Kansas City Chiefs

All You Need to Know About the 2025 NFL Playoffs: Teams, Matchups, and More

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The National Football League playoffs kick off this weekend, marking the beginning of the month-long tournament that will conclude with the crowning of the 59th Super Bowl champion Feb. 8.

History could be made this time around. The two-time defending Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs, the No. 1 seed in the American Football Conference, could become the first team to win three straight. Eight have tried and come up short.

The Chiefs, as a No. 1 seed, will have a bye in the first round of the playoffs, as will the National Football Conference No. 1 seed the Detroit Lions. Each are 15-2 and are favored to meet in the Super Bowl.

First-Round Matchups

Saturday, Jan. 11

Los Angeles Chargers at Houston Texans, CBS/Paramount+, 4:30 pm ET

Pittsburgh Steelers at Baltimore Ravens, Prime Video, 8 pm ET

Sunday, Jan. 12

Denver Broncos at Buffalo Bills, CBS/Paramount+, 1 pm ET

Green Bay Packers and Philadelphia Eagles, FOX, 4:30 pm ET

Washington Commanders at Tampa Bay Buccaneers, NBC/Peacock 8 pm ET

Monday, Jan. 13

Minnesota Vikings at Los Angeles Rams, ESPN/NBC, 8 pm ET

The Playoff Format

The NFL adopted its current postseason model in the 2020 season, when a seventh team from each conference was added to the field and the top finisher in each was given a first-round bye.

The four division winners in each conference automatically earn a home game in the first round, the wild card round. Division round games will be played Jan. 17-18 and the conference championships games will be played Jan. 24.

The field is re-seeded after each round, guaranteeing that the top remaining seed(s) a home game against the lowest remaining seed. The Super Bowl will be played at the Caesars Superdome for the 11th time.

Star Power On Display

The top four candidates for the NFL MVP award will be on stage in the playoffs — Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson, Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen, Philadelphia Eagles running back Saquon Barkley and Lions quarterback Jared Goff. Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes is listed sixth.

The top two candidates for the NFL Defensive Player of the Year award also are in the field, Denver Broncos cornerback Patrick Surtain II and Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker T.J. Watt.

Super Bowl Successes

The Chiefs are in the playoffs for the 10th straight season, one short of New England’s league record set from 2009-19. The Patriots won three Super Bowls and played in two others in that run.

Super Bowl I - Kansas City Chiefs vs Green Bay Packers - January 15, 1967

NFL

The previous back-to-back winners:

1967-68 — Green Bay Packers

1973-74 — Miami Dolphins

1975-76 — Pittsburgh Steelers

1979-80 — Pittsburgh Steelers

1989-90 — San Francisco 49ers

1983-84 — Dallas Cowboys

1988-89 — Denver Broncos

2004-05 — New England Patriots

2023-24 — Kansas City Chiefs

None of the previous eight were able to three-peat. The Oakland Raiders twice denied the Steelers a three-peat, snapping Pittsburgh’s two-game streaks in 1977 and 1981. The Dolphins lost to Dallas in 1972 before winning the next two. The Patriots also have played three in a row, winning in 2017 and 2019 but losing to Philadelphia in between.

Buffalo, which lost a frustrating four straight Super Bowls from 1991-94, is playing for its first title. Behind Allen, the Bills are the only team to have beaten both Kansas City and Detroit.

Four Other Story Lines To Follow

— The Buffalo Bills are, well, the biggest losers in Super Bowl history, losing four in a row from 1990-93, the first on missed field and the following three in rather lopsided finches. Can Allen lead them to their first titles since Jack Kemp guided them to consecutive American Football League championships in 1964-65, five years before the league merged with the NFL? The Bills are the only team to beat both Kansas City and Detroit this season.

— The Har-bros — Baltimore coach John Harbaugh and Chargers’ coach and younger brother Jim — are the first siblings in the 105-year history of the league to reach the playoffs in the same season. With the right wild card results, they could meet in the divisional round. The two met in the regular season, when the Ravens won 30-23 in Los Angeles on Nov. 25.

— Minnesota coach Kevin O’Connor, a seeming shoo-in for coach of the year, has led the Vikings to a 14-win season behind No. 2 quarterback Sam Darnold, who stepped in when first-round draft pick J.J. McCarthy suffered a season-ending injury in preseason. Only the Chiefs and Lions had more wins, but the Vikes must win on the road in the first round to move ahead after losing the season finale at Detroit.

— The numbers suggest Lamar Jackson should repeat as MVP, but the challenge has been replicating his regular-season play in the postseason. Derrick Henry is the stud running back that Jackson has done without until now, but Jackson is only 2-4 in the playoffs, with nine rushing/receivig touchdowns and six interceptions.

Playoff teams against the spread

Rhe Chiefs and Texans were the only playoff teams to finish below .500 against the point spread, a condition that usually occurs when the public plays hyped favorites.

Los Angeles Chargers — 12-4-1

Denver Broncos — 12-5

Detroit Lions — 12-5

Minnesota Vikings — 11-5-1

Pittsburgh Steelers — 11-6

Philadelphia Eagles —11-6

Baltimore Ravens — 10-6-1

Washinton Commanders —10-6-1

Buffalo Bills — 10-7

Tampa Bay Buccaneers — 10-7

Green Bay Packers — 9-8

Los Angeles Rams — 9-8

Houston Texans — 7-8-2

Kansas City Chiefs — 7-9-1

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