Welcome to the Tuesday edition of the Pick Six newsletter! 

As we all know, there is nothing Jerry Jones loves more than being the center of attention, and he became the center of attention on Monday night after news leaked out that he had talked to Deion Sanders about possibly coaching the Cowboys. Will he actually hire Deion? No one knows, because there is no rhyme or reason to any decision that Jerry Jones makes. 

Since the Cowboys are now in the hunt for a new head coach, we'll be taking a look at several candidates today, including Deion. We'll also be breaking down the Rams' big Monday night win, plus we'll be making some early divisional-round picks. 

As always, here's your daily reminder to tell all your friends to sign up for the newsletter. To get them signed up, all you have to do is click here. 

The Rams were the underdog in this game, but it definitely didn't look that way during their 27-9 win over the Vikings. The Rams punched Minnesota in the mouth early and the Vikings just never recovered as L.A. bullied its way to the 18-point win. 

Here's how it happened: 

• Rams offense got off to fast start. Matthew Stafford diced up the Vikings defense in the first game between these two teams back in Week 8 and his hot streak against Minnesota continued here. Stafford got the Rams off to a hot start by going 11 of 12 for 124 yards and a touchdown in the FIRST QUARTER as the Rams shot out to a 10-0 lead. Stafford ended up throwing for 209 yards and two touchdowns in the game, but the 10 points in the first quarter would end up being all the Rams would need thanks to a dominant performance by their defense. Kyren Williams caught the first-quarter touchdown pass and he ended up with 92 total yards and one score on the night. 
• Rams defense was historically dominant. The Rams held the Vikings to just nine points, which was tied for Minnesota's lowest scoring output of the season. The Los Angeles defense had Sam Darnold seeing ghosts: They sacked him six times in the first half and ended up getting to him a total of nine times in the game, which tied the NFL playoff record for most sacks in a single game. Kobie Turner (2), Neville Gallimore (1.5) and Byron Young (1.5) led the charge by combining for five of the nine sacks. The Rams defense also came up with a touchdown in the second quarter when Jared Verse returned a Sam Darnold fumble for a score (You can see the play here). That put the Rams up 17-3, and from there it felt like the game was over. 
• Sam Darnold might have cost himself $50 million. The Vikings quarterback is set to hit free agency in March, and after Week 17, it looked like he was going to be able to cash in big time. However, Darnold melted down over the past two weeks in losses to the Lions (Week 18) and Rams. Against the Rams, he was holding onto the ball too long, which led to several of his sacks. He also lost a fumble that changed the complexion of the game. With the Vikings trailing 10-3, Darnold drove them inside of the Rams' 40-yard line on a possession where any score would have been big, but instead, he fumbled it and the Rams returned it for a touchdown. Overall, Darnold went 25 of 40 for 245 yards and a touchdown along with one interception and a lost fumble. Two weeks ago, Darnold seemed primed to land a monstrous contract this offseason, but there's no guarantee that's going to happen. With Darnold set to hit free agency, we took a look at what might be coming next for him, and you can check that out here.  

With the loss, the Vikings became the first team with 14 wins or more to lose in the wild-card round. It also means that Minnesota will finish the season 0-4 against the Rams and Lions, but 14-0 against everyone else.  

As for the Rams, this was their first playoff win since Super Bowl LVI and they've now earned a free trip to Philadelphia for a divisional-round game against the Eagles. 

We've got more takeaways from the game, and you can check out all of them here. 

Now that Wild Card Weekend is over, we have some winners and losers from the opening round of the playoffs, and you can check those out here. 

There were six teams that won a playoff game over the weekend during the wild-card round, and to give each of those teams hope, Jordan Dajani decided to come up with one reason why each of those teams could end up making a Super Bowl run this year. 

