For all the action that takes place over the first 18 weeks of a new NFL campaign, nothing hits quite as hard as playoff football, where everything is on the line every weekend. There can be no quit from here on in, with elimination from the Super Bowl race potentially around the corner for each and every team. Six games light up our screens this weekend, while the respective conference champions sit back and await their opposition.

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GAME OF THE WEEK

Green Bay Packers (11-6) @ Philadelphia Eagles (14-3)

The first NFC game on Wild Card Weekend sees the #7 seed Green Bay Packers travelling to face the #2 seed Philadelphia Eagles at Lincoln Financial Field. The Packers finished third in the NFC North, but this was enough for a fifth playoff berth in the last six seasons. The Eagles finished 14-3 and won the NFC East for the second time in three seasons. This is the fourth postseason meeting between these two historic franchises, with the Eagles owning a 2-1 advantage, although the Packers won the last meeting following the 2010 season on their way to their most recent Super Bowl victory. Don’t forget, however, that the two sides have already met this season, squaring off in São Paulo in Week 1, a game that resulted in an Eagles’ victory.

The Packers will be hoping that Jordan Love is able to play after suffering what seems to be a nerve injury to his elbow that affects his throwing hand in the team’s Week 18 loss to the Bears. The receiving corps will also be down one of their biggest play threats, with Christian Watson suffering an ACL injury in the same game. The Packers offense will likely lean on running back Josh Jacobs, who racked up 1,329 rushing yards in his first season with the team along with 15 rushing touchdowns. Jacobs found the end zone in each of his final eight regular season games.

The Eagles, meanwhile, are sweating on the health of their own quarterback, with Jalen Hurts hoping to return to the lineup after missing the final two games of the regular season with a concussion he suffered in Week 16. But, even if Hurts is able to suit up, the Eagles offense will go through Saquon Barkley, who finished his debut campaign with the team with the small matter of 2,005 rushing yards and 13 touchdowns. Barkley has enjoyed his games against the Packers in his career, averaging 113.5 yards from scrimmage in six games against them.

PREDICTION: In a clash between two of the most productive running backs in the league, the Eagles and Barkley have enough to fly into the Divisional Round.

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WORTH A WATCH

With an entire season on the line, every playoff game — from Wild Card to Super Bowl — becomes ‘must watch’.

Los Angeles Chargers (11-6) @ Houston Texans (10-7)

Super Wild Card Weekend gets underway with a first-ever postseason clash between the Chargers and Texans on Saturday. Houston won the AFC South for the second year in a row, but to call them dominant champions would be misleading. The Texans offense sputtered at times, and C.J. Stroud could only lead the side to 21.9 points per game in 2024. Coincidentally, that was the same number of points the Texans allowed on defense, led by sack twins Danielle Hunter and Will Anderson, who both notched double-digit sacks and combined for 33 tackles for loss. The Chargers made the postseason in Jim Harbaugh’s first season at the helm, and they will be looking for their first playoff win since 2018. Justin Herbert had an efficient campaign under Harbaugh’s guidance, passing for 3,870 yards and 23 touchdowns while only tossing three interceptions, while the Chargers’ defense was one of the league’s best, holding opponents to just 17.7 points per game. Los Angeles feels like the more battle-ready of these two sides and, in what could be a low-scoring affair, the road team appears to have an excellent chance of advancing to the AFC Divisional Round.

PREDICTION: The Chargers charge past the home team to give Jim Harbaugh the sixth postseason win of his NFL coaching career.

Pittsburgh Steelers (10-7) @ Baltimore Ravens (12-5)

The Ravens and Steelers do battle for the third time this season in Saturday’s late window, with Pittsburgh travelling to the AFC North champions in the fifth postseason clash between these two bitter rivals. The Steelers are coming into this one incredibly cold after a four-match losing streak to end the regular season, having once led the AFC North with a 10-3 mark after Week 14. They failed to top 17 points in any of those four games and allowed at least 27 in three of them. Russell Wilson comes into the game with a 9-7 mark in postseason play and will be looking to lead the Steelers to their first playoff win since 2017, but he and his team will be up against it.

Lamar Jackson, who already has two MVP campaigns under his belt, enjoyed arguably his greatest ever season in 2024. Jackson set career-highs with 4,172 passing yards and 41 touchdowns while rushing for 915 yards and another four scores. Incredibly, he only tossed four interceptions, although one of those did come in a Week 11 loss to the Steelers. Jackson has not enjoyed the best of fortunes against Pittsburgh in his career but, despite the likely absence of Pro Bowl wide receiver Zay Flowers, the Ravens and their talismanic quarterback look well set to advance to the divisional round.

PREDICTION: The Ravens have too much firepower and send the Steelers home for the offseason.

Denver Broncos (10-7) @ Buffalo Bills (13-4)

The upstart Broncos travel to Western New York to take on the Bills in a clash between the seventh and second seeds in the AFC. This is the Broncos’ first playoff game since winning Super Bowl 50, while the Bills have made the playoffs in each of the last six seasons, and seven of eight under Sean McDermott. You have to go all the way back to the 1991 postseason for the last playoff clash between these two sides, with the Bills winning a 10-7 scrap on their way to a second straight Super Bowl appearance.

