The NFL playoffs begin towards the Super Bowl on February 8 without Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs, dominators for two years. Denver and Seattle lead the conferences. In the Wild Card Weekend the defending champion Eagles face the 49ers
The regular season closed with several surprises and a lot of balance, The NFL playoffs begin: 14 teams at the start and a breathless month that will lead to Super Bowl number 60, scheduled for Sunday 8 February al Levi’s Stadium the Santa Clara, in Californiatraditional home of the San Francisco 49ers. It starts with the Wild Card Weekend which will precisely define the playoff scoreboard with the top-ranked teams of the two conferences, i Denver Broncos e i Seattle Seahawks (not exactly two franchises that started at the beginning of the year with the underdogs), already qualified for the next round who are waiting to meet their opponents, i.e. the qualifiers with the worst record. In Italy, all six games of the NFL playoffs of this round (the first on Saturday 10/1 at 10.30 pm, the last at 2.15 am between Monday and Tuesday) will be visible live on Dazn, the platform that holds the rights to the American football championship, with commentary in Italian.
The AFC without masters: the fall of Mahomes
Big surprises in the AFC, where they have the Baltimore Ravens missed the playoffs and above all the Kansas City Chiefs who have dominated in recent seasons. A year to forget for Mahomes and his teammates, in particular for the quarterback who was also the victim of a serious injury to his right knee in December, while Travis Kelce (the future husband of global pop star Taylor Swift) now seems close to retiring. Into this power vacuum have entered the Denver Broncosa not crackling but very solid team led by the guru Sean Payton, who finished with the best record, 14 wins and 3 defeats.
Rodgers and Allen the veterans
In the AFC part of the scoreboard there are the two quarterbacks left in the game with the most appearances ai playoff, Aaron Rodgers e Josh Allen. Many eyes are on the 42-year-old Rodgers, who in his first year in Pittsburgh made the playoffs with coach Mike Tomlin’s Steelers, who continues his tradition of seasons with a winning record: in the match that closes the round, on the night between Monday and Tuesday at 2.15am, the Steelers will host the Houston Texans led by quarterback CJ Stroud, capable (only the seventh team in history) of reaching the postseason after losing the first three regular season games.
Yet another attempt at glory for the 29-year-old Al toolen, quarterback of the Bills: he has often slammed the Chiefs in his career and this is one great opportunityeven if the franchise’s season was less convincing than others. Buffalo will face the surprising Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday at 7pmcapable of closing the regular season with an excellent 13-4 under the guidance of new coach Liam Coen and Trevor Lawrence, quarterback first overall pick in the 2021 draft. The third Wild Card match in the AFC is the one between New England Patriots e i Los Angeles Chargers: great challenge between the two quarterbacks, the 23 year old Drake Maye (in the running with the Rams’ Stafford for the season MVP title, having led his team to a 14-3 record, like Denver) and the 27-year-old Justin Herbertdespite bruising his left hand – the non-throwing one – but the battle will also be on the sideline between two prepared coaches like Mike Vrabel (who won three titles as a player with Brady’s Patriots and returned as coach in the summer) and Jim Harbaugh.
NFC between Seattle and the defending champion Eagles
Surprises also in NFC, where the Seattle Seahawks di coach Mike MacDonald (also their record is 14-3): good team but certainly not considered favorites in the summer. The big match of this round is Sunday at 10.30pm because the defending champions Philadelphia Eagles hey San Francisco 49erswho in the last weekend of the regular season lost first place by losing to Seattle, thus finding a much more complicated playoff path. Even if the Eagles of Sirianni and qb Hurts impressed less than a year ago, when they then triumphed in the Super Bowl against Kansas City.
Tantalizing on the night between Saturday and Sunday also the challenge between Chicago Bears e i Green Bay Packers: Caleb Williams and Jordan Love lead the two attacks in a game that rekindles one of the most historic rivalries in the entire league at franchise level, in a direct clash in the playoffs that has been missing for 15 years. To open the program, Saturday at 10.30 pm, the race between Carolina Panthers e Los Angeles Rams: the latter are favourites, with coach McVay and qb Stafford determined to make their way against the franchise of quarterback Bryce Young, who snatched the ticket to the playoffs against Tampa Bay thanks to the separate ranking resulting from a victory by the Atlanta Falcons, already eliminated, on the last day.
The Wild Card Weekend program (all races live on Dazn)
Sabato, 22.30: Carolina Panthers-Los Angeles Rams
Domenica, 2.00: Chicago Bears-Green Bay Packers
Domenica, 19.00: Jacksonville Jaguars-Buffalo Bills
Sunday, 10.30pm: Philadelphia Eagles-San Francisco 49ers
Monday, 2.00:
Martedì, 2.15: Pittsburgh Steelers-Houston Texans
