Saturday welcomed the top seeds in the NFL playoffs to their first action this postseason, but hosting duties panned out very differently for the two teams.
The shortage of drama from the wild-card round seemed to extend to the opening of the divisional action when the Kansas City Chiefs separated from the Houston Texans for a 23-14 win. But the Washington Commanders threw the NFC for a loop when they upset the top-seeded Detroit Lions 45-31 and pushed their way into their first conference title game since the 1991 season.
With two more matchups looming Sunday, here’s a look at the biggest winners and losers from Saturday’s action:
Winners
Jayden Daniels
For much of his debut season, the No. 2 overall pick could be described as elite for a rookie. It’s probably time to chop off the qualifier to that descriptor. Daniels was truly unflappable against the Lions, throwing for 299 yards and two touchdowns. The signal-caller’s rare ability to stay cool and collected in the face of pressure allowed Washington to keep its offense rolling, as the unit punted just once after not needing to use Tress Way at all last week in a wild-card win against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. When Daniels began outpacing expectations early in the season, it seemed like Washington was playing with house money in a season in which Dan Quinn and Co. were far ahead of schedule in building up a contender. Now, it’s evident that the quarterback – who might already be the best the NFC has to offer – has given the team a winning lottery ticket.
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Travis Kelce
Any question about whether the extended rest actually resulted in some rust certainly didn’t extend to Kelce, whose 117 yards were his highest since last year’s AFC title game. His 49-yard gain was also a season best and a surprising sight in a year in which he has averaged just 8.5 yards per catch. Asked if he’s ‘feeling 25 again,’ Kelce said, ’22, baby, 22.’ Which brings us to …
Taylor Swift
The pop superstar’s only other travel for this season will be a possible trip to New Orleans for Super Bowl 59, as she won’t have to leave Kansas City after heading to Baltimore last year for the AFC title game. And she took in the latest contest while sitting next to WNBA sensation Caitlin Clark. Winning was truly all around at Arrowhead on Saturday.
Steve Spagnuolo’s pass rush
Any threat of a Texans comeback was quickly extinguished by Spagnuolo’s fearsome front, which produced eight sacks against C.J. Stroud. Defensive end George Karlaftis led the way with three, including one on a fourth-and-10 in the fourth quarter. With cornerback Jaylen Watson back as the critical missing piece to the Chiefs’ coverage puzzle, Spagnuolo should only be able to unleash further havoc moving forward.
Philadelphia Eagles, Los Angeles Rams
The host site of the NFC championship game is now up for grabs. The Eagles and Rams still have to settle business on Sunday, but the path to a Super Bowl looks significantly less imposing for each than it did 24 hours ago. Philadelphia did fall to Washington in Week 16, but Jalen Hurts was sidelined with a concussion after just a few minutes. The Rams, meanwhile, manage to avoid the team that ended their season last year and dealt them an overtime loss in Week 1. But above all, neither organization likely would have expected to be playing at home with a Super Bowl trip on the line, and now that possibility is within reach.
Teams with coaching openings
Good news for the six remaining squads with vacancies: You won’t have to wait on a couple of the top candidates as long as you probably expected. With the Lions bowing out of the playoffs, offensive coordinator Ben Johnson and defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn could be hired at any time, with their window to interview in person opening on Monday. Both have been staples of the candidate circuit and could have multiple teams vying for their services. Now, the various franchises that have already run expansive searches can put on the full-court press.
Kliff Kingsbury
Hiring the former Arizona Cardinals coach to lead Daniels’ development initially drew derision from all corners, with many believing that Kingsbury would prove inflexible with an attack that looked static and stale by the end of his time in the NFC West. No matter how much one attributes Washington’s success to Daniels, Kingsbury surely isn’t a punchline anymore after a night in which his attack racked up 481 yards. Kingsbury has slow-played the interview process, scheduling meetings with the Chicago Bears and New Orleans Saints while insisting he’s not in a rush to make a move. If he doesn’t end up elsewhere after this season, he should enter the 2025 campaign at the front of the line for a top job.
