Wild storylines headed into Wild Card Weekend
(NEXSTAR) -- The NFL playoffs are here and 14 franchises have begun their journey to New Orleans with hopes of lifting the Lombardi trophy at Super Bowl LIX on February 9.
It all starts with Wild Card Weekend:
AFC
No. 7 Denver Broncos at No. 2 Buffalo Bills - Sunday, January 12 at 12 p.m. CT
No. 6 Pittsburgh Steelers at No. 3 Baltimore Ravens - Saturday, January 11 at 7 p.m. CT
No. 5 Los Angeles Chargers at No. 4 Houston Texans - Saturday, January 11 at 3:30 p.m. CT
NFC
No. 7 Green Bay Packers at No. 2 Philadelphia Eagles - Sunday, January 12 at 3:30 p.m. CT
No. 6 Washington Commanders at No. 3 Tampa Bay Buccaneers - Sunday, January 12 at 7 p.m. CT
No. 5 Minnesota Vikings at No. 4 Los Angeles Rams - Monday, January 13 at 7 p.m. CT
Meanwhile the AFC and NFC top seeds, No. 1 Kansas City Chiefs and No. 1 Detroit Lions, respectively, automatically advance to the Divisional Round and enjoy an extra week of rest.
Wild Card Weekend lives up to its name, providing exciting storylines and unique moments that football fans look forward to.
Houston, we have a streak!
The Houston Texans won the AFC South earning them the eighth playoff and Wild Card berth since the club entered the league in 2002.
The Texans host the Chargers on Saturday, January 11 at 3:35 p.m. CT. The kickoff time will feel familiar to Texans fans as it is the same time as every other playoff appearance.
| Season | Opponent | Date | Time (Central) | Network | Win/Loss |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011/12 | Cincinnati Bengals | Saturday, Jan. 3 | 3:30 p.m. | NBC | Win |
| 2012/13 | Cincinnati Bengals | Saturday, Jan. 5 | 3:30 p.m. | NBC | Win |
| 2015/16 | Kansas City Chiefs | Saturday, Jan. 9 | 3:35 p.m. | ABC/ESPN | Loss |
| 2016/17 | Oakland Raiders | Saturday, Jan. 7 | 3:35 p.m. | ABC/ESPN | Win |
| 2018/19 | Indianapolis Colts | Saturday, Jan. 5 | 3:35 p.m. | ABC/ESPN | Loss |
| 2019/20 | Buffalo Bills | Saturday, Jan. 4 | 3:35 p.m. | ABC/ESPN | Win |
| 2023/24 | Cleveland Browns | Saturday, Jan. 13 | 3:35 p.m. | ABC/ESPN | Win |
| 2024/25 | Los Angeles Chargers | Saturday, Jan. 11 | 3:30 p.m. | CBS/Nickelodeon | TBD |
The streak means that whenever the Texans make the playoffs, they open the tournament as part of the early window broadcast on Saturday.
Lucky for Houston and their fans, the Texans have won five of their first seven Wild Card appearances so their timeslot looks to be more of a coincidence rather than a bad luck charm.
Vikings head West
Despite an impressive 14-3 record, the Minnesota Vikings will visit SoFi Stadium on Monday, January 13 to take on NFC West winners Los Angeles Rams.
Normally, a 14-win season would be good enough to win any division and have home-field advantage for at least the first game or two of the playoffs. But not this year.
The NFC North had three teams make the playoffs, including the No. 1-seeded Detroit Lions who finished with a 15-2 record after defeating the Vikings on the last week of the season.
Finishing second in their own division, the Vikings become the team with the highest win total to ever play a road game in the Wild Card round. The loss to the Lions dropped the Vikings from the potential No. 1 seed, all the way down to the No. 5 seed and earned Detroit their first ever top-seeded finish in the NFC.
The way NFL seeds teams, all division winners, regardless of overall record, are seeded 1-4. The following three best records from the conference are seeded 5-7.
Not So Wild Bengals
Though they did not earn a playoff berth, the Cincinnati Bengals managed to make history.
The Bengals are the first time in NFL history to miss the playoffs while having the:
NFL Passing Yards/Touchdowns Leader: Joe Burrow (4,918/43)
NFL Receiving Yards Leader: Ja'Marr Chase (1,708)
NFL Sacks Leader: Trey Hendrickson (17.5)
Cincinnati got off to a slow start, but despite a five-game winning streak to end the season, their playoff possibilities were not in their own hands. On week 18, the Bengals needed to defeat the Pittsburgh Steelers and needed both the Miami Dolphins and Denver Broncos to lose their respective games.
The Dolphins did their part and lost to the New York Jets, but the Broncos had the advantage of playing a Kansas City Chiefs team who was resting a majority of their starters, like Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce and Chris Jones.
Bo Nix and the Broncos made easy work of the Chiefs' second- and third-stringers and shut out Kansas City 38-0.