Head coach Sean Payton has overseen quite an offensive turnaround for the Broncos in 2025 with newcomer quarterback Bo Nix leading the unit to 25.0 points per game. Nix is set to become the first Broncos rookie quarterback to start a playoff game, and he goes into the postseason with the most passing yards and touchdown passes among first-year players (3,775 and 29). The Broncos defense also put in a good shift of its own, allowing just 18.3 points per game, with teammates Nik Bonitto and Jonathan Cooper combining for 24 sacks and 27 tackles for loss. Star cornerback Patrick Surtain intercepted four passes and logged 11 pass breakups in 2024, his fourth straight season with double-digit passes defended.

The case could be made, meanwhile, that the Bills are the most complete team in the AFC, averaging 30.9 yards on offense and allowing a mere 21.7 on defense. Josh Allen was in the MVP conversation for pretty much the entire campaign, with 28 passing scores and another 12 on the ground. Von Miller was the MVP in Super Bowl 50, and he will be going into a clash with the team that drafted him on the back of a season that saw him post six sacks. This matchup could really go either way, ending up a street fight dominated by two smothering defenses or a shootout between two dynamic quarterbacks.

PREDICTION: The battle-hardened Bills come out on top in this clash between two coaching Seans.

Washington Commanders (12-5) @ Tampa Bay Buccaneers (10-7)

The Commanders secured the NFC’s #6 seed with victory over Dallas last weekend, earning a trip to Florida to take on the NFC South champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers. A resurgent Washington team won 12 games in a season for the first time since 1991, a season that ended with them hoisting their third Vince Lombardi Trophy, while the Buccaneers have won their division in each of the last four seasons to earn their fifth consecutive postseason appearance. These sides have met in the playoffs three times, with the most recent meeting coming in the 2020 Wildcard Round where Tom Brady’s Buccaneers won a 31-23 contest.

The Commanders’ turnaround in 2024 was largely thanks to rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels, who delivered one of the most efficient debut campaigns in NFL history. Daniels ranks fourth among rookie QBs all time with a 100.1 passer rating, 4,459 scrimmage yards and 31 combined passing and rushing touchdowns. But the Bucs have a star quarterback of their own, with Baker Mayfield coming off a career season in which he racked up 4,500 yards and 41 touchdowns, with 1,004 of those yards and 11 touchdowns going to wide receiver Mike Evans, who eclipsed the 1,000-yard mark for the 11th consecutive season. Both teams look explosive on offense but suspect defensively. This could be an absolute barnstormer.

PREDICTION: In a high scoring clash, the Commanders upset the seedings and win their first playoff game since 2005… when they beat the Buccaneers.

Minnesota Vikings (14-3) @ Los Angeles Rams (10-7)

The final game of the weekend comes from SoFi Stadium (or State Farm Stadium in Arizona if the Californian wildfires make playing in Los Angeles impossible), with the NFC West champion Rams welcoming the 14-3 Vikings, who fell to the Detroit Lions in Week 18 and lost the chance to earn the conference’s #1 seed. These two sides have met seven times in the playoffs, with the Vikings owning a 5-2 advantage in the series, although the Rams came out on top in the last such clash, winning a 49-37 barnstormer back in their Super Bowl-winning 1999 season.

The Vikings offense captures most of the public attention, with head coach Kevin O’Connell coaxing a season for the ages from the previously dismissed Sam Darnold. The former Jets castoff set career highs with 4,319 passing yards and 35 touchdowns after stepping in when 2024 first round pick J.J. McCarthy was lost before the season even started. But, while Darnold slinging passes to Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison certainly helped the Vikings crusade, Brian Flores coordinated a defense that made life just as miserable for opposing quarterbacks in 2024. The Vikings allowed less than 20 points per game while delivering 49 sacks and generating 33 takeways on defense, although that could not prevent them slipping to defeat on their previous visit to SoFi this season.

The Rams made a late run to win their division for the first time since their Super Bowl-winning 2021 season, and made the playoffs for the sixth time in eight seasons under head coach Sean McVay. Matt Stafford is not the player he used to be, but he remains a capable performer under center, with his 3,762 passing yards marking the 12th time he has gone over 3,500 yards in his career. The Rams, like the Vikings, boast a duo of game-winning wide receivers in Cooper Kupp and Puka Nacua and a running back in Kyren Williams, like Minnesota’s Aaron Jones, with a nose for the end zone. Williams scored 14 rushing touchdowns and added another two through the air in 2024. A repeat of that 1999 divisional round clash would be a welcome finale to Super Wild Card Weekend, and this clash between pupil (O’Connell) and teacher (McVay) could be an instant classic.

PREDICTION: McVay shows O’Connell that he remains the master as the Rams pull of an upset.

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Wild Card Weekend. The playoffs begin. Watch every game from every round plus Super Bowl LIX with the U.S. broadcast. Buy from £19.99 HERE