Another NFL regular season has come and gone. It seems like just yesterday we all woke up at the start of Week 1, getting ready for the start of a new season. Now only 14 teams remain and will be looking to raise the Lombardi trophy down in New Orleans. The Buffalo Bills are one of those teams as the 2nd-seed in the AFC.
The following wild card matchups are as follows:
Wild Card Round Matchups |
|---|
Kansas City - Bye Week |
#5 Los Angeles Chargers @ #4 Houston Texans |
#6 Pittsburgh Steelers @ #3 Baltimore Ravens |
#7 Denver Broncos @ #2 Buffalo Bills |
The Bills will take on the Denver Broncos in the first round. Buffalo comes into this game coming off a 13-4 finish while the Broncos dominated the backups in Kansas City, winning 38-0 to finish 10-7 on the season. We have a great amount of matchups for Super Wild Card weekend, however, how does each team rank heading into the first round?
AFC Playoff Rankings
7.) Pittsburgh Steelers (10-7)
Will face Ravens in wild card round
The Steelers were on their way to winning the AFC North, but they lost their last four games and the Ravens took advantage of it by clinching the division. Pittsburgh isn’t just losing, they are giving up 27 points per game and only scoring 14 points per game in the last month.
They split the season series with the Ravens in the regular season so now this game is for all of the marbles. Right now, it would be a major shock to see the Steelers leave Baltimore with a win.
6.) Denver Broncos (10-7)
Will face Bills in wild card round
The Broncos are one of the biggest surprises of the season this year. For the last two seasons, they have been a joke and came into this season with $85 million in dead cap from the Russell Wilson contract. They turned it around by drafting Bo Nix, who was heavily criticized for being drafted as high as he was but he proved a lot of people wrong.
At the same time, he is a rookie and has never experienced playoff football. Not to mention, he’s never played against the Bills defense who plays great situational football. Maybe Nix can develop into a top-tier quarterback, but it won’t start against the Bills in the first round.
5.) Houston Texans (10-7)
Will face Chargers in wild card round
The Texans had a lot of promise coming into this year after a strong 2023 season, but second-year quarterback C.J. Stroud was not what he was in his rookie season. He dropped in passing yards and touchdowns, while throwing seven more interceptions than last season.
After getting off to a hot 5-1 start, the Texans finished 4-6 after that and only had one game of winning by double digits. The Texans will have their hands full with a tough Jim Harbaugh-led Chargers team.
4.) Los Angeles Chargers (11-6)
Will face Texans in wild card round
The Chargers had the biggest upgrade in the offseason going from Brandon Staley to Jim Harbaugh, and it has showed. The Chargers addressed their offensive line problems and their defense, with almost the same players as last year, elevated to a top unit across the league.
The last time the Chargers were in the playoffs (ironically against an AFC South Jacksonville Jaguars team), they blew a 27-0 lead and lost 31-30. They will be looking to fix the image of themselves from that disastrous loss.
3.) Kansas City Chiefs (15-2)
Bye Week
That’s right, the top seed in the AFC just makes it into the top three. Their Week 18 matchup against the Broncos doesn’t even count considering that they had all backups in. However, we can’t dispute the fact that ten of their wins came from winning by a touchdown or less. They aren’t the same dominating Chiefs that we all once knew and they were dominated by the Bills in Week 11.
The three-peat is on for them and it they will learn who they will be playing after next weekend’s games.
2.) Baltimore Ravens (12-5)
Will face Steelers in wild card round
This is a toss up between the Bills and Ravens, much like it is for the MVP award between Josh Allen and Lamar Jackson. However, the Ravens are one game behind the Bills and they haven’t had a statement-like win since Week 12 against the Chargers.
At the same time, teams shouldn’t want to face the Ravens just because of how tough they can be once they get going. Baltimore is always going to be a tough challenge and they are looking to get back to the Super Bowl for the first time since 2012.
1.) Buffalo Bills (13-4)
Will face Broncos in wild card round
You guessed it, the Bills are at the top. Josh Allen is playing like he is the MVP (and should be named the award winner) and Buffalo has cleaned up their act on defense since their high-scoring affair loss to the Rams back in Week 14.
The Bills will welcome in a tough Broncos team, but with no experience in playoff football. The Bills are filled with veterans who have plenty of playoff football experience which gives them a big advantage.