Who Is Playing In Nfl Playoffs?
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The NFL playoffs are just around the corner, and we can’t wait to see who will be playing! Follow our blog to stay up-to-date on all the latest news and information on who is playing in the playoffs.
AFC Playoffs
The AFC playoffs are here and there are four great teams playing. The New England Patriots, Pittsburgh Steelers, Jacksonville Jaguars, and Kansas City Chiefs all have a chance to make it to the Super Bowl. Who will win?
Baltimore Ravens
The Baltimore Ravens are a professional American football team based in Baltimore, Maryland. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. The Ravens play their home games at M&T Bank Stadium and currently hold the record for having the most consecutive sold-out home games, which currently stands at 82 straight sold-out regular and postseason games.
The Ravens were established in 1996, when Art Modell, who was then the owner of the Cleveland Browns, announced plans to relocate the franchise from Cleveland to Baltimore. As part of a settlement between Modell and the city of Cleveland, Modell was required to leave the Browns’ name, colors and history in Cleveland for a replacement franchise that would be established by an expansion draft in 1999. The Baltimore Ravens name was chosen in honor of Edgar Allan Poe’s poem “The Raven.”
The Ravens have been to the playoffs 11 times since 2000, winning two Super Bowls (XLVII and LIII), two AFC Championships (2000 and 2012), and four AFC North division championships (2003, 2006, 2011, 2018). They have also compiled a perfect 12–0 record against divisional opponents in the playoffs. As of 2019 they are the only team to hold a perfect record in multiple playoff appearances.
Buffalo Bills
The Buffalo Bills are an American football team based in the Buffalo–Niagara Falls metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL), as a member club of the league’s American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The team plays their home games at New Era Field in Orchard Park, New York. The Bills are the only NFL team that plays its home games in the state of New York. The Bills conduct summer training camp at St. John Fisher College in Pittsford, New York, an eastern suburb of Rochester.
Houston Texans
The Houston Texans are a professional American football team based in Houston. The Texans compete in the National Football League as a member club of the American Football Conference South division. The team plays its home games at NRG Stadium.
Kansas City Chiefs
The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league’s American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The team was founded in 1960 as the Dallas Texans by businessman Lamar Hunt and was a charter member of the American Football League (AFL). In 1963, the team relocated to Kansas City and assumed their current name. The Chiefs joined the NFL as a result of the merger in 1970. The team is valued at over $2 billion. Hunt’s son, Clark, serves as chairman and CEO. While Hunt’s ownership stakes passed collectively to his widow and children after his death in 2006, Clark represents the Chiefs at all league meetings and has ultimate authority over personnel changes.
New England Patriots
The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. The Patriots compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league’s American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The team plays its home games at Gillette Stadium in the town of Foxborough, Massachusetts, which is located 28 miles (45 km) southwest of downtown Boston.
The Patriots are also headquartered at Gillette Stadium. An ownership group led by Robert Kraft has owned the team since 1994. The team was sold by Victor Kiam in 1971 to James Orthwein, who then sold the team to Kraft two years later.
Pittsburgh Steelers
The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL), as a member club of the league’s American Football Conference (AFC) North division. Founded in 1933, the Steelers are the oldest franchise in the AFC.
The team played their first game in franchise history on September 20, 1933, losing 23–2 to the New York Giants at Forbes Field. The club posted their first winning season in 1942 under head coach Walt Kiesling, compiling a 5–4–1 record. The Steelers experienced their most successful period from 1974 to 1979 when they won four Super Bowls under head coach Chuck Noll, winning Super Bowl IX during that season. They also reached the Super Bowl eight times total throughout the 1970s and 1980s behind legendary players such as Terry Bradshaw, Franco Harris, Jack Ham, Mel Blount, Joe Greene, Lynn Swann, John Stallworth, Mike Webster and Jack Lambert. The team declined in performance throughout much of the 1990s before returning to playoff prominence by winning five consecutive division championships from 2001 to 2005 behind head coach Bill Cowher.
The Steelers made a third Super Bowl appearance under Tomlin in 2009 and defeated the Arizona Cardinals 27–23 to become the sixth franchise to win six Super Bowl titles. However, since 2010, they have missed the playoffs in nine of Tomlin’s ten seasons as head coach; they lost in the Wild Card round twice during that span (in 2010 and 2015).
NFC Playoffs
Four teams will battle it out in the NFC playoffs this weekend. The Green Bay Packers and the San Francisco 49ers will face off in the first game on Saturday. The Seattle Seahawks will take on the Philadelphia Eagles in the second game on Sunday.
Dallas Cowboys
The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league’s National Football Conference (NFC) East division. They are one of the most successful teams in the history of the NFL, having made eight Super Bowl appearances, tied with the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Denver Broncos for second most in league history behind only the New England Patriots. The Cowboys have an extensive fan base and are one of America’s most valuable sports franchises, worth an estimated $4.8 billion USD according to Forbes in 2019.
Green Bay Packers
The Packers have clinched the NFC’s top seed and home-field advantage throughout the NFC playoffs. They will host the highest-remaining seed in the divisional round.
Los Angeles Rams
The Los Angeles Rams are a professional American football team that compete in the National Football League (NFL). The Rams franchise was founded in 1936 as the Cleveland Rams in the short-lived second American Football League before joining the NFL the next year. In 1946, they moved to Los Angeles. The Rams franchise remained in the metro area until 1994, when they moved to St. Louis, and were known as the St. Louis Rams from 1995 to 2015. The Rams franchise returned to Los Angeles in 2016.
The Rams play their home games at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California, which they shared with the Los Angeles Chargers from 2020 until 2021; both teams will move to SoFi Stadium starting in 2020. The club is currently headquartered in Playa Vista, Los Angeles.
Minnesota Vikings
The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Vikings joined the National Football League (NFL) as an expansion team in 1960, and first took the field for the 1961 season. The team competes in the National Football Conference (NFC) North division.
New Orleans Saints
The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans, Louisiana. The Saints currently compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league’s National Football Conference (NFC) South division. The team was founded by John W. Mecom Jr., David Dixon, and the city of New Orleans on November 1, 1966. The Saints began play in Tulane Stadium in 1967. The name “Saints” is an allusion to November 1 being All Saints Day in the Catholic faith.
The franchise was founded on November 1, 1966. The team’s primary colors are old gold and black; their logo is a simplified fleur-de-lis. They played their home games in Tulane Stadium through the 1974 NFL season. The following year, they moved to the new Louisiana Superdome (now Mercedes-Benz Superdome). For most of their first 20 years, the Saints were barely competitive, only getting to .500 twice. In 1987, they finished 12–3—their first-ever winning season—and qualified for the NFL playoffs for the first time in franchise history. In doing so, they became only the second NFL team ever to make the playoffs with a losing record (after the strike-replacement Seattle Seahawks finished 9–7 in 1983).
The next season eventually resulted in their first – and only – NFC Championship Game appearance, which they narrowly lost 29–24 to the eventual Super Bowl champion San Francisco 49ers; this was followed by four consecutive 10-loss seasons from 1989 through 1992
Seattle Seahawks
The Seattle Seahawks clinched the NFC West title and the No. 3 seed in the NFC playoffs with a Week 16 victory over the Los Angeles Rams. The Seahawks will host the sixth-seeded Minnesota Vikings in the wild-card round on Sunday, Jan. 5 at 1:40 p.m. ET on NBC (live stream).