Sunday’s NFL Playoff Games Include Incredible Storylines From Start To Finish

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Good news, bad news. The good news is that the NFL playoffs are now in full-swing and the league produces one of the best postseasons in all of American sports. The bad news is that it means the football season is nearly over and the six-month wait for more football is on the horizon.

But, we’re not there yet! So, instead of focusing on the negative, let’s take a look at the positive: the NFL has a terrific slate of Wild Card games set for Sunday, and we’re going to take a look at each one of them. 

Denver Broncos at Buffalo Bills, 1 p.m. ET (CBS) 

At first blush, this looks like one of the worst matchups of the weekend on paper. After all, the Bills, led by potential NFL MVP Josh Allen, are more than a touchdown favorite over the Denver Broncos. 

That being said, there’s a TON of pressure on Buffalo. While Allen and the Bills have been incredibly successful over the last few years, they haven’t had the long postseason runs that they need to establish themselves as a top team in the AFC alongside Kansas City. 

This is a major postseason for Allen and head coach Sean McDermott, who are seen as one of the favorites to win the conference. Even though the Chiefs are 15-2 and earned the top seed, many feel as though Buffalo is the better team and Kansas City had some very good luck to win 15 games (11 of their wins were by one score). 

However, the Denver Broncos shouldn’t be taken lightly. Rookie Bo Nix has improved throughout the year and the Denver offense has played well. 

Surely, the Broncos don’t want to get into a shootout with Josh Allen and the Bills, but it’s not a forgone conclusion that Buffalo would win that style of game, especially if the aggressive Broncos defense can force a couple of turnovers. 

Either way, there are plenty of storylines to watch. How will Nix perform in his first NFL postseason start, easily the biggest game of his football career? Can Josh Allen, Sean McDermott and the Bills shake the notion that they’re just a regular season team? Did Buffalo figure out how to play defense or is every game going to require Josh Allen to be Superman? 

Green Bay Packers at Philadelphia Eagles, 4:30 p.m. ET (FOX) 

This is arguably the best game on the Sunday slate, with two very good teams going head-to-head in the first round of the NFL postseason. In fact, according to EPA per play, both of these teams rank in the Top 6 of the entire league. 

But there are questions surrounding both quarterbacks. Jordan Love and Jalen Hurts enter the postseason nursing injuries and facing some questions. Hurts had one incredible season two years ago and led the Eagles to a Super Bowl appearance. 

However, he’s been incredibly average since, but a lot of that is covered up by the incredible talent that the Eagles have on both sides of the ball. In the postseason, though, it’s hard to hide your quarterback. 

Jordan Love led the Packers to a win in last year’s postseason with a dominant performance against the Dallas Cowboys. But Love struggled in the team’s loss to the San Francisco 49ers in the Divisional Round. 

Philadelphia is an incredibly tough place to play, and the Eagles are extremely physical on defense. Love has really come around after struggling in his return from injury after missing Weeks 2 and 3. Love threw at least one interception in seven straight games (10 total in that stretch) from Weeks 4-11, but hasn’t thrown a single pick since. 

This is also a “good-on-good matchup” where something has to give. The Eagles defense ranks first in the NFL in yards allowed on defense (278 yards/game) and the Packers are fifth in the league in yards gained on offense (371 yards/game). 

This game should be a lot of fun. 

Washington Commanders at Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 8 p.m. ET (NBC)

The Eagles/Packers game is getting a lot of hype, and rightfully so, but the Sunday Night Football matchup is quietly AWESOME. If you look at the graphic above that I referenced to show how good both the Eagles and Packers are, you can see that both the Commanders and Bucs are also very good. 

Not to mention the obvious: star rookie Jayden Daniels is making his NFL playoffs debut. This kid is electric, and I really can’t wait to see how he looks in the biggest game of his young career. Like Bo Nix, Daniels started a lot of games in college, but he never really played in a huge game at that level. 

Although, he did play in the 2022 SEC Championship against eventual National Champion Georgia, who blew out LSU 50-30. 

On the other side, there’s Baker Mayfield. What a story this guy has been since coming to Tampa to replace Tom Brady. After a solid career in Cleveland, the Browns jettisoned Mayfield to bring in Deshaun Watson (pretty sure the Browns regret that decision). 

Mayfield went to Carolina and struggled, was released, then played a few games with the Rams before landing with the Bucs. Some thought Mayfield just wasn’t a quality starting NFL quarterback, but that narrative has completely changed. 

The veteran led the Bucs to a playoff victory last season, and has them right back in the postseason as NFC South champions again. Mayfield threw 41 touchdowns this year, easily a career-high (he never had more than 28 in a season previously).

However, he threw a league-high 16 interceptions. And that’s what you get with Mayfield. He’s an incredible competitor, can make big plays, but has a tendency to give the ball away a few too many times. 

This is simply a fun matchup between two exciting starting quarterbacks and there could be a lot of points put up in the final game of the day. 

Buckle up, friends, we’re in for a terrific Sunday of NFL postseason football.