The regular season is in the rearview mirror, and the road forward leads us to Super Bowl LIX in New Orleans. Just 14 teams remain standing after 18 weeks of action, and the playoff bracket is set as we now look ahead to Wild Card Weekend in the NFL, which will kick off on Saturday.
For the Chiefs and Lions, they’ll get to sit back, relax, and watch the opening round of the playoffs unfold as they enjoy their hard-earned first-round bye. Meanwhile, the rest of the playoff teams will begin duking it out and begin a playoff push where they all hope to be hoisting the Lombardi Trophy by the end of it. As we take our first steps into the playoffs, we have quite the opening slate, including Packers-Eagles and Steelers-Ravens.
Here’s a look an early look at the opening round of the NFL playoffs and some notable storylines for each matchup.
Odds are SportsLine consensus
AFC Wild-Card Weekend lookahead
*The Kansas City Chiefs are the No. 1 seed and have a first-round bye.
Los Angeles Chargers (5) at Houston Texans (3)
Odds: Chargers -2.5
Saturday, Jan. 11 at 4:30 p.m. ET (CBS, stream on Paramount+)
In his first season back in the NFL, Jim Harbaugh has the Los Angeles Chargers in the playoffs. That shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise, as Harbaugh has shown a knack for getting his clubs back on track in relatively short order. That said, it’s still mightily impressive, and the Chargers are playing some of their best football to end the year. Los Angeles wrapped up the year winning three straight, which helped them secure the top wild-card position in the conference. However, it remains to be seen if this Chargers team is truly for real. After all, they are 8-1 this season against teams that are .500 or worse and 3-5 against clubs above .500.
The defense for the Chargers will be a key storyline in this matchup, as they were arguably the best unit in the NFL during the regular season, allowing a league-low 17.7 points per game.
Of course, this game will also be centered around both quarterbacks. For the Chargers, Justin Herbert is still looking for his first playoff win. Back in 2022, the Chargers reached the playoffs but blew a 27-point lead to the Chargers, which gave Herbert the loss in his lone postseason appearance. However, Herbert enters the playoffs playing remarkably well, throwing just three interceptions on the year. That’s the second-fewest interceptions thrown by a quarterback with 500 or more pass attempts in NFL history.
As for the Texans, they came into the season with tremendous promise after C.J. Stroud put together a stellar rookie season in 2023, which featured a division title and a playoff win that saw Houston advance to the divisional round. This season, they were still able to win the division but have been hit hard by injuries on offense. The club lost both Tank Dell and Stefon Diggs due to knee injuries, leaving the receiver room thin behind Nico Collins.
Similar to the Chargers, it will be interesting to see how Houston plays against increased competition. They enter these playoffs with a point differential squarely at zero. Every other playoff team in the AFC has a positive point differential, including Los Angeles.
Pittsburgh Steelers (6) at Baltimore Ravens (3)
Odds: Ravens -9.5
Saturday, Jan. 11 at 8 p.m. ET (Prime Video)
Who doesn’t love a divisional matchup in the playoffs? For the third time this season, the Pittsburgh Steelers and Baltimore Ravens will square off, and this time, it’s win or go home. These two AFC North rivals split the season series, but the Ravens most recently blew the Steelers out at home in Week 16, 34-17. In that contest, Derrick Henry proved to be the difference maker, rushing for 162 yards while Lamar Jackson tossed three touchdowns.
While the regular season series was split, it’s worth pointing out that the Steelers failed to muster 20 or more points in either of those games. They also enter the playoffs on a four-game losing streak where scoring has continued to be a problem. Over the losing skid, they’ve averaged just 14.2 points per game. That will need to turn around and fast as they take on a high-flying Ravens offense led by Jackson, who just became the first player ever to record 4,000 yards passing and 800 yards rushing in a single season.
For Jackson, he has already been dubbed an elite quarterback with his two (possibly even three) MVP awards during his career. However, he needs to put together a stronger playoff résumé to further push himself into the pantheon of all-time great quarterbacks. Coming into this postseason, Jackson is just 2-4 all-time in the playoffs. He’ll also look to improve his splits against the Steelers, as he’s just 3-5 against them in his career.
Denver Broncos (7) at Buffalo Bills (2)
Odds: Bills -8.5
Sunday, Jan. 12 at 1 p.m. ET (CBS, stream on Paramount+)
The Denver Broncos find themselves in the playoffs after earning a Week 18 win over the Kansas City Chiefs. It was a rather convincing 38-0 thumping of the defending champs, but they were resting their star players. Still, the win flexed how far Sean Payton has brought this team this season. The veteran head coach leads a Broncos team that is quarterbacked by rookie Bo Nix, who was taken with the No. 12 overall pick at the 2024 NFL Draft last spring. He helped snap the longest playoff drought after a Super Bowl win of all time by helping Denver claw into the postseason.
Nix has proven to be hyper-efficient throwing the football this season, particularly down the stretch. His 34 total touchdowns are the third-most by a rookie all-time, and his 29 passing touchdowns are the second-most ever by a first-year signal-caller.
