The wild card round treated fans to a slate of great games. Six teams joined the many others sitting at home, leaving eight teams. Take a look at the eight teams that still have a shot to hoist the Lombardi trophy in February.
All roads lead to San Francisco for Super Bowl 60. Both conferences are wide open, and seemingly every team has a legitimate chance to win it all. Here’s how they got here and what’s next for each team.
Buffalo Bills
The Buffalo Bills defeated the Jaguars in a tightly contested battle on Saturday. Josh Allen secured his first playoff win on the road, overcoming a plethora of injuries to will his team to victory. The Bills’ defense wasn’t spectacular, but it came up with timely stops when it needed them to advance to the next round.
The Bills are headed to Denver to take on the No. 1 seed in the AFC. They’ll need to rely on their offensive talent. Allen ranks third in PFSN’s NFL QB Impact Metric, leading the third-best offense in PFSN’s NFL Offense Impact Metric. If this unit doesn’t show up, they might not make it past this week.
Denver Broncos
The Broncos sat at home last week awaiting their fate. Now, they know Josh Allen is coming to town. Denver is the top seed and the likely favorite to represent the AFC in the Super Bowl, thanks to its defense. The defense finished as the top unit in PFSN’s NFL Defense Impact Metric, earning a grade of 90.1. Their offense isn’t among the most explosive, but they get the job done.
The road runs through Denver in the AFC. If the Broncos win again, another team will have to step into Mile High to try to take down the best team in the AFC.
New England Patriots
It wasn’t the most convincing offensive display from the Patriots’ second-ranked offense, according to our OFFi Metric. But they came through in the clutch to bury the Los Angeles Chargers.
The defense was the story of the game, holding the Chargers to just three points. Drake Maye has to return to MVP form in the next round and prove why he is one of the best in the league.
Houston Texans
Aaron Rodgers may have thrown his last pass in the NFL, and it was a pick-six to this Houston defense. C.J. Stroud looked awful with three turnovers, but they still won by three scores. They look like they have an extra man on the field at all times. Their secondary covers like no other, their linebackers fly around the field, and they get pressure consistently.
They own the second-best defense in the NFL by DEFi metric and will be gearing up to make New England’s life difficult with their ridiculous defense.
Seattle Seahawks
The Seahawks might be the most complete team remaining in the playoffs. They can get it done on offense with Jaxon Smith-Njigba. Their defense is third-best in the NFL. This team can play and is well-rested after its first-round bye. Seattle’s home-field advantage remains one of the best in the NFL, and the road to the Super Bowl in the NFC will go through Lumen Field.
San Francisco 49ers
The 49ers are banged up, but one word defines them: resilient. This team doesn’t give up and grinds out wins. They knocked out the defending champs, the Eagles, despite losing their star TE George Kittle to a torn Achilles.
They’ll rely on Brock Purdy, who finished as the top QB in our QBi metric, and former Offensive Player of the Year Christian McCaffrey to get it done offensively, while the scrappy defense will do what it can to slow down opposing offenses.
Chicago Bears
How about da Bears? The Bears had one of their greatest playoff comebacks in history against their heated rival, the Packers. Down 18 points at halftime, the Bears didn’t flinch and stormed back to advance.
It’s hard to imagine a better feeling for Bears fans than potentially winning again this week. Their 10th-ranked offense will need to show up earlier if they want to advance to the NFC Championship game.
Los Angeles Rams
The Rams survived a scare from the Panthers in the Wild Card round. But revenge is sweet either way. They lived to fight another day and will head east to face Chicago.
The Rams offense is flat-out scary. Matthew Stafford, the likely NFL MVP, Kyren Williams, Puka Nacua, and Davante Adams are a foursome that very few teams can match. They make up the top offense with a grade of 92.3 and will have to ride this unit’s dominance all the way to the big game.
