NFL Playoff Preview: 49ers vs Seahawks

 

The lone matchup between teams coming from the same division will take place in Seattle this Saturday as the 49ers battle the Seahawks in one of the most hostile environments throughout the NFL. 

These two teams met in the final week of the regular season when Seattle took down San Francisco en route to clinching the no. 1 overall seed in the NFC. After a week off, Seattle looks to fend off a hungry 49ers team that just flew across the country and beat the defending Super Bowl champion Eagles in Philadelphia. 

In addition to their Week 18 matchup, Seattle and San Francisco also met in Week 1 where the 49ers actually came into Seattle and started off their season 1-0. Both matchups were very low-scoring as both teams failed to score 20 points respectively in both games. 

San Francisco comes into this matchup extremely injured. They just lost George Kittle to an achilles tear last week in Philadelphia, and that is without mentioning the absences of Fred Warner, Nick Bosa, and others. 

Despite the injuries, the Niners have continued to prevail and fend off the doubters throughout their adventurous season. San Fran comes into this matchup winners of seven of their last eight games with their sole loss coming to Seattle, leaving a bitter taste in their mouths. 

On the other hand, Seattle enters the divisional round of the playoffs after an historic regular season. They finished the campaign with a 14-3 record and the three losses each came by just one score each. The Seahawks have not dropped a game since mid-November. 

The connection between Sam Darnold and Jaxon Smith-Njigba was absolutely magical to watch this past season. JSN lead the league in receiving yards with nearly 1,800. Sam Darnold impressed in his first year in the Pacific Northwest, despite his 14 interceptions. 

Seattle's defense is not one to be reckoned with coming off a great season. It's very tough to score on this defense and the stats prove it. Seattle allowed just around 17 points per game to opposing offenses, ranking no. 1 in the NFL.

In the two matchups with San Francisco, the Seattle defense let up just 20 combined points. I am expecting another defensive bloodbath between these two NFC West foes with a trip to the NFC Championship on the line this Saturday. 

NFL Playoff Preview: Rams vs Bears

After both the Rams and Bears capped off dramatic victories this past Saturday, the two teams will now match up in the Divisional Round of the NFC Playoffs in Chicago. 

For Los Angeles, it was a back and forth battle in Carolina as they eventually took down the Panthers. Los Angeles was trailing late, but Matthew's Stafford game-winning drive heroics put them over the top and onto the next round. 

For Chicago, it was a different story and a little more dramatic. After facing an 18 point deficit in the second half, the Bears scored 25 fourth quarter points to catapult them over their division rival Green Bay Packers. 

Despite being the no. 2 seed, the Bears have played their best football when trailing late in games. Caleb Williams and Chicago have had seven come from behind victories this season, proving that Chicago can physically and literally never be counted out of any game. 

After facing off with Green Bay for the third time this season, Chicago will face a Rams team that they have yet to see. The Rams are arguably the most explosive and experienced team left in these playoffs. It wasn't too long ago when Sean McVay and Matthew Stafford lead Los Angeles to a Lombardi Trophy. 

This game will be experience vs youth, as Ben Johnson and Caleb Williams will each enter only their second career playoff games as head coach and quarterback respectively. 

I'm looking forward to see if the Bears can put together a complete game of football. Coming behind from that large of a deficit in one quarter isn't always going to work out, especially against Los Angeles. 

The winner of this anticipated showdown will face the winner of the opposite matchup in the NFC featuring the 49ers and the Seahawks. I expect this to be another thrilling game that will once again come down to the wire.  

 

NFL Playoff Preview: 49ers vs Eagles

 

The San Francisco 49ers will head to Philadelphia to take on the defending Super Bowl champion Eagles. After narrowly losing the NFC West and a first round bye, the 49ers fell to the no. 6 seed and now have to travel across the country for their matchup with Philadelphia. 

San Francisco and Philadelphia met up in the playoffs just three years ago in the NFC Conference Championship in a game that the Niners would not like to reminisce on. Over the past three years, the NFC has been represented by one of these teams in the Super Bowl. 

These two teams went in completely opposite directions to end the 2025 campaign. San Francisco ended the season winning 6 of their last 7 games, while the Eagles dropped 4 of their last 7 games. 

Both of these teams contradict each other in terms of where they excel. San Francisco ranks in the top 10 for total offense throughout the NFL, while Philadelphia is all the way down in the bottom third of the league. 

On the other hand, it has been Philadelphia's defense that has won them a lot of games this season. The 49ers have been very banged up, with All-Pros such as Fred Warner and Nick Bosa ruled out for the season due to injuries, causing them to struggle to get stops. 

