After a somewhat lackluster opening slate of games, the NFL playoffs could produce some more thrills in the divisional round.
Save for the Washington Commanders’ last-minute win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the wild-card round was short on excitement, with the home team securing comfortable wins in five of the six matchups. But with only eight teams remaining, the setup for this weekend could feature a few more fireworks. And with the Kansas City Chiefs and Detroit Lions in action after sitting out the first-round as the top seeds in their respective conferences, all eyes will be on whether the conference championship games end up as a battle of established heavyweights or whether they include a surprise entrant.
With that in mind, here are our bold predictions for the divisional round:
Travis Kelce will christen the playoffs with a 100-yard breakout game
It’s that time of year. The Chiefs are on the runway of a mission to become the first three-peat Super Bowl champion, which means their star tight end – and Taylor Swift’s sweetheart – is primed to raise his game to the next level in the divisional playoff against the Texans.
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Kelce caught 97 passes during the regular season, which was about on par with the 99.6 receptions he’s averaged over the past seven seasons. But his impact hardly measured up to the standard he’s set for many years. He had career-lows for receiving yards (823), touchdowns (3) and yards per catch (8.5) while posting his fewest 100-yard games (1) in a decade. No matter. It’s a new season. Remember last year’s Super Bowl drive? Kelce had just two 100-yard games during the 2023 campaign but came alive during the postseason, when his average of 8 catches for 88.8 yards included a monster game (11 catches, 116 yards, 1 TD) in the AFC title tilt at Baltimore. It figures that he’s due for another statement game. And perhaps his last outing, in a Week 17 rout at Pittsburgh, provided a Christmas preview (8 catches, 84, 1 TD). Keep an eye on Kelce. Surely, that will be the M.O. for his pal, Patrick Mahomes and for, well, the Swifties.
— Jarrett Bell
Jayden Daniels leads game-winning drive to upset No. 1 Lions
Jayden Daniels has one last game-winning drive in him, and it’s his biggest one yet. This time, he helps take down the No. 1 seed Detroit Lions and end a magical season in Motown, while sending Washington to the NFC championship game for the first time since the 1991 season (when they, coincidentally, beat the Lions in the conference title game).
Even 18 games into his career, Daniels carries an air of inevitability when he is taking snaps in the fourth quarter. Call him Thanos. Lions defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn has been operating like a Michelin-star chef cooking in a Manhattan-apartment kitchen, and he could (should) be rewarded with a head-coaching position in a few weeks’ time. But he’s never had to fry a cut like Daniels, who completed 24 passes to six different receivers in Washington’s 23-20 wild-card win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Head coach Dan Quinn has drilled his team for nearly a year to excel when games are in the balance – clearly a part of his game he vowed to improve upon in his second head-coaching stop after his Atlanta Falcons teams left something to be desired in that area. His first Commanders squad has answered the bell nearly every time, and their last five wins have all come down to the final play. The reaction – or lack thereof – from Daniels after kicker Zane Gonzalez’s 37-yarder in Tampa Bay said it all: there is nothing that fazes the soon-to-be Offensive Rookie of the Year.
— Chris Bumbaca
Derrick Henry steals spotlight in Buffalo
Lamar Jackson and Josh Allen are garnering most of the pregame headlines. The two MVP candidates will take center stage on Sunday. But Derrick Henry will steal the show.
I predict the Ravens running back will rush for 175 yards and two touchdowns, 100 yards coming in the second half. Henry’s two touchdowns will equal his best single-game playoff total. The Ravens will make a concerted effort to feature Henry, especially while Zay Flowers continues to nurse a knee injury. Henry’s downhill bruising running style is going to wear on the Bills defense. Buffalo gave up 199 rushing yards and two total touchdowns to Henry when these two teams met in Week 4.
Henry’s compiled 918 career postseason rushing yards, including a postseason record-tying four games with 150 or more rushing yards. His performance on Sunday will make him the seventh player all-time with at least 1,000 career postseason rushing yards, and he’ll have a fifth 150-plus rushing yard game on his resume.
— Tyler Dragon
All four games are decided by one score
From an entertainment perspective, it’s hard to view wild-card weekend as anything other than a letdown – though that would require one to have had high hopes for what seemed like a lopsided set of matchups. Maybe it’s the optimist in me, but I have to think that a reward is coming in the upcoming pair of doubleheaders.
The game that appears most likely to threaten this prediction is the Detroit Lions facing off against the Washington Commanders. A battle-tested top seed with the league’s highest-scoring offense seems like a natural mismatch for a group that’s already ahead of his schedule and led by a rookie quarterback. But if Jayden Daniels can again keep his composure a week after the Washington offense did not turn the ball over or punt, then the Commanders could at least stay within striking distance of the Lions. And while the Kansas City Chiefs handled the Houston Texans three weeks ago, DeMeco Ryans’ defense at least has a chance to throw Patrick Mahomes off his game with the relentless pursuits of edge rushers Danielle Hunter and Will Anderson Jr.
— Michael Middlehurst-Schwartz