Chiefs again or will Lions roar? Lowdown on NFL play-offs

NFL play-offs

Dates: 10-26 January 2025

The NFL regular season is almost over, and with the start of play-off football, that means there is still time to compete for the title.

The 32 teams that began with hopes of winning have been reduced to the final 14. The final 14 teams will play 12 games in three weeks to determine who will compete for the Vince Lombardi Trophy in February in New Orleans.

Another level of gridiron is present here. The play that coaches look for in their playbooks and players leave everything out on the field could mean the world.

Every play-off side has won 10 or more games this year for the first time in 12 years, which indicates the quality is there. And when it comes down to “win or go home,” that usually leads to some epic contests.

The top four seeds are division winners, and it’s obvious why some people think that should change now that the teams like the Vikings, Washington Commanders, and Green Bay Packers all have better records than the Los Angeles Rams and Tampa Bay Buccaneers, but they also have to play away games first.

AFC seedings (season record)

1. Chiefs (15-2) 2. Bills (13-4) 3. Ravens (12-5) 4. Texans (10-7) 5. Chargers (11-6) 6. Steelers (10-7) 7. Broncos (10-7)

NFC seedings

Basically, the Chiefs and Lions sit out Wildcard Weekend, then they will play at home for as long as they remain in the play-offs.

The pair will host the divisional round’s lowest seeds, with the winner taking on the fourth and final team in the other game.

Saturday, 11 January

Sunday, 12 January

Monday, 13 January

With six away wins this season, Jim Harbaugh’s Chargers are one of two road favorites, thanks to quarterback Justin Herbert’s most effective year of his career and the league’s worst defense, which only allows 17.7 points per game.

CJ Stroud’s stuttering Texans attack eclipsed 23 points just twice in their final 11 games, and went 1-5 against play-off teams and 1-5 against top 10 scoring defences. They’ll need their defence, which is the second-best at pressuring quarterbacks in the play-offs, to win this one.

Steelers@Ravens

Baltimore and Pittsburgh have a heated feud in their third meeting of the season, with the Steelers dominating this fight by winning eight out of nine before losing to Pittsburgh in the previous meeting.

Mike Tomlin seemed to be MVP candidate Lamar Jackson’s kryptonite, but the wheels came off Pittsburgh’s season down the stretch. Baltimore will suffer if they don’t have wide receiver Zay Flowers on, so work with Jackson and Derrick Henry to win.

Broncos@Bills

Sean Payton, the head coach of the Denver Broncos, has accomplished great things, and Bo Nix, the team’s defensive coordinator, has improved significantly all season to make it to the playoffs for the first time since winning it in the Super Bowl a decade ago.

Packers@Eagles

Philadelphia are hoping for a repeat of this season with the most talented roster in the NFL and possibly the best defense at the moment. The Eagles won the NFL’s first ever game in Brazil.

Running backs Saquon Barkley and Josh Jacobs will see plenty of action because both quarterbacks Jalen Hurts has a concussion and Jordan Love has a bad elbow. This is the most wins in a wildcard game history when all 25 are combined by these two.

Commanders@Buccaneers

Even though these two teams also met in week one, Tampa Bay won, and they have a better overall team under quarterback Baker Mayfield, but rookie Jayden Daniels has been cheering up for Washington at times, especially with some incredible late heroics.

No quarterback is aware of when he is defeated, but both teams averaged more than 28 points per game, which is unusual for a wildcard meeting. Late drama is written all over this.

Vikings@Rams

Minnesota are the first team to win 14 games but still end up as a wildcard, such was their misfortune at being in Detroit’s division, and how they handle the disappointment of last week’s Lions humbling will be crucial.

Detroit will win the bookmakers’ favors over Kansas City, who are currently in the championship game. The Lions were the league’s best attacking team, with 68 touchdowns, which is the second-most ever total for any of the other four teams that didn’t even compete in the Super Bowl.

If Detroit can get some players back, they will be difficult to stop because their defense has been severely damaged by injury as well.

The Ravens and Bills both have high-powered offenses behind MVP-worthy quarterbacks, but if they both win, they will face each other in the second round. Both teams will always be the Chiefs and will need some stopping.

Can Patrick Mahomes and his Chiefs become the first team to win three Super Bowls in a row, as the big question is in the post-season.

Despite having the same 15-2 record as the Lions, they still have questions to answer because the Chiefs were clawing and scraping victories with just a + 59 points difference. Compared to Detroit, which won with a + 222 points differential.

By the time they leave for the second round, the majority of their top starters will have had three weeks off. Are they rusty or well- rested?

They did make the Super Bowl in 2020 with a similar plan, though, and there are no style points, so whether winning one-score games or on the last play, all they do is win.

Chiefs head coach Andy Reid has 26 play-off wins, the second most in history, so knows exactly what he is doing.

Mahomes has won at least one Conference Championship each year out of his six seasons as a starter. He has as many Super Bowl rings as he does play-off losses (three) and his 15 play-off wins trail only Joe Montana (16) and Tom Brady (35).

Mahomes might have a chip on his shoulder, which is the last thing the rest of the field needs because he was snubbed by the Pro Bowl voting.

And what all these teams are working towards, Super Bowl 59, is being held in New Orleans at the Superdome, home of the Saints, on 9 February and will kick off at 23: 30 GMT.