The NFL’s Divisional Round is kicking off, and eight teams are looking to punch their tickets to the Conference Championships. Let’s take a look at how the current playoff bracket is unfolding and who advanced to the next round of the playoffs.
Current NFL Playoff Bracket For Divisional Round
Let’s look at the results from Divisional Weekend and what that means regarding the NFL playoff bracket.
NFC Playoff Seeds and Standings
1. Detroit Lions (15-2) – Eliminated
2. Philadelphia Eagles (14-3)
3. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (10-7) – Eliminated
4. Los Angeles Rams (10-7)
5. Minnesota Vikings (14-3) – Eliminated
6. Washington Commanders (12-5)
7. Green Bay Packers (11-6) – Eliminated
AFC Playoff Seeds and Standings
1. Kansas City Chiefs (15-1)
2. Buffalo Bills (13-4)
3. Baltimore Ravens (12-5)
4. Houston Texans (10-7) – Eliminated
5. Los Angeles Chargers (11-6) – Eliminated
6. Pittsburgh Steelers (10-7) – Eliminated
7. Denver Broncos (10-7) – Eliminated
Conference Championship Round
Sunday, Jan. 26
- NFC Championship Game: 3 p.m.
- AFC Championship Game: 6:30 p.m.
Super Bowl 59
- Date: Feb. 9, 2025
- Location: Caesars Superdome (New Orleans)
- Time: 6:30 p.m. ET
- TV: Fox
Divisional Round Results
Washington Commanders Defeated Detroit Lions 45-31
The Saturday finale was one for the ages. The Washington Commanders traveled to Detroit and defeated the 15-win, number 1 seed in the NFC. Rookie QB Jayden Daniels did something very few rookies have done, and will now lead his team to the Conference Championship. Washington has not played in the Conference title game since 1991, the second longest streak ahead of just the Cleveland Browns.
The turnaround for Washington has been amazing. The Commanders went 4-13 (.308) last year. That’s the 9th-worst win percentage in the season prior to making the Conference Championship Round in NFL history.
Daniels now joins Joe Flacco (2008) and Mark Sanchez (2009) having won two road playoff games as a rookie. Washington’s 45 points are the second-most points on the road vs. a 1 seed. 48 is the most by the 2010 Packers vs. the Falcons in the Divisional Round.
On the other side of the ball, the Lions join the 2011 Packers as the only 15-win team in NFL history to lose their first playoff game. Although they moved the ball with ease, their defense couldn’t stop Daniels, and Goff’s five turnovers were ultimately too much to overcome. Goff finished the day with a D+ Quarterback+ grade (68.9). It was his worst game of the season (18 games) and only grade below C- that he had.
MORE: List of Rookie QBs to Win a Playoff Game
The Commanders will now take on the winner of the Philadelphia Eagles and Los Angeles Rams game on Sunday.
Kansas City Chiefs Defeated Houston Texans 24-13
If you thought that the Divisional Round was going to be without controversy, my were you wrong. The Kansas City Chiefs defeated the Houston Texans in the first game of the weekend. The Chiefs deserved the win, especially off of Travis Kelce’s massive game. But what this one will be remembered for is going to be a number of questionable calls, heavily favoring Kansas City.
It was a close game in the first half, but critical mistakes by the Texans put them behind the eight-ball against an elite Chiefs team. It all started with a huge kickoff return by the Chiefs, that ended with Kris Boyd throwing his helmet and getting an additional 15-yard penalty.
After that, missed field goals, missed extra points, and bad penalties put a nail in Houston’s coffin. It wasn’t all bad for Houston, they technically outplayed Kansas City in nearly all aspects. They outgained the Chiefs by more than 120 yards. Teams to be outgained by 120+ yards and forced 0 takeaways were 0-41 in NFL playoff history. The Chiefs are now the first to win.
Here is a fun one for the conspiracy theorists out there.
WATCH: Kris Boyd Pushes Coach on Sidelines
In the playoffs since 2018:
- The Chiefs have received 9 roughing the passer calls (including the Will Anderson Jr. one today)
- The rest of the NFL combined has gotten 18 roughing the passer calls and no team has more than 2
Back to Kelce.
He had a huge game and scored a big touchdown late in the third quarter. He now has 10 playoff games with 80 receiving yards and a TD. No other player has more than 7 (Jerry Rice). Kelce finished with 66.1% of the Chiefs’ receiving yards. The only TE to account for a higher percentage of his team’s receiving yards in a playoff game since 2000 is Travis Kelce (also vs. the Texans).
NFL Playoff Format and Bracket
Teams are seeded Nos. 1 through 7 in each conference, with the division winners receiving seed Nos. 1 through 4, with the three Wild Card teams receiving seed Nos. 5 through 7.
The division winners are seeded according to record, with the best record receiving the top seed, and the same is true of Wild Card teams.
The league uses the same playoff tiebreaking procedures to break ties for seeds.
The NFL’s playoff bracket is divided between the AFC and NFC. There are four rounds: Wild Card Weekend, the Divisional Round, Conference Championship Weekend, and the Super Bowl.
During Wild Card Weekend, the No. 2 seed faces the No. 7 seed, the No. 3 seed faces the No. 6 seed, and the No. 4 seed faces the No. 5 seed in each conference. In each subsequent round, the highest remaining seed faces the lowest remaining seed, and so on.
The No. 1 seed receives a first-round bye. In this format, the No. 7 seed, if they win on Wild Card Weekend, automatically goes to the top seed on the road. The same is said if the No. 6 seed wins and the No. 7 seed is eliminated.
In the Super Bowl, the winning teams from each conference face off to battle for the Lombardi Trophy.
