With the regular season in the books, wild-card weekend kicks off with six games spread out across three days. Six teams in each conference square off while the Denver Broncos and Seattle Seahawks, the top seeds of the AFC and NFC, respectively, enjoy their bye weeks.
It’s truly a wide-open postseason featuring numerous contenders but no clear-cut, dominant force of a team.
The action kicks off with two NFC showdowns on Saturday before another three (two in the AFC and one NFC) games take place Sunday. Monday night’s meeting between the Houston Texans and Pittsburgh Steelers caps the action.
Here are the most compelling storylines to follow in each of this weekend’s playoff contests.
And so they meet again. It was Week 13 of the regular season. The Rams came to Charlotte, riding a six-game win streak and regarded by many as one of the best teams in football. Given L.A.’s excellence and the seesaw nature of the Panthers’ season, the oddsmakers favored the visitors by 10 points. However, the Rams wound up having an error-plagued day and fell in a 31-28 stunner.
Now, these teams meet again with extremely high stakes. It’s the Panthers’ first home playoff game in 10 years and only their second postseason contest since 2017. They have limped into the playoffs, having lost four of their last five and two straight, but had their path to the playoffs cleared thanks to the Atlanta Falcons defeating NFC South rivals Tampa Bay Buccaneers and New Orleans Saints. It’ll be interesting to see how this young team responds to the moment. On one hand, few expected them to reach this point, so the Panthers shouldn’t be dealing with immense pressure. At the same time, the intensity of the postseason can prove rather overwhelming for first-timers, especially when facing a heavily seasoned team like the Rams, who are making their sixth playoff appearance since 2017.
The Panthers will look to establish their run game to ease pressure on Bryce Young. That recipe served them well last time around. They rushed for a combined 164 yards and Young completed 15 of 20 passes for 206 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions.
Still, they’ll be facing a highly motivated Rams team that hasn’t at all forgotten about their Week 13 shortcoming in Charlotte.
Sean McVay’s squad boasts a dynamic and balanced offense and an imposing defense, and this time, they enter this meeting as 10 1/2 point favorites. Quarterback Matthew Stafford, who led the NFL with 4,707 passing yards and 46 touchdown passes this season, will play in his 11th career postseason game. He has recorded multiple touchdown passes in eight consecutive playoff games — a feat only previously performed by Aaron Rodgers (nine straight games with the Green Bay Packers) and Joe Flacco (eight with the Baltimore Ravens).
Stafford said that aside from winning, he has one main goal for this rematch with Carolina.
“I’d like to not throw it to their team,” Stafford told reporters this week. “I think that was the story of the game when you think about it.”
If the Rams can avoid self-inflicted mistakes, victory should be theirs.
The rubber match
Green Bay Packers at Chicago Bears, 8 p.m. ET, Saturday, Prime Video
After going 1-1 against each other during the regular season (with the home team winning each time), the Packers and Bears face off for the third time since Week 14. Neither enters the postseason on a particularly stellar note. Green Bay has lost four straight, and Chicago has dropped two in a row.
The Bears find themselves in the playoffs for the first time since the 2020 season and the second time since the 2018 season, yet they seek their first playoff victory since 2010, when they reached the conference championship. First-year coach Ben Johnson has seemingly managed to push all of the right buttons while guiding second-year quarterback Caleb Williams and the Bears on this journey of resurgence. Williams, who passed for a career-high 3,942 yards and 27 touchdowns, has posted five straight multi-touchdown games and looks to continue the streak this week while facing a Green Bay defense that is still trying to overcome the loss of Micah Parsons. Williams doesn’t have to do it alone, however. Green Bay has struggled mightily against the run, surrendering an average of 198 rushing yards in the last three games. The Bears’ tandem of D’Andre Swift and Kyle Monangai could be in for a big day.
Green Bay welcomes back quarterback Jordan Love, who hasn’t played since Week 16, and running back Josh Jacobs (out since Week 17). There’s a good bit of pressure on Love as he enters the fourth playoff game of his career. The Packers moved on from Rodgers following the 2022 season with the belief Love could better elevate the team, but thus far, Green Bay has gone 1-2 in the playoffs and hasn’t reached the conference championship since the 2020 campaign. In his most recent postseason outing, Love threw three interceptions and no touchdown passes in a 22-10 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles last season.