Commanders’ opportunistic defense
Daniels will get the, uh, lion’s share of attention for the Commanders’ win – and rightfully so. There’s also reason to have some pause about a unit that conceded 521 total yards, including 201 on the ground. But Washington managed to nab five turnovers and only allowed Detroit to convert three of its nine third-down attempts. When the Commanders were able to generate pressure (two sacks and seven QB hits) and force Jared Goff into bad decisions, a young secondary stepped up in a major way, with rookie cornerback Mike Sainristil securing two interceptions and second-year safety Quan Martin grabbing another for a 41-yard pick-six. The total product was far from perfect, but Quinn already has left his big-play imprint on this group in his first year.
TV networks
Not that there was any way for CBS or Fox to lose with their conference championship game setups, but things sure seem to be breaking nicely for each. The former will enjoy all that comes with the Chiefs and their transcendent popularity, with a leading MVP candidate and plenty of revenge story lines on the other end regardless of who emerges as their opponent. Meanwhile, the latter gets the benefit of being dealt the league’s biggest rising star in Daniels and a fan base starved for a return to the Super Bowl stage.
Losers
NFL officiating
Lions’ defensive resilience
Credit Aaron Glenn with carrying a group that entered Sunday accounting for 12 of the 16 players on injured reserve for Detroit. But with everything on the line, the Lions ran out of tricks to keep things together. Blitzing didn’t save the day the way it did in the Week 18 finale against Sam Darnold and the Minnesota Vikings, as the ever-cool Daniels repeatedly delivered in the face of pressure. Detroit couldn’t get consistent stops in the run game, either, giving up 182 yards on 42 carries. Most disappointing of all, however, was the lack of composure, most critically on a fourth-and-2 in which the unit was flagged for having 12 men on the field, leading to yet another Washington touchdown and devastating blow for any hopes for a rally.
Dan Campbell
After the Lions squandered a 17-point lead in last year’s NFC title game to the San Francisco 49ers, Campbell acknowledged it would be ‘twice as hard to get back to this point next year.’ That notion might still apply in 2025, with Detroit seemingly on track to lose both Johnson and Glenn, with key players such as cornerback Carlton Davis and offensive guard Kevin Zeitler hitting free agency. The NFC is wide open, and the Lions have a solid core to count on. But Campbell knows how easily what once seemed like a perennial contender can fall apart, with the fall of the 49ers this season underscoring that point.
Baltimore Ravens, Buffalo Bills
Whoever prevails in Sunday’s frigid fight will be rewarded at a date at Arrowhead Stadium against a Chiefs team that hasn’t had to break much of a sweat in the last month. Neither side should have counted on the Texans pulling the upset, but this setup doesn’t exactly inspire confidence for anyone mounting a challenge to the throne.
Kris Boyd
There were more pressing issues from a unit that included typically reliable kicker Ka’imi Fairbairn missing two kicks and having another blocked. But there’s no denying that the cornerback set the wrong tone early when he celebrated a forced fumble on a kickoff by throwing his helmet, which earned him an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty, and shoving Texans special teams coordinator Frank Ross. Boyd apologized after the game, saying he was ‘too excited’ and that there’s no issue between him and Ross. But even though DeMeco Ryans didn’t see the shove, the head coach chastised the six-year veteran’s ‘silly’ penalty. Not the best note for a player to enter free agency on.
Texans’ trajectory
Houston didn’t inspire much confidence with how it closed out the regular season, so maybe rolling the Los Angeles Chargers in the wild-card round and challenging the Chiefs should be viewed as this outfit reaching its ceiling. Still, given all the optimism around the franchise just a year ago after C.J. Stroud’s incredible star turn as a rookie, it has to be a bit of a letdown to be reminded that this group is still a good bit off from joining the elite tier consisting of the Chiefs, Bills and Ravens. Fixing the protection problems seems like a good starting point, but for a franchise that is now 0-8 in divisional playoff games, there doesn’t appear to be a clear path to reaching that next level.
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