The 18th week of competition served to bring the curtain down on the NFL regular season: 14 teams are still alive in the playoffsand another 18 have already completed their course. The stage is now set for the postseason to begin, with three rounds of playoffs that will serve to define the two protagonists of the 60th edition of the Super Bowl (February 8 in San Francisco). On pole are the Seattle Seahawks and the Denver Broncoswinners of the two conferences of the league (NFC and AFC, respectively) and who, due to their status as first seeds, are exempt from competing in the Wild Card round that takes place this weekend.
The Seahawks, who finished the regular season with a sensational record of 14 wins and only three losses, took over the reign of the NFC when beating at Levi’s Stadium, where they hope to return in a month (it is the home of the Super Bowl), to the San Francisco 49ers 3-13. In a match between two eternal divisional rivals, the winner would take the seed number one in the conference, and the jackpot went to a Seattle team that is marveling in the second year of its new era. They said goodbye to Pete Carroll, coach of the Seahawks since 2010, and in his second year at the helm, Mike Macdonald has built a winning team, based on a rocky defense and in attack with Sam Darnold who does many things well. The 49ers, who had done too much with a squad full of key casualtiesthey made water in their run defense, and their offense sputtered after two weeks in which Brock Purdy had marveled.
In addition to the harshness of this defeat, the punishment is double for those from San Francisco (12-5), who fell to sixth place in the conference and They will have to travel to Philadelphia to face the Eagles (11-6) this Sunday (10:30 p.m. in Spain, DAZN), third seed after winning the NFC East and an old acquaintance of the Californians. Those of Philadelphia, current Super Bowl champions, have not lived up to expectations in this regular season, but they have a squad full of talent and a Saquon Barkley who can hurt a 49ers defense that does not stop the ground offense well.
And if the Seahawks rule the NFC, In the AFC it is the Denver Broncos (14-3), who did their homework and beat the Los Angeles Chargers 19-3 to secure first place in the conference. They fought him with New England Patriots (14-3) y los Jacksonville Jaguars (13-4)who pushed until the last moment and presented themselves as two other great candidates to be in the Super Bowl. The first, who have not won a game since the playoffs since Tom Brady left in 2020, will receive the aforementioned Chargers (11-6) in their stadium in the early hours of Sunday to Monday (02:00), and the second, on Sunday afternoon (7:00 p.m.), will have the complicated task of having to beat the Buffalo Bills (12-5)a team that has been very irregular this season but is very dangerous.
The third and last Wild Card game of the American conference will be played, in the early hours of Monday to Tuesday (02:00), los Pittsburgh Steelers (10-7) y los Houston Texans (12-5). Those who will be locals won the AFC North title literally on the horn, and in an all-or-nothing duel they beat the Baltimore Ravens by the minimum (26-24). With the winner taking the division and the loser being eliminated, the Ravens kicked a comfortable field goal as time expired that would have given them victory, but Tyler Loop’s kick went right and, unexpectedly, Aaron Rodgers’ Steelers entered the playoffs. Will it be the last chance for the legendary 42-year-old quarterback?
The Carolina Panthers and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers also played in a direct duel, who competed for the NFC South title. The Bucs, another team that has disappointed this season, did their homework and took the victory 16-14, but were still not classified for the playoffs. They needed the New Orleans Saints to beat the Atlanta Falconsbut that did not happen and because of that carom the Panthers reached the postseason. Despite their negative record (8-9), they will be locals in Wild Card, although not favorites in the duel that will open the playoffs: On Saturday (10:30 p.m.) they will host the Los Angeles Rams (12-5)another of the great candidates in the NFC. The other conference game will be a classic between two eternal divisional rivals, with the Chicago Bears (11-6) hosting the Green Bay Packers (9-7-1) in the early hours of Saturday to Sunday (02:00). The path to the Super Bowl is already defined.
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