The previous two meetings came down to the final play of the game, so look for another hotly contested shootout as two of the league’s most talented play-calling head coaches, Johnson and Matt LaFleur, face off.
Buffalo Bills at Jacksonville Jaguars, 1 p.m. ET, Sunday, CBS
It’s still hard to believe that of the AFC’s upper echelon of elite passers, only Josh Allen has reached the playoffs. Patrick Mahomes, Lamar Jackson, Joe Burrow … all home for the postseason. For years, Mahomes and the Chiefs stood in Allen and Buffalo’s way. In 2023, Cincinnati sent the Bills packing. And Jackson has always given the Buffalo defense fits. With those obstacles removed, the door appears as open as ever for Allen and his team. Because of that, they enter the playoffs under more pressure than ever before.
Allen turned in another MVP-caliber season and certainly is one of the most seasoned quarterbacks in the playoffs. His 13 games (7-6 record) trail only Rodgers’ 22 (12-10 record). From there, the AFC playoff field features a huge drop-off in the experience department as C.J. Stroud has played four playoff games (2-2), Trevor Lawrence (1-1) and Justin Herbert (0-2) just two. Bo Nix lost in his postseason debut last season, and Drake Maye will make his playoff debut this year. The experience should serve Allen well. However, he may be working with one of the most limited supporting casts he has had in years. Yes, James Cook led the NFL in rushing this season, but Buffalo’s receiving unit features no threat capable of consistently winning one-on-one matchups. And the Bills’ defense struggles mightily against the run and ranks near the bottom third of the league in sacks. Therefore, Allen will have to don the cape once again.
Newcomer Jacksonville, which rebounded from a 4-13 record in 2024 to go 13-4 in Liam Coen’s first season as head coach, could pose plenty of challenges for Allen and the Bills, however. One of the hottest teams in the league, the Jaguars have won eight straight, winning those games by an average margin of 19.1 points per game. The Jaguars boast the league’s No. 1 rushing defense, holding opponents to 85.6 yards per contest, which could cause problems for Cook. Jacksonville’s defense also has forced 31 takeaways — the most in the AFC. On the other side of the ball, Jacksonville — led by running back Travis Etienne Jr. — averages 115.1 rushing yards per game. However, the Bills’ greatest weakness on defense is stopping the run. Buffalo gave up 136.2 rushing yards per game — fifth-most in the NFL.
Jacksonville’s offense has thrived under Coen’s direction, averaging 27.9 points per game, and spearheading the attack is Lawrence, the first pick of the 2021 draft, who, rather than blossoming into a generational talent, had instead battled inconsistencies and injury. He has, however, steadily improved in this first season with his new coach, throwing for a career-high 29 touchdown passes and rushing for another nine. A playoff win would go a long way toward changing the narrative surrounding the 26-year-old, while helping him reach the lofty potential once placed upon him.
Trevor Lawrence is starting to live up to his draft status. Can he add a playoff win over Josh Allen? (Rich Storry / Getty Images)
Two of the NFC’s top teams for the better part of the last decade, but also owners of lofty expectations and less-than-ideal situations, face off at Lincoln Financial Field — the 49ers and Eagles.
The visiting 49ers really have no business even being in this game. Injuries have ravaged this team, robbing it of some of its most impactful stars like Nick Bosa and Fred Warner. And yet, Kyle Shanahan and his coaching staff have managed to keep their team afloat, plugging in young reserves and positioning them for impactful contributions. The 49ers have gotten healthier on offense as the season has gone along. Quarterback Brock Purdy, who missed eight games with injury, closed out the month of December on a tear, averaging 297.6 passing yards and 3.6 touchdowns per game. And much of San Francisco’s offensive success can be credited to running back Christian McCaffrey, who has rushed for 1,202 yards and 10 touchdowns while also recording 924 receiving yards and seven touchdown catches.
Defensively, the 49ers’ injuries have continued to mount. The 49ers just lost middle linebacker Tatum Bethune to a groin injury after he had filled in admirably for Warner, who has missed the bulk of the season with a dislocated ankle. Now, defensive coordinator Robert Saleh turns to 33-year-old Eric Kendricks to help anchor the defense.
