Wild Card Weekend….kind of a bust? Most games were blowouts. Nay, all but one game was literally a massive blowout. The Vikings never showed up, the Chargers just threw another interception, the Steelers weren’t thinking about the past or present, and the Broncos were just happy to be there. Shoutout to the Bucs and Commanders for at least making things interesting. Hopefully the Divisional Round will bring closer games and better action. The Chiefs and Lions should definitely be well rested after their bye week as the number one seed in each conference. Here’s our 2025 AFC Divisional Playoffs preview.
Houston Texans vs Kansas City Chiefs
Saturday, Jan. 18 at 4:30 ET on ESPN/ABC
I’ll be the first to admit that I didn’t think the Texans were going to make it out of the first week of the playoffs. But their defense showed up in a way that we haven’t seen in a long time. They picked off Justin Hebert four times, they had a pick six, they shut down the running game and it was a total domination from start to finish.
This is going to be a much tougher challenge. Andy Reid is 22-4 coming off a bye week and while this isn’t officially a “bye week”, you get what I mean. He had a week to watch, prep, and create a game plan that will attack Houston. His players got some rest that was desperately needed considering their real bye week was Week 6.
Reid doesn’t have to look too far to figure out how to stop the Texans. These two played back in December and the Chiefs won 27-19. They held Joe Mixon to 57 rushing yards and forced C.J. Stroud into two interceptions. Stroud threw a pick last week and was sacked three times. My expectation is that the Chiefs defense does the heavy lifting while Mahomes and Co. go back to their typical postseason ways. Prediction: Texans 20 Chiefs 28
Baltimore Ravens vs Buffalo Bills
Sunday, Jan. 19 at 6:30 ET on CBS
I am far more excited for this game. We get a rematch of a Week 4 game where the Ravens dominated the Bills 35-10. A lot has changed since then for this Bills team and in the process, Josh Allen has emerged as the MVP favorite with Lamar Jackson right behind him. In my mind, this could really be the Super Bowl so I can’t wait to see how it all unfolds.
Let’s start with the Ravens. The Steelers gave them no troubles last week as they walked away with a 28-14 victory. Their defense held Russell Wilson, and his underperforming cast all night long, but it might not be as simple against the Bills who dropped 31 on a really talented Broncos defense. The Ravens have one of the worst passing defenses in the NFL this season. That’s bad news against a Josh Allen led team.
I don’t expect many stops in this game, but I do think the home team with the MVP on their side likely gets the last laugh. Lamar has really shied away from these big moments in the past. Maybe he breaks that skid, or maybe history repeats itself. Prediction: Ravens 28 Bills 32