NFL playoff games ranked by watchability: Which wild-card matchups are best?
Rejoice NFL fans, for the 2023 postseason has arrived. “Super Wild Card Weekend” – apparently the nomenclature is here to stay – starts Saturday afternoon and goes until Monday night, meaning the playoff pandemonium will flicker for more than 48 hours.
Both No. 1 seeds, the Baltimore Ravens in the AFC and the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC, earned byes and will not be participating. The other 12 playoff teams are in action.
Picking a matchup based on “watchability” compared to another may feel sacrilegious. It’s the NFL playoffs! But not all games are created equal.
Luckily for those who prefer their playoffs with a side of drama, there is no shortage of storylines this round.
6. Pittsburgh Steelers at Buffalo Bills (Sunday, 1 p.m. ET, CBS)
The Bills owning the No. 2 seed seemed impossible two months ago. The same could be said of the Steelers qualifying for the postseason following their loss to the Indianapolis Colts three weeks ago. Mason Rudolph helped Pittsburgh rattle off three straight wins, but the heartfelt third-string QB story can only last so long (unless you’re Brock Purdy). Buffalo has won five in a row since its Week 13 bye.
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This game could go the blowout route, it could be ugly, and it might be a combination of the two. Plus, no T.J. Watt for the Steelers makes this one less intriguing. In 11 games without Watt since drafting the pass rusher, Pittsburgh is 1-10.
5. Philadelphia Eagles at Tampa Bay Buccaneers (Monday, 8 p.m. ET, ESPN)
Tampa Bay hosts the “Monday Night Football” contest in the wild-card round for the second straight year.
As for the Eagles, 1-5 to end the season after starting 10-1: The last team to make the playoffs with five losses in their final six games was the 1999 Miami Dolphins. In Hall of Fame quarterback Dan Marino’s last game, they lost to the Jacksonville Jaguars, 62-7. The Eagles likely won’t suffer the same fate, but they have played like they are wandering the wilderness for an alarmingly long stretch.
The Buccaneers’ offense is inconsistent, but Philadelphia’s defense is putrid to the point Mike Evans might have some vertical opportunities. Will it be a last stand for Eagles center Jason Kelce and the group of veterans brought back with goals of reaching a second straight Super Bowl?
4. Cleveland Browns at Houston Texans (Saturday, 4:30 p.m. ET, NBC)
They played this matchup three weeks earlier, minus a key stakeholder: Texans QB C.J. Stroud, who missed the regular-season tilt while recovering from a concussion. The likely soon-to-be Offensive Rookie of the Year has dazzled with his ability to make all types of throws, and the Browns’ defense will present one of the biggest challenges he’s faced in his first season.
Over five games, Browns quarterback Joe Flacco’s performance pushed him into the Comeback Player of the Year conversation. It was six weeks ago the 38-year-old was in charge of coordinating pickup and dropoff for his children. Now he returns to the stadium where he helped Amari Cooper set the Browns’ single-game receiving record on Christmas Eve.
Worth noting: Flacco has an interception rate of 3.9%, which would rank last in the league if he’d thrown enough passes to qualify in 2023. Stroud led the league in that category (1.0%).
There is a potential for offensive fireworks from both sides. The betting spread indicates that Vegas expects a close game. Stroud and the Texans will have to overcome their inexperience to pull off the upset.
3. Miami Dolphins at Kansas City Chiefs (Saturday, 8 p.m. ET, Peacock)
This is the point in the rankings where the NFL scriptwriters start showing off. Tyreek Hill has already faced the team that traded him in 2022, except he’s yet to return to GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium to face the Kansas City Chiefs. That changes Saturday night.
The forecast calls for chilly temperatures, and Miami QB Tua Tagovailoa, the native Hawaiian, hasn’t always fared well in such climes. A September game between these teams would have a better chance of being higher-scoring. But if the Dolphins’ offense can turn back the clock to earlier this season when the group looked like one of the most explosive units of all time, it should be a fun chess match between Miami head coach Mike McDaniel and Chiefs defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo. A depleted Dolphins defense should give Patrick Mahomes and the shaky Chiefs offense a chance.
Important public-service announcement: The game is exclusively available on Peacock, a sign of the NFL’s all-in approach to the streaming era.
2. Green Bay Packers at Dallas Cowboys (Sunday, 4:30 p.m. ET, FOX)
One of the most storied NFC postseason rivalries in league history takes center stage Sunday afternoon. From The Ice Bowl to the conference championship games of the 1990s to “Dez Caught It,” Cowboys-Packers has delivered across the decades when the stakes are highest.
Dallas’ offensive performance at home gives the Packers plenty to be concerned with defensively, as coordinator Joe Barry’s unit has been inconsistent and uninspiring. But Green Bay’s ability to run the ball – something Dallas has struggled to defend and do themselves – could open the door for an upset. If Dak Prescott, CeeDee Lamb and the Cowboys offense get off to a fast start, it may not be an issue.
Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy has already downplayed the emotional angle of the matchup; McCarthy coached in Green Bay from 2006-18 and won a Super Bowl with the Packers. If McCarthy’s current team doesn’t get the job done, his job security will become the topic of conversation in Dallas.
1. Los Angeles Rams at Detroit Lions (Sunday, 8 p.m. ET, NBC)
Will the NBC broadcast have enough time to cover all of the connections in this one? (They will, because the Mike Tirico-Cris Collinsworth-Melissa Stark announcing crew has been top-notch all year.)
There’s Rams QB Matthew Stafford, the first overall pick by the Lions in 2009 who played 12 seasons in Detroit, in what will be an emotional homecoming of sorts.
There’s Lions QB Jared Goff, the first overall pick by the Rams in 2016 who played five seasons for Los Angeles, in what will be a revenge game of sorts. Lions general manager Brad Holmes also came from the Rams and rebuilt the Lions into a team that won 12 games for the first time since 1991.
The environment should be electric, with Detroit hosting its first playoff game in 30 years. Two of the most energetic head coaches in Sean McVay and Dan Campbell will be head-to-head. On top of that, the game should be tightly contested. No team had a stronger second half than the Rams, who won seven of their last eight games – the one loss coming in overtime to the Ravens. The Lions can't be sure what they will receive from record-breaking rookie tight end Sam LaPorta, who who suffered a knee injury in the regular-season finale against the Minnesota Vikings. Los Angeles will have its record-breaking rookie, though, in wideout Puka Nacua.
