Epic Wildcard Weekend leaves eight on road to the Super Bowl

After the wildest of Wildcard Weekends in the NFL, we’re down to the last eight teams left on the road to the Super Bowl.

The fact this is the most wide open season in years was perfectly illustrated across six games that saw NFL history made, records tumble and the Super Bowl champions Philadelphia eliminated.

A depleted San Francisco 49ers side went to Philly to stun the Eagles, the Los Angeles Rams and Buffalo Bills escaped with late road wins and the Chicago Bears produced an epic comeback against Green Bay.

Four games were decided by one score, while the four away wins was the most in the Wildcard round since the switch to 14 play-off teams in 2020.

But it was the drama that stood out, with 12 fourth-quarter lead changes and four comeback wins decided in the final three minutes both records for a single post-season – with seven games still to play.

Chicago Bears the comeback kings

Down 21-3 at half-time, the Bears looked down and out but produced a team record comeback to sink their fierce rivals right at the death. They’re just the fourth team to overcome a 15-point deficit in the fourth quarter and the third team to score 25 points in the final quarter of a play-off game.

Quarterback Caleb Williams was incredible down the stretch for these comeback kings who never know when they’re beaten. A crazy stat that sums them up is that Chicago never took an offensive snap while leading in three games against the Packers – yet beat them twice and dumped them out of the play-offs.

The champs are out

The Eagles limped out in the end with a woeful offensive display, but don’t underestimate what a brilliant job 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan and defensive coordinator Robert Saleh did in Philadelphia.

MVP performances

Nobody gave the Panthers a chance but it took an MVP calibre display from Matthew Stafford to get the Rams through after four lead changes in the fourth quarter.

Reigning MVP Josh Allen got his first ever road play-off win after tush-pushing his Buffalo Bills to victory in Jacksonville, where the Jags looked for so long like they’d win the game.

Allen was beaten up by the Jags, suffering knee and hand injuries and being evaluated for concussion, but he knows, everyone knows, that with no Patrick Mahomes or Lamar Jackson involved, this is his best chance yet to get to a Super Bowl. And Superman will do anything to take it.

Defence wins championships?

Houston showed why their defence is the best in the league as they strangled the life out of Pittsburgh, and they’ll now face New England who did a similar number on the Chargers.

CJ Stroud was shaky with five fumbles no less, but a defence that can also score two touchdowns will help paper over any quarterback cracks.

Drake Maye won his play-off debut despite his struggles with two fumbles, but he made the plays that mattered with his legs to help get the Pats through. Not MVP quality but a ‘W’ is all that matters in the play-offs.

Wildcard Weekend results

Buffalo Bills (6) @ Denver Broncos (1)

Will Josh Allen be healthy enough to win another road game on a short week against the well-rested top AFC seeds? Getting more out of NFL rushing champion James Cook will be key after his 46-yard game in Jacksonville – he’ll need much more than that to take some of the pressure off Allen.

Denver’s defence led the NFL in sacks so they’ll have Allen in their sights from the off, but they lost at Mile High to the Jaguars just a few weeks ago.

Bo Nix had more pass attempts than anyone in the league but ranked 26th in passer rating – but Denver’s biggest strength is in tight finishes, going 11-2 in one-score games this season, while head coach Sean Payton is a mastermind with a week off.

San Francisco 49ers (6) @ Seattle Seahawks (1)

This is the first time two teams will have played each other in the first and last week of the regular season and then the play-offs. Seattle’s defence is brilliant and restricted Brocky Purdy and Christian McCaffrey to 173 total yards and three points in their final-game victory.

The win gave Seattle home advantage, and it’s a major advantage too at one of the loudest stadiums in the NFL – the Seahawks are 10-0 in home play-off games at Lumen Field with fans in attendance.

Houston Texans (5) @ New England Patriots (2)

Mike Vrabel has turned things around in a hurry in New England as he looks to become the first man ever to win a Super Bowl as a player and head coach with the same team.

Both teams are on hot streaks as the Texans have now won 10 in a row and the Patriots 14 of the past 15, and both will lean on their stout defences and hope for better quarterback production to win what will be a bareknuckle brawl near Boston.

Drake Maye using his legs will be tougher to lock down than 42-year-old Aaron Rodgers, while Christian Kirk and Woody Marks provided Houston’s offensive spark in Pittsburgh and could be difference makers.

Los Angeles Rams (5) @ Chicago Bears (2)

Chicago have now incredibly won seven games from losing positions inside the final two minutes – and so much has been made of the ‘Cardiac Bears’ they’ve almost become a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Despite a dominant 21-3 lead at half-time, injured Packers star Micah Parsons and even head coach Matt LaFleur spoke about being wary of a Bears comeback – then Green Bay visibly went into their shells as Chicago grew strong down the stretch.

Caleb Williams made a ridiculous fourth-down throw on the game-winning drive and giant rookie tight end Colston Loveland had a monster game – but their biggest asset is belief, that no matter what the score they can still win, and after the season they’ve had who can blame them.

Conference seed in brackets, all kick-off times GMT

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