The Divisional Round of the NFL playoffs were electrifying from start to finish. Every single game delivered adrenaline-pumping moments that won’t soon be forgotten by anyone who watched. Every game ended on a game-winning score and the last of them featured two of the best young quarterbacks in the NFL showcasing why they’re the future.
There was the classic bad-weather defensive battle; the wild card upset of a top seed (two of them); a championship team proving its mettle; and even some Tom Brady magic. Of the things great games are made of, there was no stone left unturned – unless you were rooting for one of the teams that ultimately lost.
The unintended consequence of the high these games delivered, however, is that the Conference Championship round will likely disappoint as a following act.
Three of the four games in the Divisional Round were won by road underdogs, including the top seed in each conference. While it was fun to see the upstart Cincinnati Bengals knock off the Tennessee Titans, they enter Sunday’s game against the Kansas City Chiefs as the third-largest underdogs of these playoffs. The 7.5-point spread in the AFC Championship is only smaller than Wild Card games between the Chiefs and Pittsburgh Steelers (+11.5) and the Philadelphia Eagles (+8.5) and Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
That’s with good reason, too. The Chiefs are the two-time reigning AFC champion, having reached the conference title game in three straight years, winning the Super Bowl in 2020. The Bengals are in the playoffs for the first time since 2015 and in the AFC championship for the first time since 1988.
On the NFC side, there’s reason to believe the game will be better with the Los Angeles Rams favored by just 3.5 over the San Francisco 49ers. But there’s no denying a matchup between the Rams and top-seeded Green Bay Packers would’ve been more interesting. Even with the Niners sweeping the Rams in the regular season, San Francisco’s +155 moneyline odds are longer than every game in the Divisional Round besides the +180 odds put on their upset of the Packers.
And there’s precedent for the Rams to be favored, too. They reinforced a roster that was in the Super Bowl three years ago — most importantly at the quarterback position — won the same NFC West division the Niners occupy and finally seem to be clicking at the right time.
The saying ‘any given Sunday’ exists for a reason, so of course the 49ers and Bengals can win. If there’s anything the Divisional Round proved, it’s that. But besides how favored their opponents are in the conference championships, this round won’t live up to the last because how could it?
The Divisional Round was as close to perfect as the NFL could hope, a high we’ll likely be chasing for a long time.