In the four matchups between defensive coordinator Vic Fangio and 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan, Fangio has a 3-1 record and his defenses have allowed just 41 points to Shanahan's offenses. Shanahan will look to rewrite the script this Sunday if the 49ers want any chance at escaping Philadelphia alive. 

Like they have all season, San Francisco is going to rely heavily on their future Hall of Fame running back Christian McCaffrey. CMC not only leads his team in rushing yards, but also holds the lead for receiving yards as well. 

He nearly accomplished an unheard of feat of having over 1,000 rushing and receiving yards in one season. CMC leads the NFL in total touches with 413 on the season. Coincidentally, Saquon Barkley held that title a year ago for the Eagles during their run to their second Super Bowl title.

The two teams that have headlined the NFC in recent history will collide this Saturday in one of the most hostile environments in sports. Will the Niners pull off the upset, or will the Eagles continue their quest for back to back titles?

NFL Playoff Preview: Packers vs Bears

 

For the 213th time, the oldest rivalry in the NFL writes a new chapter this upcoming Saturday, as the Green Bay Packers head to Chicago to take on the Bears in the Wild Card round. The two teams met twice during the regular season and split each matchup in dramatic fashion. 

Green Bay comes into the NFC Playoffs as the no. 7 seed for the third consecutive year. On the other hand, Chicago clinched their first playoff berth since 2020 and took home the NFC North for the first time since 2018 as well. 

The biggest factor that could sway this matchup either way is health. The Packers are pretty banged up as Jordan Love was unable to finish the last couple games in the regular season, Josh Jacobs has been hurt since Week 11, and their top receiver Christian Watson is questionable. That's without even mentioning that they are without Micah Parsons for a long time as well. 

Chicago is also not 100 percent with CJ Gardner-Johnson already ruled out and their receiver room, which is already paper thin, is played through injuries as well. To put it simply, Chicago and Green Bay have experienced a long and successful but brutal past 18 weeks. 

The previous two matchups between the Bears and Packers both were decided by one possession. The first matchup in Green Bay was sealed with a game-winning interception by Green Bay in the end zone with minimal time left, while the one in Chicago was decided by a 46 yard DJ Moore touchdown in overtime. 

Green Bay lead for a majority of the previous matchup despite Jordan Love suffering an injury that sidelined him for most of the game. Love has not played a snap since that game in Chicago almost 4 weeks ago. 

Love sat out the final games of the season against Baltimore and Minnesota, both games in which the Packers dropped. In fact, Green Bay ended the regular season on a 4-game losing streak. They come into the playoffs as arguably the coldest team in the bracket. 

In year one under Ben Johnson, the Bears look like a completely new team. The rise of Caleb Williams, the deadly one-two punch of DeAndre Swift and Kyle Monangai, and a league-leading 32 interceptions is what has gotten the Bears this far. 

I expect this game to be pretty reminiscent to the previous two matchups between Green Bay and Chicago. If Jordan Love is able to play like his regular self, don't be surprised if the Packers march into Soldier Field and end this magical season by the Bears. 

NFL Playoff Preview: Rams vs Panthers

 

A rematch of a cinematic game back in late November, the Los Angeles Rams will head across the country to Charlotte to take on the NFC South Champion Carolina Panthers. 

Back in November, the Panthers beat the Rams by a score of 31-28 in surprising fashion. Los Angeles had come into that game winners of six straight games until Carolina knocked them off. Ultimately, the Panthers were the cause of the Rams' late season troubles as they dropped three of their last six games after starting off 9-2. 

Los Angeles heads into Carolina with a record of 12-5 after finishing second in the NFC West. Despite being the road team in a playoff game, the Rams come in as heavy favorites over the Panthers to advance to the next round. 

The Rams successes have been due to their excellent quarterback Matthew Stafford. Stafford has cemented himself as one of the top MVP candidates after posting the most passing touchdowns and passing yards as well.

LA certainly has what it takes to raise another Lombardi Trophy this upcoming February. The Rams ranked no. 1 in total offense this past season along with the most offensive touchdowns. Looking up and down the depth chart, Los Angeles has household names everywhere on their offense. 

The offense can put up numbers against any given team, but the defense wasn't too shabby either. LA ranked in the top 10 in total rushing defense, an area that the Panthers love to utilize on offense. 

Carolina comes into this matchup as the only playoff team with a sub .500 record after finishing the 2025 campaign 8-9. The Panthers wrapped up their first NFC South title since 2015 when they made it all the way to the Super Bowl. 

