Steelers late show completes play-off field as road to Super Bowl is set

One of the most unpredictable NFL seasons ended in style that was appropriate, fittingly, to end the play-off line-up in a thrilling manner.

The Steelers defeated the Baltimore Ravens to earn their final NFL play-off spot with the final kick of a wild game in Pittsburgh. Tyler Loop missed a field goal.

The Denver Broncos won the AFC title without even playing, and the Carolina Panthers won the NFC play-off spot in the end. It was an epic conclusion to the regular season.

As an offensive shootout broke out in Pittsburgh, the 272nd and final regular season game turned into a classic, but not quite the street fight we’d expect.

In the 40th game between veteran coaches John Harbaugh and Mike Tomlin, quarterbacks Lamar Jackson and Aaron Rodgers exchanged touchdown drives with four scores in a frantic fourth quarter of the 40th meeting.

With just 55 seconds left, Rodgers, who threw the ball 47 times, landed the look of the knockout punch on Calvin Austin with a touchdown pass. Jackson and Zay Flowers connected on passes for 50 and 64 yards.

Jackson still had time to lead a lightning-quick response to make a 44-yard field goal with the final kick of the game for the win, though the season was still in doubt.

However, rookie Tyler Loop’s effort was off target, denying Rodgers and the Steelers his AFC North title and spot in his potential final NFL season.

After the game, the 42-year-old four-time Most Valuable Player (MVP) said, “It’s pretty emotional. “It’s been a fantastic year,” he said. For the first time in a while, I’m excited to be playing in the play-offs.

Denver and Seattle will both win the Super Bowl after the Broncos defeated the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday to finish as the AFC’s top seed, while Seattle won the NFC on Saturday.

The remaining 12 teams will now face off in the wildcard round, with the remaining two teams now getting a week off to recover and rest.

AFC Seedings

The New England Patriots defeated the Chargers on Sunday, but they were forced to settle for second place in Foxborough for the tiebreaker. The Chargers will host them next week in Foxborough, where they rested their starters.

The Jacksonville Jaguars defeated the Houston Texans to claim the AFC South title, but both teams are hot as they enter the playoffs, winning nine and eight games in a row, respectively.

Josh Allen, the Texans’ league-leading defense favorite, will take the Buffalo Bills’ one snap away from Pittsburgh on Sunday, leaving them as close favorites to face Jacksonville the following week.

NFC Seedings

Seattle will relish their chances because they have already won the Super Bowl three times and finished as the top seed. However, they face a significant NFC challenge in the interim.

Caleb Williams almost made it a second Chicago Bears game against the Detroit Lions on Sunday, but they lost 19-16 at home.

Next week, the Bears will face Green Bay Packers in a fierce matchup. Although this will be the third play-off meeting between the two, following on from 2010 and 1941, is the oldest and most popular rivalry in the NFL.

Philadelphia, the defending champions, rested the majority of their starters in their 24-17 defeat to the Washington Commanders, but the Eagles will face the San Francisco 49ers at full strength.

All times are GMT.

Saturday, January 10th,

Los Angeles Rams vs. Carolina Panthers (21: 30)

Packers @ Chicago Bears at 1:00 Sun.

Sunday, January 11th.

Buffalo Bills @ Jacksonville Jaguars (18:00)

San Francisco 49ers@Philadelphia Eagles (21: 30)

Los Angeles Chargers @ New England Patriots (Monday, 01:00)

12 January, Monday,

Teams that make significant turnarounds are a constant in the NFL play-off lineup. Four division winners lost 12 or more games last season, with three of those (the Patriots, Bears, and Panthers) going from “worst to first” after finishing bottom last year.

Under new head coaches Mike Vrabel and Liam Coen, both the Patriots and Jaguars finished last year at 4-13, but both teams responded by winning their divisions 14-3 and 13-4, respectively.

Trevor Lawrence, the quarterback who has 24 total touchdowns in the Jaguars’ eight-game winning streak, has an average victory rate of 19.1 points per game, which rookie head coach Coen has undoubtedly discovered.

The Los Angeles Rams finished with the league’s top scorers and the only team with over 30 points per game (40.5%). In a campaign in which he is one of the front-runners to win the MVP, Matthew Stafford also led the league with 42 passing touchdowns.

Carolina became the first team to reach the play-offs twice, joining only the fifth team with a losing record and the fifth with a losing record, in 2014, when they did it twice. The Panthers’ 69-point lead over the previous three teams, who had all won in the wildcard round, is their fourth-best record in play-offs.