Super Wild Card Weekend has ended, and the remaining teams are one step closer to holding the Lombardi trophy. The National Football League (NFL) Divisional Rounds are set, as the remaining teams continue to fight to advance to the Conference Championships.
Beginning with the American Football Conference, the stage has been set for the Divisional Rounds this upcoming weekend. The first game will be played against the No. 1 seed Kansas City Chiefs and the No. 4 Jacksonville Jaguars. The Chiefs had a first-round bye during Super Wild Card weekend and will have homefield advantage as the team looks to make a comeback to the championship game since the 2021 season.
The Jaguars are going into this game after a historic playoff win against the Los Angeles Chargers. The first half was all Chargers, but with some costly penalties on the defense, the Jaguars were able to comeback. The Jaguars had the largest postseason comeback in the NFL since the 1992 Buffalo Bills and the 2013 Colts. Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence, who is undefeated in Saturday games, became the first quarterback with four interceptions in the first half of a postseason game since 1983. The Jaguars are looking to make a comeback to the Conference Championships since 2017.
The last time these two teams met was in week 10 of the NFL season where the Chiefs topped the Jaguars at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium with a score of 27-17. The Chiefs and Jaguars will meet again at 2:30 p.m., Saturday, Jan. 21 on NBC.
Lastly, we have the No. 2 seed Buffalo Bills taking on the No. 3 seed Cincinnati Bengals where both teams are going into this game with a postseason win. The Bills are going into the Divisional Round with a win against the Miami Dolphins, where the final score was 34-31. The Bills are looking to return to the Conference Championships since 2020.
The Bengals are going into the Divisional Round with a win against the Baltimore Ravens, the final score was 24-17. The Bengals are looking to go back-to-back in Conference Championships appearance since the 2021 season.
This will be the first time these two teams will meet in the 2022 season. The Bills and Bengals were supposed to play in week 17, but the game was canceled after a medical emergency to Bills safety Damar Hamlin. The game will take place at 1 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 22 on CBS.
For the National Football Conference (NFC), the No. 1 seed Philidelphia Eagles will take on the No. 6 New York Giants. The Eagles, who had a first-round bye, will have home field advantage as the team looks to advance to its first championship game since 2017 when they won the Super Bowl. On the Giants side, the team will be coming off a 31-24 win over the Minnesota Vikings. The Giants are looking to advance to the championship game for the first time since 2012.
These two teams met twice in week 14 and week 18 of the NFL season where the Giants lost to the Eagles both times. In week 14, the final score was 48-22, and in week 18, Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts returned after a shoulder injury against the Chicago Bears, where the final score was 22-16. The Eagles and Giants will face off at 6:15 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 21 on FOX.
The No. 2 seed San Francisco 49ers will play the No. 5 seed Dallas Cowboys. The 49ers will be going into the game with a win against the Seattle Seahawks, the final score was 41-23. The 49ers are looking to make a comeback to the Conference Championships since the 2020 season.
For the Cowboys they are going into the Divisional Round with a Monday Night win against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the final score was 31-14. The Cowboys will be looking at making a Conference Championship appearance for the first time since 1996.
The last time these two teams met was in the Wild Card playoffs in 2021, when the 49ers beat the Cowboys 23-17. The Cowboys will travel to Levi’s Stadium to take on the 49ers at 4:30 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 22.
Katrina Villarreal is the multimedia editor and may be reached at [email protected]