In all honesty, the 2015 Panthers are not in the same league with the 2025 Panthers. Bryce Young has shown impressive strides in just his third professional season, but Carolina needs to do a better job surrounding him with more weapons in 2026. 

Overall, nothing really jumps out on paper about this Panthers team. They are a very young squad that probably made the playoffs slightly before they were due to. However, it will be a good experience builder for this young team because they will be a threat across the league for years to come. 

NFL Playoff Preview: Chargers vs Patriots

 

For the first time since a guy named Tom Brady was the quarterback of the team, the New England Patriots are ready to host a home playoff game against the Los Angeles Chargers. 

After taking home their first division title since 2019, the Patriots enter the AFC Playoffs as the no. 2 seed hosting the no. 7 seeded Chargers. New England's jump from a 4-13 record in 2024 to a 14-3 finish in 2025 has been absolutely remarkable to witness. 

The coach and quarterback duo of Drake Maye and Mike Vrabel has been eerily similar to the hall of fame duo of Brady and Belichick that Patriots fans had been so accustomed to witnessing every Sunday. In year one, Vrabel has made unheard of strides to this New England football team. 

In only his second professional year and first complete season as a starter, Drake Maye has poised himself as one of the top options in the MVP race. Maye finished with a league high QBR, just under 4,400 passing yards, and 35 total touchdowns. 

The offensive additions of Stefon Diggs and Treyveon Henderson have been monumental towards the Pats success in 2025. In their first years in Foxborough, both Diggs and Henderson lead the team in receiving and rushing yards respectively. 

Coming into this game, New England currently has the 4th best odds to take home the Lombardi Trophy and the 2nd-best in the AFC behind the no. 1 seed Denver Broncos. However, they will have a tough task in hosting the Los Angeles Chargers.

Los Angeles, headlined by their head coach Jim Harbaugh and outstanding quarterback Justin Herbert will face a tall task going into New England on Sunday. The Chargers ranked no. 5 in total defense throughout the NFL giving them a slight edge in that category over the Pats. 

LA's superb defense lead by Derwin James is going to have to make it tough on Drake Maye and co. in order to have a shot in this game. Justin Herbert is also playing a little banged up on his non-throwing hand. If this plays a big role on Sunday, it could be a long night and long plane ride back home for the Chargers. 

All three of the AFC first round matchups feature showdowns that did not occur in the regular season. As a fan, expect the unexpected because not only is it the playoffs, but the AFC is going to be a rollercoaster, so hang on. 

NFL Playoff Preview: Bills vs Jaguars

 

This upcoming Sunday, the AFC South Champion Jacksonville Jaguars will host the Buffalo Bills in a heavily anticipated first round playoff matchup. After propelling the Jaguars to a division title in his first season as head coach, Liam Coen and his team are looking to make noise in the AFC Playoffs. 

The Buffalo Bills entered this season with sky high expectations, yet they ended the regular season as the no. 6 seed in the AFC. For a team that had controlled the AFC East for five consecutive seasons, this season was a shock to fans all across the National Football League. 

Regardless of the seeding, the Bills still have Josh Allen. Allen, one year removed from his first MVP, enters his first postseason without the threat of facing Patrick Mahomes. Year after year, the Bills never failed to fall to Patrick Mahomes, but without him in the way could this finally be their year?

Buffalo ended the regular season winning five of their last six games. Their offense, headlined by Josh Allen and James Cook, has the ability to take over any game. Allen and Cook combined for 2,200 rushing yards in 2025. 

However, when Buffalo heads south to Duval County, they will face the no. 1 rushing defense in the NFL. The Jaguars allow just under an average of 86 rushing yards per game. Buffalo's best offense this season has come from Josh Allen, James Cook, and the rest of the running back room putting their legs to the test. 

Not only did Buffalo end their season well, but Jacksonville ended their campaign on an eight-game winning streak. Trevor Lawrence had arguably his best season as a professional after throwing for over 4,000 yards along with 38 total touchdowns as well. 

Lawrence has done a fantastic job at getting his entire offense involved all season. Parker Washington and Brenton Strange's developments have been great to watch while coinciding with Travis Etienne and Brian Thomas Jr. 

In addition, the Jags have done all of this without their no. 2 pick from a year ago in Travis Hunter. Liam Coen, amidst his first season in Jacksonville, is in heavy contention for NFL Coach of the Year. 

It's an absolute tragedy that one of these two teams has to go home after Sunday because they are both poised for big runs this postseason if not for this matchup. Tune into CBS this upcoming Sunday, you are not going to want to miss this matchup.