Super Wild Card Weekend was wild to say the least. Saturday, the San Francisco 49ers went on a 25-point run in the second half to defeat the rival Seattle Seahawks, and Trevor Lawrence threw four straight touchdowns after throwing four straight interceptions to complete the third-largest comeback in NFL history after being down 27-0 to the Los Angeles Chargers. Sunday was full of surprises as well.
Skylar Thompson and the Miami Dolphins gave the Buffalo Bills quite the scare, the New York Giants upset the Minnesota Vikings in Minneapolis behind a great performance from Daniel Jones and then the Cincinnati Bengals won a close game with the Baltimore Ravens.
On Monday night, the Dallas Cowboys destroyed Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, snapping an eight-game playoff road losing streak.
This upcoming week, the No. 1-seeded Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles enter the fray. Remember, first-round byes didn't exactly help the No. 1 seed teams last year, as both the Tennessee Titans and Green Bay Packers were upset in the second round of the playoffs. What will happen this year? Below we will break down the NFL divisional round schedule, kickoff times, spreads and more. We are one more round closer to Super Bowl LVII.
All NFL odds are via Caesars Sportsbook.
AFC
When: Saturday, 4:30 p.m. ET
TV: NBC | Stream: FuboTV
Line: Chiefs -8.5, O/U 52
These two teams faced off in November, with the Chiefs defeating the Jaguars, 27-17. Jacksonville's defense struggled to stop Patrick Mahomes, who threw for 331 yards, four touchdowns and an interception. That Jaguars defense has been playing some good ball as of late, however. They scored the game-winning touchdown against the Titans in Week 18 to earn a playoff berth, and then held the Chargers to just three points in the second half on Saturday night while they waited on the offense to shape up after a nightmare start.
It says something about the Jags that they were able to bounce back and complete the third-largest comeback in NFL postseason history, and Lawerence deserves a ton of credit. On his first seven drives, he completed 5 of 18 passes for 35 yards and four interceptions. On his last five drives, he completed 23 of 29 passes for 253 yards and four touchdowns to pull out a 31-30 win.
Looking forward to this next weekend, the Jaguars offense can't afford a slow start vs. what is statistically the top offense in the league. Hopefully, we are in for a shootout, with both offenses trading blows.
(3) Cincinnati Bengals at (2) Buffalo Bills
When: Sunday, 3 p.m. ET
TV: CBS | Stream: Paramount+
Line: Bills -5, O/U 50
It feels right we get this matchup. Bills vs. Bengals was set to be our Week 17 Monday night finale, but everything came to a screeching halt when Damar Hamlin suffered a cardiac arrest on the field. Thankfully, he has recovered, and both teams have been able to refocus on football. It looked like we were in for quite the shootout before that unfortunate event took place, and now, we get a rematch.
The Bills defeated the Dolphins on Super Wild Card Weekend, 34-31, but it didn't feel like much of a victory. Despite playing a third-string rookie quarterback, Skylar Thompson and the Dolphins went on a 17-0 run in the second quarter to tie the game with 33 seconds remaining before halftime, and then the defense recovered a fumble for a touchdown early in the second half to acquire a 24-20 lead. While Buffalo eventually gutted out a win, the Bills were the biggest favorites in NFL wild-card round history. They didn't exactly live up to expectations.
Josh Allen threw for 352 yards and three touchdowns, but also threw two interceptions and fumbled three times, losing one of them. Buffalo can't lose the turnover battle against Cincinnati if it wants to advance to the AFC Championship Game.
Cincinnati didn't put together an incredibly impressive performance on Super Wild Card Weekend either, as Joe Burrow and Co. downed the Ravens, 24-17. Tyler Huntley and J.K. Dobbins gave Cincy a run for its money, but a 98-yard fumble recovery touchdown from Bengals defensive end Sam Hubbard early in the fourth quarter ended up being the game-winning touchdown.
Both teams will have to play better moving forward. I'm not sure how many people expected Miami to drop 31 points on Buffalo with a third-string quarterback, or the Ravens to record 364 yards of total offense with an injured backup quarterback.
NFC
(6) New York Giants at Philadelphia Eagles (1)
When: Saturday, 8:15 p.m. ET
TV: Fox | Stream: FuboTV
Line: Eagles -7.5, O/U 47.5
Here's a divisional matchup in the divisional round. The Eagles swept the season series with the Giants this year, blowing them out by 26 points in December, and then Davis Webb kept the rematch close in the regular-season finale, with the Giants ultimately losing, 22-16.
The Giants offense looked pretty awesome in their 31-24 win over the Vikings Sunday. Daniel Jones became the first player in NFL playoff history to record 300-plus passing yards, two passing touchdowns and 70-plus rushing yards in his first postseason start, while Isaiah Hodgins caught eight passes for 105 yards and a touchdown. Saquon Barkley wasn't too shabby either, as he recorded 109 yards from scrimmage and scored two touchdowns. Sunday marked the Giants' first playoff win since Super Bowl XLVI against the New England Patriots on Feb. 5, 2012.
While the Giants were able to take advantage of a bad defense in the first round of the playoffs, a much tougher challenge awaits them next weekend. The Eagles are the only team in the NFL to have a top three offense and top three defense, as they've looked like an elite team since the 2022 season began. Philly is going to be rocking as Jalen Hurts takes the field for his second career playoff start.
(5) Dallas Cowboys at (2) San Francisco 49ers
When: Sunday, 6:30 p.m. ET
TV: Fox | Stream: FuboTV
Line: 49ers -3.5, O/U 46
Fresh off snapping an eight-game playoff road losing streak, the Cowboys will look to carry the momentum from a blowout victory over the Bucs into Santa Clara as they take on the 49ers. The last time these two teams met came last postseason when San Francisco went into AT&T Stadium and pulled off the upset, sending Dallas home early on Super Wild Card Weekend.
As they look to avenge that loss from a year ago, Dak Prescott will have to take on arguably the best defense in the NFL in the Niners. That unit held the Seahawks to just six points in the second half of their playoff win on Saturday and also boasts an offense that has been sparked by rookie sensation Brock Purdy. Interestingly enough, both Purdy and Prescott threw for multiple touchdowns and rushed for a score in their playoff wins. There's also no shortage of star power at the skill positions in this head-to-head with Christian McCaffrey, CeeDee Lamb, Deebo Samuel, and Tony Pollard.
2023 NFL playoffs bracket: Divisional round schedule, TV, odds as Cowboys and 49ers renew playoff rivalry - CBS Sports
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