After a wild card weekend with a few surprises and a bunch of blowouts, the NFL playoffs move to the divisional round with some intriguing matchups on offer.
The conferences’ top seeds will come out to play, all rested up and ready to make an example of the underdogs set in front of them, but as we’ve seen countless times, nothing is certain in football until you go out and play the games. With that in mind, let’s size up the four matchups in store and shine a special spotlight on the three players from down under left standing.
Houston Texans vs. Kansas City Chiefs
The Texans had their fair share of doubters going into the wild card round, and when they fell behind early against the Los Angeles Chargers, those doubts looked very justified. But as the game went on, Houston’s offense came to life—and more importantly, their defense throttled the life out of the Bolts with four interceptions, one of which went back for a pick-6. Even their special teams unit came up big, as they pulled off the first defensive two-point conversion in NFL playoff history.
However, they must now face Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce, and the Chiefs, who famously ended Houston’s Bill O’Brien era five years ago by climbing out of a 24-0 hole to win 51-31.
Now, with a potential threepeat on the horizon, the Chiefs have evolved into their most frustrating form yet, as they spent practically every game of the regular season teetering on the brink of defeat, only to snatch victory by the skin of their teeth in various improbable ways.
Patrick Mahomes #15 of the Kansas City Chiefs (Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images)
Call it dumb luck or dark magic, but until they’re officially eliminated, the Chiefs will be presumptive favourites to win it all, no matter how dire things look for them.
This appears to be, far and away, the most predictable of the four contests, and therefore the least anticipated. Ever since Mahomes took the full-time starting job, the AFC Championship Game has been the Chiefs’ floor, and the Texans are easily the lowest-regarded team left standing on either side of the bracket.
However, if Houston can engineer some luck of their own and shock the world, they’ll guarantee this year’s Super Bowl matchup is a breath of fresh air.
If you’re from New Zealand, you can bandwagon the Chiefs with total impunity because they have the only Kiwi in the playoffs—but don’t expect to see him making waves on the field. Defensive tackle Marlon Tuipulotu came off the bench and filled in for star lineman Chris Jones in the final two games of the regular season, but has mysteriously gone on injured reserve with what is likely a phantom injury concocted to allow someone else onto the playoff roster.
Still, his ring would count as much as anyone else’s, and the crucial recovery time he bought for a banged-up Jones just might set up another monster postseason for KC’s defensive lynchpin.
Washington Commanders vs. Detroit Lions
In the standout game of the last round, the Commanders put on an instant classic against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Despite the high stakes and the constant back-and-forth, rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels played as fearlessly as any seasoned vet, especially when “Scary” Terry McLaurin was open downfield.
Add in linebacker Bobby Wagner’s crucial forced fumble and Zane Gonzalez’s kick doinking fortuitously through the uprights, and you have the recipe for Washington’s first playoff win in 20 years.
Now, however, this potential team of destiny must travel north to face the almighty Lions. Detroit’s offensive weapons are absolutely boundless—Jared Goff has had an MVP-calibre season at quarterback, Amon-Ra St. Brown once again heads up the receiving core, and the Sonic & Knuckles tandem of Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery provide constant gains on the ground.
They’re also remarkably good on defence, considering how many starters are out with injury, and even that’s starting to fix itself as pieces like linebacker Alex Anzalone return to the line-up.
Despite featuring the biggest seed disparity of the round, there are compelling cases for both sides to advance. On one hand, the Lions have built the biggest juggernaut in the league, capable of piledriving anything put in front of them, but the Commanders are used to playing the underdog and just added to a laundry list of wins in close contests.
This might ultimately come down to coaching—Detroit’s Dan Campbell and DC’s Dan Quinn have made their names as aggressive gamblers, and if one blinks or starts making bad bets, the other will remorselessly pounce to make it hurt.
Los Angeles Rams vs. Philadelphia Eagles
The Eagles’ playoff run got off to a blessed start, as a controversial fumble call on the opening kickoff handed them the ball and the momentum. While they weren’t as dominant as other wild card round winners, they still successfully ground the Green Bay Packers to dust and secured another home playoff game in Philly.
Jordan Mailata gets emotional. (Photo by Tim Nwachukwu/Getty Images)
As usual, Jordan Mailata had a lot to do with that—he scored the highest PFF grade of any offensive player, and his blocking kept lanes wide open for Jalen Hurts and Saquon Barkley whenever they needed him.
In a bit of a surprise, they’ll host the Rams—who, faced with the 14-win Minnesota Vikings and the prospect of playing their “home” playoff game in Arizona, turned what many expected to be a tough contest into a walkover.
LA’s defence tore Sam Darnold to shreds, intercepting him twice, sacking him a record-tying nine times, and potentially slashing millions of dollars off his next contract.
At the same time, their offence moved and scored at will thanks to Matthew Stafford, cool as ever under pressure, and the smorgasbord of quality pass-catchers he kept finding downfield.
This should be a major clash of styles, with the Eagles fighting by land and the Rams fighting by air. Los Angeles will also bring a crucial edge in coaching, as they pit Hall of Fame-bound Sean McVay against Nick Sirianni, who’s one bad playoff loss away from cementing his narrative as the biggest meathead among head coaches today.
That said, if Mailata and company can help the Eagles open up their passing game on top of their world-class running attack, something Philly had trouble with last round, the path to another NFC Championship Game will become significantly easier.
Baltimore Ravens vs. Buffalo Bills
As is tradition for second seeds, the Bills absolutely dogwalked their first opponents. While the seventh-seed Denver Broncos scored on the opening drive, they subsequently forgot how to catch the football, and Buffalo capitalised with 31 unanswered points despite their insistence on giving themselves repeated head trauma.
Josh Allen (Photo by Rich Gagnon/Getty Images)
Meanwhile, in a contest that wasn’t as close as the scoreline suggests, the Ravens ran all over the hated Pittsburgh Steelers, dominating their archrivals by leaning into their ground game, and Melbourne’s own Daniel Faalele played a significant role in opening up those lanes for Lamar Jackson and Derrick Henry.
All this has paved the way for the undisputed marquee match-up of the round, as the two biggest threats to the Chiefs’ AFC reign of terror go to war, each led by a frontrunner for this year’s MVP. Lamar has the overall stats on his side, but if Josh Allen puts Buffalo on his back and carries them to victory, that won’t mean a thing.
The Bills even bring their own star running back to match Henry, as James Cook’s emergence has taken a significant chunk of the ground game load off of Allen’s shoulders.
Faalele and his fellow Ravens O-liners will have a tough task ahead of them, especially with former Super Bowl MVP Von Miller to contain.
However, if Baltimore can start hot, something the Bills typically struggle with, and force the kind of defensive errors that have held Buffalo back, they’ll put themselves in a very good position to either whoop Houston again like they did on Christmas or—more likely—force a long-awaited rematch with the Chiefs for the AFC title.
Connor Bunnellhttps://https://ift.tt/zJ6egFH divisional round preview: Mailata’s Eagles face confident Rams, can Ravens and Commanders cause upsets?
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