The second round of the NFL playoffs is set to begin this weekend with the divisional round. After a thrilling wildcard weekend that produced upsets and saw multiple breakout players, we will now start to see who the contenders are in each conference. The winners of this weekend’s games will advance to their conference championship games the following week.
The Baltimore Ravens and San Francisco 49ers were the top teams in their conference which secured them a first round bye into the divisional round. This advantage also comes with having home games throughout the NFL playoffs. Naturally, these two teams are the favorites to win the Superbowl in February.
The rest of the teams, however, were forced to compete in the wildcard round. The Houston Texans were able to blow out the Cleveland Browns, sending the Texans to Baltimore. Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs were able to hold the Miami offense to seven points and advance. In a surprising upset the Green Bay Packers were able to upset the Dallas Cowboys in blowout fashion. The best game of the weekend was a nailbiter between the LA Rams and Detroit Lions in which the Lions were able to hold on and win. This past Monday, both the Buffalo Bills and Tampa Bay Buccaneers took care of business at home and move on to the next round.
The first game of the weekend is between the Houston Texans and the Baltimore Ravens. The Ravens are heavy favorites in this game, being favored by eight points. Ravens Quarterback Lamar Jackson is the favorite to win the league MVP and will hope to continue his tremendous season. Jackson has struggled in the postseason, only having one career postseason win. This year feels different as the Ravens have both good offense and defense. As for the Texans, it will be a tough task to win this game on the road. Rookie QB C.J. Stroud has had a great season and could continue to ride the lightning against Baltimore.
With the upset over Dallas, the Packers will now have the daunting task of traveling to San Francisco to take on the 49ers. The 49ers have been the favorite in the NFC all year long and have shown no signs of slowing down. Led by Running Back Christain McCaffrey, the 49ers should have enough to win this game at home. However, just like the Texans, the Packers appear to be getting hot at the right time and are looking to pull off yet another upset.
Detroit has not seen the Lions win a playoff game since 1991. That changed this past Sunday when the Lions knocked off the Rams in a thriller. Due to the Cowboys loss, the Lions are able to host another playoff game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Tampa Bay is coming off a dominating win against the struggling Philadelphia Eagles on Monday night. Tampa Bay has been a surprise this year, winning both their division and a playoff game. Historically, it is a rarity that both of these teams are still in contention. The game kicks off Sunday afternoon at 3pm.
The game of the week is between the Kansas City Chiefs and Buffalo Bills. This matchup has already produced historic matchups in the past, with Kansas City winning the majority of them. Both of these teams are coming off double digit home victory’s and appear to be riding the lightning into the next round. Bills QB Josh Allen along with Mahomes are the two best quarterbacks and will compete for years to come. By far the biggest game of the weekend, the game kicks off Sunday evening at 6pm.