Let's check out what he has to say for the three worst remaining seeds left in the playoffs: 

• Texans: A tough defense. "During their win over the Chargers, the Texans became the first team since the Ravens in Super Bowl XXXV to allow a sub-45% completion percentage while recording four interceptions and four sacks in a playoff game. ... Maybe it shouldn't come as a surprise, since the Texans led the NFL in completion percentage allowed (59%) and ranked second in interceptions (19) during the regular season. DeMeco Ryans has this defense playing well, and they can really turn some heads if they shut down Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs this week."
• Rams: An emerging defense. "I say 'emerging' because we are going to have to see more of this. The experienced Matthew Stafford gives the Rams their best shot at a Super Bowl, but if this defense is going to play like this, watch out. Against the Minnesota Vikings, the Rams tied an NFL playoff record with NINE sacks of Sam Darnold. ... This unit will now have the opportunity to avenge its lackluster outing against the Eagles earlier this season, when the Rams allowed 481 yards of total offense and 314 rushing yards -- 255 of which came from Barkley. If the defense plays like they did on Monday night, the Rams could be NFC Championship-bound."
• Commanders: Jayden Daniels. "Jayden Daniels' Commanders became just the third team in NFL history to punt zero times while committing zero turnovers in a playoff game. In fact, Daniels already has more games in his career where his team punted zero times while committing zero turnovers (three games) than the combined careers of Tom Brady, Joe Montana, Peyton Manning and Mahomes (two games). Again, this is a first-year player we're talking about. Daniels gives Washington a shot to make a legitimate run, not just because he's a dynamic playmaker but also because he comes up clutch in crunch time."

If you want to see why the Bills, Ravens or Eagles might win the Super Bowl, you can check out Jordan's full story here. 

During the wild-card round, I went 4-2 with my picks, and I would have gone 5-1, but I made the classic playoff blunder of picking the Chargers. I can't believe I picked them to beat the Texans. We have 30 years of history that said the Chargers were going to choke and I ignored that history, which is why I got that pick wrong. 

For the divisional round, I'm not picking the Chargers, but I am going out on a limb and predicting two huge upsets.

With that in mind, here are my picks for the divisional round: 

• (4) Texans at (1) Chiefs, Saturday, 4:30 p.m. ET (ESPN/ABC): If there's one rule to picking NFL games, it's that you should never pick against Patrick Mahomes in the playoffs. Not only is Mahomes unstoppable in the postseason, but he's been especially unstoppable against the Texans in his career. In five games against the Texans, Mahomes has thrown 14 touchdown passes compared to just one interception while going 4-1 against them. The Texans defense is good enough to keep this close, but I don't see the Chiefs losing. PICK: Chiefs 23-20 over Texans
• (6) Commanders at (1) Lions, Saturday, 8 p.m. ET (Fox):  If there's one team that can beat the Lions at their own game, it's the Commanders. The Lions love going for it on fourth down, but Washington loves it more. Not only did the Commanders have more fourth-down attempts than the Lions this season, but they had a much higher success rate: They converted 82.1% of their fourth downs, which led the NFL. Normally, I would never pick a rookie QB to win on the road in the divisional round, but Jayden Daniels hasn't been playing like a rookie and this Commanders team has the talent to pull off the upset in a game where ALL the pressure will be on Detroit.  PICK: Commanders 34-31
• (4) L.A. Rams at (2) Philadelphia, Sunday, 3 p.m. ET (NBC): Over the past five weeks, the Eagles are surrendering just 15.6 points per game, which is impressive, but not as good the Rams, who have surrendered just 11.6 points per game in that span. With both defenses playing so well, I feel like this is going to come down to which offense plays better, and right now, I'm giving the edge to the Rams. Matthew Stafford has a career QB rating of 103.0 in the playoffs, which is the fourth highest in NFL history. I trust Stafford in the playoffs and I think the Rams get revenge for their 37-20 loss back in Week 12. PICK: Rams 20-17 over Eagles
• (3) Baltimore at (2) Buffalo, Sunday, 6:30 p.m. ET (CBS). Lamar Jackson vs. Josh Allen will be getting all the headlines this week, but I think the QB with the better supporting cast wins and Derrick Henry puts the Jackson and the Ravens over the top in that department. The Ravens destroyed the Bills earlier this season 35-10 and a big reason that happened is because Henry steamrolled his way through Buffalo's defense for 199 yards. I think the Bills keep this one close, but the Ravens seem like the better team.  PICK: Ravens 34-27 over Bills

If you want to check out my full explanation for each divisional-round pick, be sure to click here. 

