It could easily be argued that the eight best teams face off in the divisional round of the 2021 playoffs, and three of these four contests represent a rematch of a regular-season game. Only the Bengals and Titans are relatively new to each other.
In Week 3, the Buccaneers were embarrassed in nearly every facet of the game by the Rams in a 34-24 loss. Week 3 was also when the Packers got out to a 17-0 lead against the 49ers before Kyle Shanahan’s team put together a furious comeback that Matt LaFleur’s squad barely kept at bay in a 30-28 nail-biter.
And in Week 5, the Chiefs had to deal with two supernatural forces — lightning storms that delayed the game over an hour, and Bills quarterback Josh Allen, who threw three touchdown passes and ran for another score in a 38-20 beatdown.
Here, in tape/stat pieces written by Touchdown Wire’s Doug Farrar and Mark Schofield, is how each of the eight remaining teams can advance to their conference championship games.
