater was 0-8 on potential game-winning or tying drives. If half of those games were won, this season would have ended differently for the Panthers.

Arizona Cardinals

When the Cardinals began the season with a 5-2 record, many thought they would be competing for the NFC West title. Nonetheless, as their opponents figured out how to stop Kyler Murray from working his way on the field, the team went 3-6 in the following nine games. During the Cardinals' last three consecutive losses, Murray averaged only 67.1 rushing yards. Coach Kliff Kingsbury must do something about it.

San Francisco 49ers

The 49ers might have the shiniest injury list in the league this season: quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo, tight end George Kittle, defensive ends Nick Bosa and Dee Ford, center Weston Richburg, wide receiver Deebo Samuel, running back Raheem Mostert, and many more. The good news is, they should be competitive again next season with a complete organization.