With the Cowboys' coaching job officially open as of today, there's a good chance you're going to be hearing A LOT about this search over the next few weeks, and that started on Monday night with news leaking out that Deion Sanders has already spoken with Jerry Jones (You can get the full details here). 

With Deion now in the mix, Jared Dubin decided to take a look at some candidates who could possibly end up getting the job in Dallas. 

Obvious candidates

• Lions OC Ben Johnson
• Lions DC Aaron Glenn
• Ravens OC Todd Monken
• Vikings DC Brian Flores

Candidates that Jerry Jones will make sure to interview

• Eagles OC Kellen Moore
• Cowboys DC Mike Zimmer
• Former Cowboys TE Jason Witten
• Deion Sanders

Notes from Dubin: There is nothing that Jerry Jones loves more than a connection to the Cowboys, or to the Jones family. Moore played for the Cowboys and was the team's quarterbacks coach and then offensive coordinator for several years. Zimmer was a Dallas assistant and defensive coordinator in the 1990s and 2000s before returning to the team this past season. Both Witten and Sanders played for the Cowboys, obviously. 

Outside-the-box candidates 

• Texas HC Steve Sarkisian
• North Carolina HC Bill Belichick
• Steelers HC Mike Tomlin

Dubin broke down why the Cowboys might be interested in talking to each of these candidates, and you can check out his reasoning here.  

We also took a look at some possible landing spots for Mike McCarthy, and you can check those out here. McCarthy will be getting his first interview this week, and that will come on Wednesday with the Bears. 

With Deion Sanders talking to the Cowboys this week, we thought now would be a good time to play a game of coaching matchmaker. The rules here are simple: We had Cody Benjamin find the best candidate to fill each open job. 

Here's what Cody came up with: 

• Raiders: Brian Flores. "New minority owner Tom Brady is helping steer the ship, and Flores won four different Brady-led Super Bowls as part of the New England Patriots staff. He also revived his image as both a defensive schemer and player favorite in Minnesota."
• Saints: Joe Brady.  "After several years with a defensive placeholder in Dennis Allen atop the staff, the Saints are one of the most logical candidates to go young on the other side. They could get a dose of both familiarity and freshness in the 35-year-old Buffalo Bills offensive coordinator, who spent two years as a Sean Payton mentee back in 2017-2018, and also dominated as an area play-caller for LSU the following season."
• Jaguars: Ben Johnson.  "The Jaguars need play-calling innovation more than almost anything, and he brings it in spades. In theory, Jacksonville also offers the best of both worlds at quarterback in a winnable division: a former No. 1 pick in Trevor Lawrence who's experienced but young enough to grow."

If you want to see how Benjamin filled the other open jobs, including whether he sent Deion to Dallas, be sure to check out his full story here. 

 You can also check out all the candidates for each job by following our coaching tracker here. 

It's been a busy 24 hours in the NFL, and since it's nearly impossible to keep track of everything that happened, I went ahead and put together a roundup for you. 

• Russell Wilson wants to return to Pittsburgh. After leading the Steelers to the playoffs, Wilson wants to return to Pittsburgh for the 2025 season. Wilson is set to hit free agency, and right now, it's not clear if the Steelers will re-sign him. You can read Wilson's comments here. 
• A.J. Brown book becomes bestseller. The Eagles receiver was caught reading a book on the sideline during Sunday's playoff game and that book is now a bestseller on Amazon. The book is called "Inner Excellence" and you can read more about it here. 
• Bo Nix played with a fracture in his back. The Broncos rookie quarterback was in a lot of pain over the final few weeks of the season. Nix revealed that he suffered a transverse process fracture in his back during a Week 12 win over the Raiders. That means he had been dealing with the injury for more than six weeks by the time the playoffs rolled around. We've got all the details on his injury here. 
• Packers returner not happy with officials . The most controversial play of Wild Card Weekend came when Keisean Nixon lost a fumble on the opening kickoff against the Eagles. Nixon says the officials blew it and that he recovered the fumble. "I got the ball back for sure," Nixon said, via ESPN.com. Packers coach Matt LaFleur also agreed with that assessment. The officiating crew ruled that the Eagles recovered the ball and that decision stood after the play was reviewed on the field. The Eagles scored a touchdown a few plays later in a game they would win 22-10.