The 2023-24 NFL regular season has come & passed. Now, the real road to Super Bowl 58 begins. The 7 AFC teams & 7 NFC teams who made it to the NFL playoffs all have their sights set on Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nevada. While the Baltimore Ravens (the AFC’s #1 seed) & the San Francisco 49ers (the NFC’s #1 seed) have the week off, the other 12 teams will compete in NFL Wild Card Weekend.
Saturday at 4:30pm ET (3:30 CT, 2:30 MT, 1:30 PT) on NBC & Peacock, the 2023-24 NFL playoffs will begin, as the (AFC South Champion/AFC’s #4 seed) Houston Texans will host the (AFC’s #5 seed) Cleveland Browns. This will be the 2nd time in 5 days that NRG Stadium in Houston, Texas will have playoff football in it. If we thought this past Monday’s college football National Championship game had an energetic crowd, that will pale in comparison to (Texans quarterback) CJ Stroud making his playoff debut.
However, on Christmas Eve, the Browns defeated the Texans in this very stadium. While (Browns quarterback) Joe Flacco was in that game, Stroud was not. It will be interesting to see how both teams will play in this rematch.
Then, at 8pm ET (7 CT, 6 MT, 5 PT) on Peacock, the (AFC West Champion/AFC’s #3 seed) Kansas City Chiefs will host the (AFC’s #6 seed) Miami Dolphins. While the defending Super Bowl Champions are used to playing at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri, they’re not used to losing there. In fact, 4 of their 6 losses were home. Speaking of things people aren’t used to at Arrowhead, (Dolphins wide receiver) Tyreek Hill on the visitor’s sideline. This will be Hill’s 1st visit to the “Red Kingdom”, since he was traded to South Beach.
On Sunday, the action starts at 1pm ET (12 CT, 11am MT, 10 PT), as the last AFC game of Wild Card Weekend is played. The (AFC East Champion/AFC’s #2 seed) Buffalo Bills host the (AFC’s #7 seed) Pittsburgh Steelers. Going into week 18, both of these teams were on the outside looking in. Thanks to both teams winning & the Jacksonville Jaguars losing, that’s how we ended up with this match. Though some reports said otherwise, the game will still be at Highmark Stadium in Buffalo, New York.
At 4:30pm ET on Fox, the NFC finally begins their portion of the playoffs. The (NFC East Champion/NFC’s #2 seed) Dallas Cowboys host the (NFC’s #7 seed) Green Bay Packers. This will be the first time that (Cowboys head coach) Mike McCarthy will have coached against the Packers at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
This will be the NFL playoff debut for (Packers quarterback) Jordan Love. The Cowboys are 4-1 in Dallas, against the Packers. However, the last time the Cowboys won the division, then hosted the Packers, they lost 34-31 in the playoff debut of (Cowboys quarterback) Dak Prescott.
Then, at 8pm ET on NBC & Peacock, the (NFC North Champion/NFC’s #3 seed) Detroit Lions host the (NFC’s #6 seed) Los Angeles Rams. It has been 32 years, since the Lions won a playoff game & (quarterback) Jared Goff would love nothing more than to do it against the team who sent him to Detroit. Likewise, (Rams quarterback) Matthew Stafford would love nothing better than to return to Ford Field in Detroit, Michigan & defeat the team who sent him to L.A. for Goff.
For the 3rd year in a row, we have a Monday night wild card game. The (NFC South Champion/NFC’s 4th seed) Tampa Bay Buccaneers host the (NFC’s #5 seed) Philadelphia Eagles at 8pm ET on ABC, ESPN, ESPN 2, & ESPN+. The last time these teams saw each other, it was on week 3 of Monday Night Football. The Eagles prevented the cannons from firing at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida.
They defeated the Buccaneers, 25-11. Both teams have changed, since that game. The Buccaneers have won 5 out of their last 6 games, while the Eagles lost 5 out of their last 6. Despite that, let’s see if the Eagles make lightning strike the same place.