Post by Monika on Jan 7, 2024 20:43:05 GMT -8
The following is the schedule for the National Football League playoffs on the road to Super Bowl LVIII.
Fourteen teams from the NFL's two conferences will compete in a single-elimination tournament culminating in the crowning of the champion following Super Bowl LVIII. For the first time in history, the Super Bowl will be held in Las Vegas at the recently completed Allegiant Stadium. The stadium serves as host to the Las Vegas Raiders, though it will not see its primary tenant for the game since the Raiders failed to make the playoffs this year. Super Bowl LVIII will be held on February 11 -- two weeks after the conference champions have been crowned.
The Kansas City Chiefs won the AFC West and hope to repeat as NFL champions, but they'll have to do so without the top seed in the conference. That belongs, this year, to the Baltimore Ravens who finished the regular season with an 13-4 record -- tied for tops in the league. The Chiefs are the third seed. They will have a Wild Card round bye before hosting a playoff game in the Divisional Round the weekend of January 20-21. Courtesy of the Buffalo Bills' 21-14 win over the Miami Dolphins to win the AFC East in the regular season finale, the Bills earn the second seed and the Dolphins fall to sixth. The Houston Texans claim the fourth spot by winning the AFC south. The Cleveland Browns collected the fifth seed and will visit the Texans in the Wild Card round. The Pittsburgh Steelers round out the AFC playoff field as the seventh seed which earns them a trip to face the Bills.
The San Francisco 49ers, under the guidance of second-year quarterback Brock Purdy ("Mr. Irrelevant" in the 2022 NFL Draft), claimed the first seed in the NFC during the penultimate week of the season and finished with a conference-best 13-4 record. The will have a bye and host a playoff game in the Divisional Round. Thanks to their win in the season finale, the Dallas Cowboys won the NFC East and earned the second seed, while the Detroit Lions won the NFC North to earn the second seed. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers make the playoffs for the fourth straight season after clinching the fourth seed and the NFC South. The conference's wild card teams consist of the Philadelphia Eagles, Los Angeles Rams and Green Bay Packers in seeds five though seven, respectively.
The league expanded the schedule last season, going from 16 games to 17 in the regular season. That marked the first schedule expansion in 44 years, 1978, when it went from 14 to 16 games. For the second season, the NFL's playoff field consists of 14 teams (seven from each conference) with the top seed in each conference receiving a first-round bye. Four current NFL teams have never played in a Super Bowl, though three (Browns, Lions and Texans) are in the playoffs this season. The fourth is the Jacksonville Jaguars, who were eliminated from contention in week 18.
The following schedule is broken down chronologically by conference. All times are pacific time. Teams are listed with their playoff seeding in front of their names. National broadcast information is listed as it becomes available. Team seedings appear next to each team in the Wild Card round and are listed below the schedules, followed by schedule information of the Pro Bowl. Click on the final score of games for the official boxscore.
American Football Conference
WILD CARD ROUND
Sat., Jan. 13 - #4 Houston Texans (H) 45, #5 Cleveland Browns 14
Sat., Jan. 13 - #3 Kansas City Chiefs (H) 26, #6 Miami Dolphins 7
*Mon., Jan. 15 - #2 Buffalo Bills (H) 31, #7 Pittsburgh Steelers 17
Bye - #1 Baltimore Ravens
*Game rescheduled from Jan. 14 at 10 a.m. due to inclement weather
DIVISIONAL ROUND
Sat., Jan. 20 - Baltimore Ravens (H) 34, Houston Texans 10
Sun., Jan. 21 - Kansas City Chiefs 27, Buffalo Bills (H) 24
AFC CHAMPIONSHIP
Sun., Jan. 28 - Kansas City Chiefs 17, Baltimore Ravens (H) 10
National Football Conference
WILD CARD ROUND
Sun., Jan. 14 - #7 Green Bay Packers 48, #2 Dallas Cowboys (H) 32
Sun., Jan. 14 - #3 Detroit Lions (H) 24, #6 Los Angeles Rams 23
Mon., Jan. 15 - #4 Tampa Bay Buccaneers (H) 32, #5 Philadelphia Eagles 9
Bye - #1 San Francisco
DIVISIONAL ROUND
Sat., Jan. 20 - San Francisco 49ers (H) 24, Green Bay Packers 21
Sun., Jan. 21 - Detroit Lions (H) 31, Tampa Bay Buccaneers 23
NFC CHAMPIONSHIP
Sun., Jan. 28 -San Francisco 49ers (H) 34, Detroit Lions 31
Super Bowl LVIII
Sun., Feb. 11 - Kansas City Chiefs 25, San Francisco 49ers 22 - OT
Allegiant Stadium; Las Vegas, Nevada
How They Finished
AMERICAN CONFERENCE
1. Baltimore Ravens (13-4, first in AFC North)
2. Buffalo Bills (11-6, first in AFC East)
3. Kansas City Chiefs (11-6, first AFC West)
4. Houston Texans (10-7, first in AFC South)
5. Cleveland Browns (11-6, second in AFC North)
6. Miami Dolphins (11-6, second in AFC East)
7. Pittsburgh Steelers (10-7, third in AFC North)
NATIONAL CONFERENCE
1. San Francisco 49ers (12-5, first NFC West)
2. Dallas Cowboys (12-5, first in NFC East)
3. Detroit Lions (12-5, first in NFC North)
4. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (9-8, first NFC South)
5. Philadelphia Eagles (11-6, second in NFC East)
6. Los Angeles Rams (10-7, second in NFC West)
7. Green Bay Packers (9-8, second North)
Pro Bowl
NFC vs. AFC
Skills Competition games: Thursday, February 1
Flag Football Game: Sunday, February 4
February 4 at 12 p.m. (ABC, ESPN, Disney XD)
Allegiant Stadium; Paradise, Nevada
Super Bowl Records
Represented in this year's playoff field are five of the past six Super Bowl Champions; Eagles (LII), Buccaneers (LV), Rams (LVI) and Chiefs (LIV, LVII). The following are the records in the Super Bowl by this year's playoff teams, ranked by winning percentage:
Baltimore Ravens 2-0 (1.000)
Tampa Bay Buccaneers - 2-0 (1.000)
Green Bay Packers - 4-1 (.800)
Pittsburgh Steelers - 6-2 (.750)
San Francisco 49ers - 5-2 (.714)
Dallas Cowboys - 5-3 (.625)
Kansas City Chiefs - 3-2 (.600)
Los Angeles Rams - 2-3 (.400)
Miami Dolphins - 2-3 (.400)
Philadelphia Eagles - 1-3 (.250)
Cleveland Browns - 0-0 (.000)
Detroit Lions - 0-0 (.000)
Houston Texans - 0-0 (.000)
Buffalo Bills - 0-4 (.000)
Playoff Bracket
(Bracket courtesy The Sporting News)
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