Divisional Playoff Recap: 15 Wins and What Do You Get?!

The Divisional Playoff has delivered some very interesting and surprising moments since the round was created following the 1970 merger. During the first eight seasons, the Divisional Playoff actually served as the opening round, until the Wild Card Playoff started in 1978. The Divisional Playoff often begins the postseason journey for any and all teams who avoided Wild Card Weekend, while also being a test for those who won the Wild Card games. In addition, Divisional Playoff Weekend serves as the final dose of Saturday football during the NFL season, and also, the round kicks off the set bracket portion of the playoffs, with the two winners in each conference facing off for the right to play in the Super Bowl.

Here's what took place during the 55th edition of the Divisional Playoff:

Texans @ Chiefs

Should we really be shocked by this? Anyone with common sense saw this coming. Anyone who knows the Houston Texans saw this coming. Everyone who hate-watched this game saw this coming. Houston was not going to beat KC. It's bad enough that the Texans are absolutely up-and-down and inconsistent. What made this worse was the blatant favortism towards KC by the refs. They made up so much to call on Houston. The Texans outplayed the Chiefs, but biased officiating and faulty kicking ruined things for Houston.

The Chiefs won, 23-14, and for the seventh straight year, they're playing for the conference. In their last six AFC Championship appearances, the Chiefs are 4-2, with the losses coming in 2018 and 2021. As for the Texans, the Divisional Playoff continues to be their dead end. For the second straight year, the same four AFC teams participated in the Divisional Playoff, but Houston just keeps getting snakebit. The Texans are the only franchise to have never reached the Conference Championship, and regarding Houston's NFL history, the old Oilers only reached the AFC Championship twice--in 1978 and 1979.

Commanders @ Lions

Seriously, who the hell saw this coming?! The Washington Commanders enjoyed a road win in Wild Card Weekend, but many figured that the road would end in the next round. After all, this was the Detroit Lions. The Lions won 15 games. They were ready. They had the #1 seed. This was the Lions' best chance to do something. Detroit had a modest 7-3 lead after the first quarter. Then the second quarter happened. Four Commander touchdowns. One of them was a Pick Six. Yeah. Jared Goff was committing turnovers. Yes, Detroit had two leads, but when Washington made it 17-14 and followed it up with that Pick Six, they didn't look back. 45-31. That was the final score in Washington's favor.

I repeat: see what happens when you get rid of a racist team name and get rid of a toxic owner? The Commanders are in the NFC Championship for the first time since 1991, which was the last time the team won the Super Bowl. As for the Lions... oh boy. This is the NFL's 59th Super Bowl season, and for the Lions, it was their best chance to finally play in the big game, yet they finished nowhere close to it. A 15-2 season down the drain on a Saturday night in Motor City. As a result, the NFC North, which was the Group of Death and had three playoff teams with a combined 40 wins? No playoff wins and won't even play for the conference, let alone the Lombardi. The Lions are now on the clock, with the 28th pick in the 2025 Draft.

Rams @ Eagles

It was a winter wonderland in the City of Brotherly Love, and the Los Angeles Rams and the Philadelphia Eagles played quite an amazing game, which is no surprise. I would have been happy with whoever wins this game, but I was more leaning towards the Rams, because with Washington's win, the Rams had a chance to play the NFC Championship at home. Their actual home--in front of thousands of emotional fans in Inglewood who have been through so much recently. It looked like Philly would run away, but the Rams had a chance to pull off a massive comeback, but they fell just short.

The Eagles won this thriller, 28-22, and are in the NFC Championship for the second time in three years. The Eagles are seven years removed from their Super Bowl championship, and they nearly won Super Bowl LVII two years ago. Amazing, isn't it? Four years ago, the NFC East was the worst division in football. Now? The division will be in the Super Bowl this year, as the NFC Championship is an NFC East battle. As for the Rams, they have a lot to be proud of. They, again, went from being dead in the water to winning the NFC West, and we'll see what they'll do next season.

Ravens @ Bills

A saying I've heard many times goes like this: "The biggest trick the Devil ever pulled is convincing everyone that he doesn't exist." In a similar vein, the biggest trick that anti-Lamar Jackson racists have pulled is convincing everyone that Mark Andrews is carrying him. The battle between the Ravens and Bills, unsurprisingly, served as the main event of the 55th Divisional Playoff Weekend, and it didn't disappoint. This was a classic battle; the Ravens scored first, the Bills tied it, but Buffalo would end the half with an 11 point lead. The Ravens were closing in on something good; they were down by 8 at the two minute warning, but as usual, Lamar had a clutch touchdown drive. All they needed was a two-pointer to even it up.

And then... Mark Andrews happened.

All by himself and untouched, Andrews dropped an easy two-point reception. Not the first time I've seen him drop easy passes. He also fumbled earlier in the game, and this drop did it. Let me make one thing perfectly clear: I never, ever, EVER want to hear anti-Lamar racists act like Mark Andrews is the second coming of Travis Kelce in an attempt to discredit Lamar ever again. Andrews is absolutely unreliable and a grade-A fuck-up. Mark Andrews singlehandedly cost Lamar this game, but idiots will blame Lamar because he's not White. Meanwhile, Bills fans will pound their chest over this and act like Josh Allen is the greatest even though he only threw for 127 yards. Here's a math question for you. What's 127 times two? The answer: Lamar's passing yards total for this game.

And the Final Four is all set, and this year's Championship Sunday begins with the NFC Championship between the Washington Commanders and the Philadelphia Eagles, the third meeting, the rubber match in this season series. After that, it's the AFC Championship between the Buffalo Bills and the Kansas City Chiefs; the fourth playoff meeting between Patrick Mahomes and Josh Allen. Oh boy. I said it when the Bills beat KC during the regular season, and I'll say it here. Bills, you beat these guys during the season. Now for the love of all that is good in the world, please do it in January.

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