San Francisco braces for an Eagles offense that boasts great weapons like Saquon Barkley, A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith, and yet the offense has struggled all season long to live up to its potential and execute consistently. Injuries have hampered the offensive line, and quarterback Jalen Hurts has at times appeared tentative rather than the aggressive passer and scrambler that helped lead the Eagles to victory in the Super Bowl. It’s anyone’s guess which Philadelphia offense will show up Sunday, but the potential for greatness is indeed there. So too is the support of a dominant defense that features playmakers at every level, and because of that Vic Fangio juggernaut, it’s hard to bet against the Eagles.
Two of the most highly-regarded head coaches in the league face off as Mike Vrabel’s Patriots welcome Jim Harbaugh’s Chargers to Foxboro, Mass. The former linebacker and former quarterback have some similarities in their philosophies. Both have established a strong culture of accountability and discipline. Both pride themselves on toughness, grit and physicality, and their teams have adopted that mindset.
The success of Vrabel’s Patriots has ranked among the biggest stories of the year. He took over a team that went 4-13 in back-to-back seasons and quickly whipped his players into shape. The Patriots have regained a place among the league’s elite and spent the season battling Denver for the No. 1 seed. Meanwhile, Harbaugh directs a resilient bunch that has overcome injuries at key positions, including their starting offensive tackles. A year after going 11-6 to reach the playoffs in Harbaugh’s first season at the helm, the Chargers again posted an 11-6 record and now seek their first playoff victory under Harbaugh and the franchise’s first since 2018.
This could be a shootout between promising young quarterbacks Justin Herbert and Drake Maye. Herbert is making his third playoff appearance and this season has carried his team while playing through injury and also shrugging off the struggles of a battered offensive line to pass for 3,727 yards (ninth-most), 26 touchdowns and 13 interceptions. Meanwhile, Maye has put up MVP-caliber numbers in his second pro season. Maye’s 4,394 yards ranked fourth in the NFL, and his 31 touchdowns ranked third. Furthermore, Maye is adept at using his legs to help extend plays and keep defenses off balance. Maye must deliver his heroics while facing a Chargers defense that ranks among the top five in yards and interceptions, and top 10 in sacks, while holding quarterbacks to a league-low passer rating of 75.0.
Both of these offenses strive for balance despite the talent each boasts at quarterback. The Patriots rank sixth in the league with 128.9 rushing yards per game, while the Chargers rank 12th with 121.6 per contest.
Young guns versus aging legends
Houston Texans at Pittsburgh Steelers, 8:15 p.m. ET, Monday, ESPN/ABC
In many ways, Houston and Pittsburgh represent opposite ends of the spectrum. The Texans rank among the young ascending teams in the league and are led by 41-year-old head coach Demeco Ryans and Stroud, the team’s 24-year-old quarterback. The Steelers, meanwhile, rank among the oldest in the league and are led by 53-year-old Mike Tomlin, who is in his 19th season, and the 42-year-old Rodgers.
The Texans have reached the postseason for a third straight season, but aren’t satisfied with just being here. They want to make a deep run and bring a long-suffering fan base its first Lombardi Trophy. The Steelers, on the other hand, have gone 17 years since they won their last Super Bowl, and they have worked hard to extend their window of contention and hope for one more championship run before Father Time turns out the lights on this era.
Rodgers has proved he still has something left in the tank, but Pittsburgh has its limitations on offense, particularly when it comes to explosive play-making threats. Fortunately for the Steelers, wide receiver DK Metcalf makes his return from the two-game suspension for his incident with a heckling fan three weeks ago. The Steelers hope that getting their big target back helps reinvigorate the offense.
Protecting Rodgers against the Texans’ ferocious pass rush represents a tall task, though. Houston has the top-rated defense in the league and ranks among the leaders in sacks, with Danielle Hunter (15) and Will Anderson Jr. (12) leading the way. The Texans have held opponents to just 17.4 points per game.
Houston’s defense has played a large role in its success, carrying the team despite growing pains on offense. Despite their talent with Stroud and wide receiver Nico Collins leading the way, the Texans have scored on only 46.3 percent of their trips inside the red zone (third-lowest). Pittsburgh, which has one of the stingiest red zone defenses, will try to capitalize on this weakness. If the Steelers can force the Texans to settle for field goals, Rodgers and the offense could find themselves within striking distance for the franchise’s first playoff win since the 2016 season.
