Top Super Bowl Contenders Heading into the Divisional Round

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Powder puff, the flag football game between the junior and senior class, is being postponed

The NFL is heading into the divisional round, which teams are the best?

Many thought the NFL had 0 chance to complete the 2020-21 NFL season, but the NFL has succeeded and is heading into the divisional round of the playoffs after a wild super wild card weekend. There were many close games and a few upsets. But that is in the past, now fans are looking forward to the next week of games, the divisional round. Here are the top 5 Super Bowl contenders heading into the divisional round of the playoffs: 

  1. Kansas City Chiefs(AFC): The Chiefs had a first-round bye and under the new playoff format they were the only ones to get it in the AFC. Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City offense led this team to the best record in the NFL at 14-2. The Chiefs haven’t been playing their best football as of late, multiple times barely escaping with a win against below-average opponents. But counting out the super bowl champs is never a good idea. Last year QB Patrick Mahomes led his team back from 10 point deficits three times in the playoffs. One of them was a 24 point comeback with the Chiefs high powered offense evaporating the lead into a lead of their own in just a quarter. When football fan Jared Dallos was asked about the Chiefs, he said “they have an ability to turn it on whenever they want, if the Chiefs are playing their best football, there’s nobody in the league that can stop them. The Chiefs are never out of it and have the Offense to make any defense shiver and lead them to consecutive super bowl appearances.
  2. Green Bay Packers(NFC): The Packers played fantastic heading into the playoffs and were the only team in the NFC to earn a first-round bye. Aaron Rodgers has been playing arguably his best football in his career, throwing for 48 touchdowns to merely 4 interceptions. One of the best TD: INT ratios the NFL has ever seen. For every interception Rodgers throws, he throws 12 touchdowns. The Packers’ offense is the number 1 offense in the league and most of that is because of Devante Adams. Adams is the #1 wide receiver in the league and has the stats to prove it. Adams missed 3 regular-season games and still managed over 1300 receiving yards and 18 touchdowns. Adams has easily the best route running in the league and will be going up against the best cornerback in the league this weekend. Rodgers and Adams haven’t been the sole reason the packers have been great. It’s also because of their defense, which hasn’t been put under too much pressure because the packers usually are up against multiple scores in the final quarters, but, when they’ve needed their defense to step up, they have. Guys like Jaire Alexander, Kenny Clark, and Za’darius Smith lead the way.
  3. Buffalo Bills(AFC): The Bills have won ten of their last eleven games and are arguably the hottest team in the NFL. Josh Allen has been playing the best football of his career by far and led his team to a win in the wildcard round against the Colts, but it wasn’t just him. Top 5 WR, Steffon Diggs, had 1500 yards, 8 touchdowns, and has been absolutely amazing with Josh Allen at the Helm. The only reason the Bills aren’t any higher is because their team is very young and has little playoff experience. 

There are 5 other playoff teams such as the Saints, Bucs, Ravens, Rams, and Browns. The Saints dominated the Bears in a 21-9 win. Lamar Jackson of the Ravens got his first playoff win against the Titans in a 20-13 win. The Rams shut Russel Wilson and the Seahawks down in a 30-20 win but gave up a freebie in the final minutes after getting up 30-13. The Covid-stifled Browns pulled off the Upset against the Steelers after getting up 28-0 in the first quarter and not letting up, winning 48-37. The Bucs escaped a 7-9 Washington Football Team 31-23. Bucs QB Tom Brady cooked one of the top pass defenses in the league for over 300 yards and 2 TDs. These teams are all great and definitely have the chance to make some more noise in the playoffs, but the 3 teams above are going to be tough to beat.