I’ve been thinking about some excellent playoff options for the past several weeks as a history enthusiast. It’s really amazing that two of the larger ones were realised during the first weekend of the postseason:
The Cowboys are in Dallas to play Mike McCarthy’s former Packers team.
Matthew Stafford and the Rams are the guests of Jared Goff and the Lions in Detroit.
Those two tales are incredibly hard to top, and the games themselves seem like great ideas on paper. After these, there might be more history, but I’m not sure. Should I cheer for Joe Flacco and the Browns against Lamar Jackson and the Ravens in Baltimore, the other reunion that fans have been hankering after, or should I support the quick rookie C.J. Stroud, who will face the Ravens twice after losing to them in his NFL debut?
It seems like the best course of action is to let things unfold naturally, which is a tactic that has worked well for me for years and should be easy with this Super Wild Card Weekend slate. The opening slate of games appears to be as tasty a six-pack as I can recall, even if the two biggest clubs this season have been granted a bye. There isn’t a single match that doesn’t have some sparkle.
Next week, in programming news, we’ll be narrowing down the list to highlight the 14 teams that advanced to the postseason. Thank you for bearing with me over what has been an exciting journey in my first year of writing the Power Rankings, to the remaining 18 teams (and their supporters), to whom we will be saying goodbye from here until the end of the playoffs. I hope that you will be spending a little bit more time in the group that is covered here next season.
On Saturday, the Ravens had the luxury of resting MVP favourite Lamar Jackson along with six other starters, and they ended the day without suffering any more injuries. That was the primary objective of the game that ended in a loss to the Steelers, but you can guarantee Baltimore would have also enjoyed giving rival Pittsburgh a humiliating loss.
Rather than that, the only club to defeat the Ravens twice this season will advance to the postseason. The Steelers will return to M&T Bank Stadium in only one week if they defeat the Bills on Super Wild Card Weekend. The Ravens have experienced disappointments in the playoffs previously, most notably in 2019, when they were even more dominant in the regular season than they were in 2023, winning 12 straight games until losing to the Titans in an unexpected fashion. This club has a unique vibe, and right before Week 18, Baltimore played some of its finest ball of the year. However, it’s also important to keep in mind that once the playoffs start, nothing is certain.
