After a grueling and hard-fought NFL regular season, many organizations will look to the offseason to improve their teams. However, in the final week of the season, fourteen teams had a chance to play at least one more game and come one step closer to raising the Lombardi Trophy in Las Vegas this February.
Here are some results from Week 18 and a preview of what’s to come this postseason, along with a look ahead to the awards and draft.
The AFC playoffs have multiple teams that are in the race for the conference title. First seed Baltimore Ravens will have home field advantage throughout the playoffs. Led by MVP favorite Lamar Jackson and an incredible defense, many see this Ravens team going far in the playoffs.
As for the rest of the division winners, the Kansas City Chiefs locked up the AFC West and the third seed with a win over the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 17. The Buffalo Bills took the AFC East with a win over the Miami Dolphins in the last game of the season, while the Houston Texans beat the Indianapolis Colts in a win or go home game and took the AFC South after a Jacksonville Jaguars loss to the Tennessee Titans.
The Cleveland Browns finished in fifth and the Dolphins in sixth, while the Pittsburgh Steelers snuck into the seventh seed after a victory over the Ravens and the Jaguars’ loss.
As for the NFC, the San Francisco 49ers are in the top spot and have home field advantage for January. They are one of the most complete teams in the league and are led by running back Christian McCaffrey, who leads the league in scrimmage yards, with over 200 yards a game, and will play a major role in the team’s success come playoff time.
The Detroit Lions clinched the third seed and the NFC North Division title for their first time in 30 years. The NFC East went to the Dallas Cowboys, who clinched the division and second seed with a win against the Washington Commanders. The NFC South division title was clinched by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers win over the Carolina Panthers, which knocked out the New Orleans Saints from the playoffs entirely. Few thought this Tampa team was going very far at the start of the season, but quarterback Baker Mayfield has turned some heads this year.
“Tampa Bay has my pick. I think Baker is very underrated and has the capability to lead this team,” said sophomore Jonah Nadboy.
Wildcard spots were awarded to the Philadelphia Eagles, Los Angeles Rams and Green Bay Packers.
This creates potential playoff matchups that are pretty exciting. In the AFC, the Dolphins are led by Tyreek Hill, who had one of the best seasons for a receiver of all-time this year. He faced his old team, the Chiefs, who are led by superstar quarterback Patrick Mahomes. Although the game was hard fought in the cold weather, the Chiefs ended up winning 26-7.
Another interesting game to look at is the Browns at Texans game, who are both led by quarterbacks who blew expectations out of the water. The Texans are led by rookie CJ Stroud, who helped to turn around this Houston franchise in one season, along with first year head coach Demeco Ryans. On the other hand, Cleveland has thirty-eight year old and Super Bowl winner Joe Flacco. In the end, Stroud’s Texans prevailed, without much of a struggle at that, winning by a score of 45-14.
“Everyone is counting them out because of their quarterback. But, in the last couple weeks, Flacco has shown he can still compete. And besides, I don’t think there’s a QB in the playoffs with more postseason experience than him,” said sophomore John Powers.
In the NFC, the best storyline is in the Rams-Lions game, which has quarterbacks Jared Goff and Matthew Stafford going up against their old teams. This game especially carries a lot of meaning for Stafford, who played in Detroit for twelve years but could never win them a playoff game. This was a very emotional game for both sides, but the Lions ended up with the victory in the close game, winning 24-23. These playoffs also pit the Cowboys up against the Packers, which rejuvenates a longtime rivalry between two historic franchises. Although the Cowboys were a heavy favorite, the Packers ended up taking the game over without too much trouble, winning 48-32.
“I know no one’s giving the Packers a real shot, but it’s a rivalry game. Anything can happen,” said sophomore Everett Katz.
Besides the playoffs, the NFL has other events going on. The awards will be given out before the Super Bowl, and there are some interesting races that should be highlighted.
First, MVP could be between several players, including Cowboys’ QB Dak Prescott and 49er’s RB Christian McCaffrey, butLamar Jackson is the favorite to win the award because he led his Ravens to the best record in the league. OPOY is even more contested, with both Tyreek Hill and McCaffrey having strong cases. Myles Garrett, Micah Parsons and TJ Watt are all up for DPOY, with all three having incredible sacks and tackles for loss numbers.
The NFL Draft is also being looked at for all teams that missed out on the playoffs. The Chicago Bears, Washington Commanders, Arizona Cardinals, and New England Patriots all have top picks and will have some tough decisions to make come April.
This draft class is headlined by generational quarterback talent with Caleb Williams (USC) and Drake Maye (UNC) both projected as top five picks. Other highly touted prospects include WR Marvin Harrison, Jr. (OSU), OT Joe Alt (Notre Dame) and LB Dallas Turner (Alabama), so these teams are hoping that new talent from this year’s draft can change the direction of their franchise.
This was an unpredictable regular season, so the postseason is shaping up to be one to remember. Although teams such as the Ravens and 49ers are favorites to win it all, there are plenty of other teams that could have a real shot at the title, so these playoffs should give NFL fans some memorable games this postseason.