Well, after 18 weeks and 272 games of ceaseless gridiron clashes, the NFL season has reached its most intense round of the playoffs.
The divisional round.
8 teams left.
One Lombardi Trophy to be hoisted.
After a somewhat lackluster Wild Card Weekend in terms of merriment, with five out of six games ending in a ten plus point win for the higher seeded team, there are a lot of storylines on the line for the upcoming divisional round.
Can Houston Dethrone the Monarchy Chiefs?
The Kansas City Chiefs are on their road to a three-peat, and the first team standing in their way in these playoffs are the young-rounded Houston Texans.
Texans’ second year quarterback C.J. Stroud is seeking to get his revenge on the Chiefs after taking a 27-19 loss back in December.
This time it’s life or death for the season.
The Texans looked dominant in their win against the Los Angeles Chargers in the Wild Card round winning by 20 points and forcing star quarterback Justin Herbert to throw four interceptions, more than he’s thrown in the entire season…
But will the inevitable Chiefs push their luck even further?
Kansas City has won 16 straight one-score games since last season, meaning luck has been on their side for a year.
The Chiefs currently have a 62.7% chance of winning according to ESPN.
The three-peat race is still very much alive.
Battle For the MVP
Years in the past sports fans had Brady vs. Manning or Steve Young vs. Joe Montana.
In today’s age, we have Lamar Jackson vs. Josh Allen.
Both of these quarterbacks have put up MVP numbers all season long, and Saturday night they get to face off in frosty Buffalo, NY.
The Baltimore Ravens versus the Buffalo Bills is definitely the most hyped up match up of the weekend, and with the Ravens dominating the Bills in their last battle in the regular season, Bills Quarterback Josh Allen is here to prove critics why he deserves the MVP award and get his revenge on the resolute Ravens.
Lamar Jackson on the other hand is trying to prove why he deserves to be respected in the post season, as his playoff record sits at 3-4.
Not very appetizing to NFL critics and fans for being a two-time MVP.
Rams Look to Reignite Courage in Los Angeles
The Los Angeles Rams’ playoff plans took a major left turn when they learned they had to play their Wild Card matchup in another location other than their home field in which they earned by winning their division, due to the tragic wildfires in the area.
The game was transferred to State Farm Stadium, home of the Arizona Cardinals, and to attempt to re-create the Rams’ home atmosphere, a field was rolled into the stadium with a painted Rams logo and endzones.
However, with the Minnesota Vikings being in the playoffs under a magical season with a backup quarterback, their fans would show up regardless, as the original red seats were filled with purple, blue, and gold.
A 50/50 split of Vikings and Rams fans.
After a brief commemoration for the victims of the Los Angeles wildfires, things kicked off.
In what felt like a college bowl game due to the split of fans from both teams, it was very far off from the entertainment value college football brings.
The Rams won in dominating fashion beating the Vikings 27-9.
With the Rams having a chip on their shoulder involving the struggling victims of their home city, they are looking to surge into Philadelphia and invade the Eagles hopes of reaching their second Super Bowl in the last three years.
The Eagles were able to beat the Rams previously 37-20 back in November.
So it’s the chip on the shoulder versus the red hot soaring Eagles who also showed up big in their Wildcard matchup against the Green Bay Packers.
David vs. Goliath, Rookie vs. The Veteran
The Washington Commanders finished the year 4-13 and no real idea of where the team was headed in the next couple of years.
This year, they finished 12-5 and won their first playoff game since 2005.
The Commanders are under the healm of Rookie Quarterback Jayden Daniels, who was selected second overall in the 2024 NFL Draft.
Daniels has brought back the energy that Washington fans haven’t had for a long time.
However, they face an opponent on top of the NFL world.
The Detroit Lions are led by their famously emotional head coach Dan Campbell and eighth year quarterback Jared Goff.
The Lions rank first in almost every offensive stat category in the entire league and are the number one seed in the NFC with a 15-2 record.
They are coming off of back-to-back division titles and reached the NFC Championship game last season.
They are most of everybody’s picks to reach the Super Bowl out of the NFC.
So a rookie quarterback leading his army for the first time in twenty years to the divisional round, headed up to gritty Detroit to clash with one of the best teams in the entire league.
Doesn’t get any more David vs. Goliath than that.