While Denver has been a good story this season, they have a tall task in squaring off against the Bills. They’re led by Josh Allen, who is currently the MVP favorite and just wrapped up a 13-win season, which is tied for the most in franchise history. While Buffalo has enjoyed success during the Allen era, they’ve yet to reach the Super Bowl. They come into the playoffs as the No. 2 seed, which does give them quite the advantage. Highmark Stadium is known for being one of the toughest places to play in the NFL, and the Bills are 8-0 at home this season. That undefeated record will be on the line as the Bills aim to make a deep postseason run.
NFC Wild Card Weekend lookahead
*The Detroit Lions are the No. 1 seed and have a first-round bye.
Green Bay Packers (7) at Philadelphia Eagles (2)
Odds: Eagles -4.5
Sunday, Jan. 12 at 4:30 p.m. ET (FOX, stream on fubo)
This will be the first time that these two NFC foes square have squared off in the United States, but it’s not the first time they’ve gone head-to-head this season. The Packers and Eagles opened up their 2024 seasons against one another down in Brazil. The Eagles were able to come away with the 34-29 win in that contest, but both have found their way into the postseason.
One of the big storylines leading up to this game will be the health of both starting quarterbacks. Jalen Hurts missed the final two games of the regular season due to being in concussion protocol. Meanwhile, Jordan Love left Sunday’s loss to the Bears due to a right elbow injury. Head coach Matt LaFleur noted that it was out of precaution that they kept him sidelined, but it will be worth monitoring the injury reports for both teams this week.
While the Packers are the No. 7 seed, they did go 11-6 and simply played in a tough division with two other playoff teams. Last year, Green Bay crashed the playoff party in Love’s first year as the full-time starter, defeating the Cowboys in the wild-card round and then nearly taking down the 49ers in the divisional round. Both of those games were on the road, so Love should be quite familiar with the environment he’s about to walk into at Lincoln Financial Field.
As for the Eagles, they piled up a 14-3 record over the regular season and have only lost once since mid-October. If healthy, Jalen Hurts has already proven that he can lead a team to a Super Bowl appearance, doing so back in 2022. This time around, he’ll have Saquon Barkley in the backfield alongside him after the running back just finished up a season where he rivaled Eric Dickerson’s single-season rushing record. On top of their high-flying offense, Philly’s defense has been among the top in the league.
Washington Commanders (6) at Tampa Bay Buccaneers (3)
Odds: Buccaneers -3
Sunday, Jan. 12 at 8 p.m. ET (NBC, stream on fubo)
This is another game that features two teams that met back in Week 1. The Commanders opened up the 2024 campaign — and the Jayden Daniels era — at Raymond James Stadium against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Baker Mayfield and Co. got a 37-20 win in that matchup, but this is an entirely different Washington club that’s coming to town.
Since then, Daniels has established himself as the runaway Offensive Rookie of the Year after a dazzling regular season. While the former Heisman Trophy winner has impressed with his arm, it’s his legs that make him such a matchup nightmare for opposing defenses. Daniels finished the year with 891 yards on the ground, which is the most by a rookie quarterback in NFL history. As a team, Washington comes into the playoffs on a five-game winning streak.
The Buccaneers had to treat their Week 18 matchup essentially like a playoff game, as they needed a win to secure the NFC South title. For a minute, it looked like they may choke it away against the Saints, falling into a double-digit halftime lead. However, Baker Mayfield and Co. orchestrated a second-half comeback to give them the win, push them to 10-7 on the year, and come into the playoffs winning six of their final seven games. This is Mayfield’s second season with the Buccaneers, and each year, he’s led them to the playoffs as a division champ. A season ago, the Bucs were able to defeat the Eagles in the wild-card round but then fell to the Detroit Lions in the divisional round.
Minnesota Vikings (5) at Los Angeles Rams (4)
Odds: Rams -1
Monday, Jan. 13 at 8 p.m. ET (ESPN/ABC, stream on fubo)
Minnesota had a chance at the NFC North crown and the No. 1 seed but couldn’t take down the Lions on the road in Week 18. Now, they drop to the No. 5 seed, which means they’ll head to SoFi Stadium to take on the Los Angeles Rams. This presents a fascinating storyline at the head coaching spots between Sean McVay and Kevin O’Connell.
Before taking the Vikings job, O’Connell worked under McVay in Los Angeles as the Rams offensive coordinator from 2020-2021. This will be just the second time that they’ve squared off since O’Connell departed, with the only other time coming back in Week 8 of this season. In that matchup, the Rams were able to edge out a 30-20 win over the Rams.
Both of these teams boast high-flying offenses, particularly at the wide receiver positions. The combinations of Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison in Minnesota, along with Puka Nacua and Cooper Kupp and Los Angeles, are both looked at as two of the best one-two punches at receiver in the league. Naturally, both should be massive factors in this playoff matchup. For Nacua, the Rams wideout will look to follow up on what was a tremendous playoff debut last year as a rookie. With his 181 yards in L.A.’s wild-card loss to Detroit last year, Nacua set an NFL record for most receiving yards by a rookie. Meanwhile, a playoff win for Sam Darnold — who signed with the Vikings this offseason — would be the latest chapter in his reclamation this season.
