With five wild-card games now in the books, the divisional round is starting to take shape, but there’s one more game to play in the opening round before it’s fully underway. NFL Playoffs: Cowboys at Buccaneers.
Those two teams will wrap up the Super Wild Card weekend with a Monday night game at Tampa Bay.
If that game is half as exciting as the other wild card games, we should be in for a crazy ride. So far, the wild-card round has given us the third-biggest comeback win in NFL playoff history, which came Saturday when the Jaguars rallied from a 27-0 deficit to beat the Chargers.
The Dolphins nearly sent shockwaves into the postseason, but their upset effort against Buffalo came up short in a 34-31 loss. The Ravens came close to pulling off an astronomical upset before falling to the Bengals 24-17. The Giants pulled off an upset with a 31-24 win at Minnesota that eliminated the Vikings from the playoffs.
The 49ers advanced to the divisional round with a 41-23 win over the Seahawks on Saturday.
With that in mind, check out the full postseason schedule here. (And don’t forget, there could be a neutral site AFC title game this year: if Bills And Leaders (play each other in the AFC Championship Game, then the game will be played in Atlanta.)
Super wild card weekend
Saturday, January 14
- (2) 49ers 41-23 over (7) Seahawks. The 49ers got a small scare from the Seahawks on a day when Seattle jumped out to a 17-16 halftime lead. But in the second half, San Francisco dominated and put the game away. Brock Birdie threw for 332 yards while becoming the first rookie in NFL history to total four touchdowns in a playoff game. (Burdy finished with three passing touchdowns and one rushing score).
- (4) Jaguars 31-30 over (5) Chargers. The Jaguars pulled off one of the greatest comebacks in NFL history and won the game. The Jacks fell behind 27-0 early in the game thanks to four interceptions by Trevor Lawrence, but they rallied back to pull off the upset victory, thanks in large part to Lawrence, who threw four touchdown passes.
Sunday, January 15
- (2) Bills 34-31 over (7) Dolphins. The Dolphins went into this game as the biggest underdog in the history of the wild-card round (+14). In the end, the Bills were able to avoid the upset thanks to Josh Allen (352 passing yards, three touchdowns) and a defense that came up with several big plays, including two turnovers, four sacks and a fourth-down stop iced. The game is only 2:30 away.
- (6) Giants 31-24 over (3) Vikings. New York was able to pull off the upset in Minnesota thanks to a historic performance by Daniel Jones, the first QB in NFL playoff history to throw for at least 300 and two touchdowns while adding at least 70 yards on the ground. Not only did Jones throw for 301 yards, but he was also the game’s leading rusher with 78 yards on 17 carries. The win over Minnesota marked the Giants’ first playoff win since beating the Patriots in Super Bowl XLVI in February 2012.
- (3) Bengal 24-17 over (6) Ravens. The Ravens kept Cincinnati on the ropes for most of this game, but the Bengals were able to escape with a victory thanks to their defense, which came down to one of the biggest plays in NFL postseason history. With the Ravens on Cincinnati’s one-yard line, Tyler Hundley fumbled and Sam Hubbard returned the fumble 98 yards for the game-winning touchdown.
Monday, January 16
- (5) Cowherd warriors at (4) Buccaneers (+2.5), 8:15 pm ET (ABC/ESPN, Stream on fuboTV) If the Cowboys are going to advance to the divisional round, they need to do something they’ve never done before: beat Tom Brady. The Cowboys are 0-7 all-time against the Buccaneers QB, including a week one loss in which Tampa Bay beat Dallas 19-3.
division round
Saturday, January 21
- (4) Jaguars at (1) Chiefs, 4:30 pm ET (NBC). After a week off, the Chiefs will begin their postseason run with a game against a Jaguars team that actually played earlier this season. In Week 10, the Chiefs defeated the Jacks 27–17, where Kansas City rallied from a 20–0 lead to win.
- (6) Giants (1) Eagles8:15 pm ET (Fox). These two division rivals will meet for the third time this season and the Giants hope this game will have a different outcome than the first two, which were won by Philadelphia. It was the 25th time in NFL history that a team beat its division rival in the regular season and then faced them again in the playoffs. The team went 2-0 in the regular season and went 15 of 24 to pull off a 3-game sweep.
Sunday, January 22
- (3) Bengals at (2) Bills, 3 p.m. ET (CBS). The game will be played exactly 20 days after their original game was canceled due to a situation involving Damar Hamlin. With Hamlin now back home in Buffalo, it wouldn’t be a surprise if he attended the game.
- (5) Cowboys or (4) Buccaneers at (2) 49ers, 6:30 pm ET (Fox). The winner of Monday night’s game between Dallas and Tampa Bay will advance to San Francisco. The 49ers didn’t play the Cowboys this year, but they did play the Buccaneers. In Week 14, San Francisco absolutely destroyed the Bucks 35-7.
Championship Sunday
January 29
- NFC Championship, 3:05 p.m. ET (FOX)
- AFC Championship, 6:40 p.m. ET (CBS)
Super Bowl LVII
Feb. 12
vs. the AFC champion at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona. NFC Champion, 6:30 p.m. ET (FOX)
