(9-8) Jacksonville Jaguars (4) @ (1) Kansas City Chiefs (14-3)
The Kansas City Chiefs are coming into the playoffs after getting a bye through the Wild Card round last week. Kansas are coming into the playoffs off the back of 5 straight victories and they are looking to make their 5th consecutive AFC Championship game. As for Jacksonville, they managed to pull off a ridiculous comeback against the Los Angeles Chargers to earn themselves a spot in the divisional round. They were losing 27-0 at one point in that game and they ended up winning it 31-30! The Jags come into this game off the back of 6 straight victories and they have to just keep believing in themselves. Overall, I am going with the Chiefs. It would be awesome to see Jacksonville make it into the championship game, particularly when you consider that they were the worst team in football for the previous two seasons. However, this is Kansas City. This is the Chiefs. They very rarely lose home games and Patrick Mahomes is 4-0 in the Divisional Round of the playoffs (he also hasn’t thrown a single interception)!
(9-7-1) New York Giants (6) @ (1) Philadelphia Eagles (14-3)
The Philadelphia Eagles are entering the playoffs after getting a bye through to the divisional round. Philly are coming into the playoffs on a one-game winning streak and they are looking for their first postseason win since the 2018 season. As for New York, they picked up a brilliant win over the Minnesota Vikings last week (31-24) to keep their Fairytale season alive. The Giants come into this game on a one-game winning streak and they will give it everything to make it to the championship game. Overall, I am picking the Eagles. Philly have been pretty damn good this season and they have the number 1 seed to back it up. They’ve also beaten the Giants in both of their matches this season (including Philly’s last game). However, it would be unfair to fully rule out the Giants in this one. They’ve been an incredible success story this year and a really interesting thing to note is the last two times the Giants have won in the Wild Card Round, they've gone on to win the Super Bowl (2007 and 2011).
(12-4) Cincinnati Bengals (3) @ (2) Buffalo Bills (13-3)
In Week 17, Buffalo and Cincinnati were meant to collide. That game obviously didn’t happen, but we will get a Bengals-Bills game as Buffalo host Cincinnati in the Divisional Round. The Buffalo Bills just about beat the Miami Dolphins at home (31-34) last week to keep their Super Bowl dreams alive. Buffalo are coming into this game off the back of 8 straight wins and they are looking to return to the AFC Championship game after two years. As for Cincinnati, they kept their playoff dreams alive with a win 24-17 win over AFC North rivals the Baltimore Ravens. The Bengals come into this game off the back of 9 straight wins and they are looking to make it to their second successive AFC Championship game. Overall, I am picking Cincinnati. In my opinion, the Bengals have looked like a better team than the Bills in recent weeks. It’s going to be really close and Buffalo could easily win this game, but I just think that Cincinnati will have enough to make it to next week’s AFC Championship game.
(12-5) Dallas Cowboys (5) @ (2) San Francisco 49ers (13-4)
The two most dominant teams in last weekend’s Wild Card round face off as the San Francisco 49ers host the Dallas Cowboys. The Niners were pushed by the Seattle Seahawks in the first half, but they eventually won pretty comfortably (23-41). San Fran are coming into this game off the back of 11 straight wins and they certainly look like a team that can win the Super Bowl. As for Dallas, they shut a lot of people up last week by going to Tampa Bay and cruising past Tom Brady’s Bucs (31-14). Dallas come into this game on a one-game winning streak and they will need to be at their best to get a result against the 49ers. Overall, I am picking San Francisco to advance to the NFC Championship game. The 49ers look almost unstoppable right now and they are 5-0 in their last five games in the Divisional Round. I do think Dallas have been really good this year though so they will make a game of this, but it’s also worth mentioning that they are 0-7 in their last seven Divisional Round matches.
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