What is often the best football weekend of the year is here. The eight surviving teams fight for a place in the final four and over the years there have been several historic games in this second round of the playoffs. The Ravens, Bills, Texans and Chiefs are aiming for dominance in the American Conference, while the 49ers, Lions, Buccaneers and Packers have the same goal in the National Conference.
• Also read: Our predictions for the second round of the NFL playoffs: Chapter 7 of the new great Mahomes-Allen rivalry
• Also read – “Every year I make progress”: Benjamin St-Juste is confident that his contract year is approaching
Before we get into these one night stand matches, here are 10 stories to watch out for.
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The adults enter the room
Deebo Samuel and Lamar Jackson return to the spotlight this weekend. PHOTO Getty Images via AFP
Then the top-ranked teams from Conference USA and Conference National, the Ravens and 49ers, come into play. Last year, the two teams that held this position, the Chiefs and the Eagles, battled in the Super Bowl. However, this is not a guarantee of success as the last time the two first place teams reached the Super Bowl was in 2017. The Ravens have earned seven wins this season by 10 or more points against opponents who came into the Super Bowl game with a winning record. The 49ers have won their last six second-round playoff appearances since 2011.
First several young ones
Second-round picks Jared Goff and Baker Mayfield were both selected at the top of their drafts. PHOTO Getty Images via AFP
The eight teams still alive show a clear trend. The chances of going far in the playoffs are certainly higher when a quarterback is selected early in the draft. In fact, no fewer than seven of the eight quarterbacks featured were selected in the first round of the draft. Jared Goff (Lions) was taken first overall by the Rams in the first round in 2016. In 2018, Baker Mayfield (Buccaneers) had the same honor with the Browns. That same year, Josh Allen (Bills) was selected seventh overall and Lamar Jackson (Ravens) was selected 32nd overall. A year earlier, the Chiefs surprised by making Patrick Mahomes with the 10th pick. Jordan Love was the Packers' 26th pick in 2020, while the latest young first is CJ Stroud, who the Texans took second overall. Brock Purdy plays the role of the oddball who was the last pick in last year's draft.
Never seen it in Detroit before
The Lions fans are thrilled. PHOTO Getty Images via AFP
Last week, much was made of the Lions' first home playoff game in 30 years. Know that Detroit fans are in for a great premiere this week. Never in the long history of the team, now in its 94th season, have Detroit had two playoff games in the same year. The event is so rare that the average ticket price on resale sites this week was $1,186, according to TickPick.com. This is the most expensive ticket ever for a second round game. The record for average price was set a year ago at $605 for the 49ers' visit to Dallas. In the Super Bowl era, the Lions have never won two playoff games in the same year.
An old rivalry
The 49ers and Packers have gotten used to seeing each other in the playoffs. AFP PHOTO
The Packers face the 49ers in San Francisco. If you feel like these two teams have faced each other in the playoffs many times, you're wrong! This Saturday night clash will be the 10th between the two teams in elimination mode, which will be a record. It will also be the third time in the last five years that the Packers and Niners will face each other in the playoffs. The 49ers have had the upper hand in the last four meetings and the Packers' last playoff win against them dates back to January 2002. 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan and his opposite number, Matt LaFleur, are good friends and spent six years together on the Washington coaching staff ( 2010 to 2013) and Atlanta (2015 and 2016).
The Year of the Raven?
John Harbaugh and the Ravens hope to win their first Super Bowl since 2012. PHOTO Getty Images via AFP
The stat buffs in the room will probably say that this is the Ravens' year in the current playoffs. For what? The Ravens averaged 28.4 points this season, led the league in rushing yards (156.5 per game) and defensively in points allowed (16.5 per game). In the Super Bowl era since 1966, only two teams have scored at least 25 points per game and were also the best on the ground and in points allowed. They are the 1972 Dolphins and the 1985 Bears. Both clubs won the Super Bowl.
A wind of renewal
Baker Mayfield and the Buccaneers are among the teams that are causing surprises. PHOTO Getty Images via AFP
It has become commonplace for a wind of optimism to blow among the teams still competing in the second round. For the eleventh time in a row, there will be at least three teams in the following season that were not in the second round the previous year. This year, more than ever, that applies to five of the eight teams that weren't there a year ago, namely the Ravens, Texans, Lions, Buccaneers and Packers. In 15 of the last 20 seasons, at least half of the teams in the second round were not there the season before. This shows that the field of good teams is constantly being renewed.
Recruitment combo
DeMeco Ryans and CJ Stroud revitalized the Texans. PHOTO Getty Images via AFP
The beautiful story of the young Texans continues with a duel that won't be easy against the Ravens. They will attempt to become only the third team in history to reach a conference final, with a first-year head coach (DeMeco Ryans) and a rookie quarterback (CJ Stroud) at the helm. The first to achieve this feat were, ironically, the Ravens in 2008, when John Harbaugh and a young Joe Flacco were in charge. A year later, the Jets made the same move with Rex Ryan as pilot and Mark Sanchez as quarterback.
The joys of the road
After impressing on the road in Dallas, Jordan Love and the Packers will look to do the same in San Francisco. PHOTO Getty Images via AFP
It's never easy to win games in a hostile environment in the NFL, especially in the playoffs. Over the last 10 years, local teams have lost a combined 29-11 in the second round. This means that every year there is about one visiting team that causes a surprise. The average has also increased recently. Of the last nine games of the second round, five were won by visiting teams. Two of the last three Super Bowl champions, the 2020 Buccaneers and the 2021 Rams, had to play the second round on the road. This weekend the home teams are the Ravens, Bills, 49ers and Lions.
The famous Momentum
Stefon Diggs and the Bills have won their last six games. PHOTO Getty Images via AFP
It's often said that when it comes to making predictions, you watch teams with momentum. It's not easy this weekend because some of the actors present have the wind in their sails! In addition to their final game of the season in which the starters were not in uniform, the Ravens have won six straight games, including four against teams with positive records. Their opponent, the Texans, have won the last four games in which CJ Stroud has played. The Bills are on a six-game winning streak, including four against playoff teams. Their rivals, the Chiefs, have won four of their last five games. The Lions have also won four of their last five games and face the Buccaneers, who have won six of their last seven games. After all, the 49ers have won seven of their last eight games, excluding the last of the regular season without their starters, and the Packers are on a four-game winning streak.
Who will be the unexpected hero?
Linebacker AJ Klein was one of the inspirational stories of the first round of the playoffs. AFP PHOTO
Every week in the series is an opportunity for a new, unexpected hero to step out of the shadows. This was the case with Bills linebacker AJ Klein last Monday. Klein, a 32-year veteran, appeared in just two games before being released by the Bills a month ago. He was packing his truck to prepare for a family vacation in Florida when general manager Brandon Beane contacted him to ask if he would like to return due to injuries to the linebacker group. Klein abandoned his vacation plans, rejoined the team and urgently entered the fray in the second quarter when linebacker Terrel Bernard was sidelined. Klein finished with a Bills-high 11 tackles. Who will be the next big story?