Who Made the NFL Playoffs This Year?

The NFL playoffs are underway, and some familiar teams are in the mix. Who made it in this year, and who will be crowned the champion?

AFC playoffs

The American Football Conference (AFC) playoffs are the postseason playoffs of the National Football League (NFL) for the American Football Conference (AFC) champions. The AFC playoffs begin on the weekend of January 5–6, 2019. The four teams will play in the AFC divisional playoffs.

Baltimore Ravens

The Baltimore Ravens are a professional American football team based in Baltimore, Maryland. The Ravens compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. The team plays its home games at M&T Bank Stadium and is headquartered in Owings Mills.

The Ravens were established in 1996, when Art Modell, the owner of the Cleveland Browns, announced plans to relocate the franchise to Baltimore. In return for assuming debt relating to Stadium improvements, Modell was granted an expansion franchise that would ultimately be known as the Baltimore Ravens. The Ravens began play in 1996, as members of the AFC Central division. They won Super Bowl XLVII in 2013 after defeating the San Francisco 49ers 34-31.

Buffalo Bills

The Buffalo Bills have made the playoffs for the first time in 17 years, clinching the final spot in the AFC with a victory over Miami on Sunday.

Buffalo’s last playoff appearance came in 1999, when the team lost to Tennessee in the Music City Miracle game. The Bills haven’t won a playoff game since 1995.

This year’s team is led by quarterback Tyrod Taylor and features one of the league’s top defenses. The Bills will face off against Jacksonville in the Wild Card round on Sunday.

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 $1 billion. In 2019, Forbes ranked the Chiefs as the 28th most valuable sports franchise in America and ranked them as the 16th most valuable NFL franchise.

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 team 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.

Houston Texans

The Houston Texans are a professional American football team based in Houston, Texas. The Texans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) South division. The team plays its home games at NRG Stadium, an outdoor stadium with a retractable roof in Houston’s NRG Park. The franchise was founded in 2002 as the expansion team for Houston after previous attempts failed when an NFL franchise could not be located in Houston.

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.

NFC playoffs

The National Football Conference (NFC) playoffs are a single-elimination tournament held after the regular season to determine the NFL champion. Six teams from each of the conference’s two divisions qualify for the playoffs. The four divisional winners and the two wild-card teams (the top two teams in each conference that did not win their division) play in the NFC playoffs.

Dallas Cowboys

The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team that competes in the National Football League (NFL). The Cowboys are headquartered in Frisco, Texas, and play their home games at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. They are currently a member of the NFC East division.

The Cowboys joined the NFL as an expansion team in 1960. They played their inaugural season in 1961 and finished with a record of 0–11–1. In 1962, the Cowboys posted their first winning season with a record of 11–3. Since then, the Cowboys have made 23 playoff appearances, including 20 consecutive appearances from 1975 to 1996, and have reached eight Super Bowls, winning five of them (Super Bowl VI, XII, XXVII, XXVIII, and XXX).

Green Bay Packers

The Packers qualified for the playoffs for the sixth consecutive season, tying the franchise record set between 1993 and 1998. It is only the second time in team history that the Packers have made the playoffs in back-to-back seasons with double-digit wins. The Packers entered the playoffs as the NFC’s No. 4 seed.

In the Wild Card round, they defeated the New York Giants 38–13, their first playoff win since January 11, 2015. The victory also snapped a four-game losing streak in playoff games dating back to January 12, 2014. It was also Head Coach Mike McCarthy’s first playoff win since February 6, 2011. In the Divisional round, they defeated the Dallas Cowboys 34–31 in a thrilling come-from-behind victory. This was Green Bay’s first playoff win at AT&T Stadium and relegated Dallas to 0–4 all time in playoff games at their home stadium. With the win, Green Bay advanced to their eighth NFC Championship Game appearance since 1997 (tied with Philadelphia and San Francisco for second most in that span behind only New England’s 9), and their first (and only) appearance under McCarthy.

They then lost to the Atlanta Falcons 44–21 in the NFC Championship Game, squandering a 14–0 lead midway through the second quarter as Atlanta scored 24 unanswered points to end Green Bay’s season.

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, the franchise moved to 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. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league’s National Football Conference (NFC) South division. The Saints currently play their home games at Mercedes-Benz Superdome in an area of downtown New Orleans known as the Central Business District, which located on Poydras Street near the Superdome.

The franchise 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” was selected by Mecom Jr., in honor of the Catholic faith he practiced. 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 1974, when they moved to the new Louisiana Superdome (now Mercedes-Benz Superdome).

Seattle Seahawks

The Seattle Seahawks are a professional American football franchise based in Seattle, Washington. The Seahawks compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league’s National Football Conference (NFC) West division. They joined the NFL in 1976 as an expansion team, along with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The Seahawks are owned by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen and are currently coached by Pete Carroll. Since 2002, the Seahawks have played their home games at CenturyLink Field, located south of downtown Seattle. The Seahawks previously played home games in the Kingdome (1976–1999) and Husky Stadium (1994, 2000–2001).

Super Bowl

The National Football League (NFL) playoffs are a single-elimination tournament held after the regular season to determine the champion of the NFL. This year, the playoffs will begin on Saturday, January 4, 2020 and will end with the Super Bowl on Sunday, February 2, 2020.

Baltimore Ravens vs. Los Angeles Rams

The Los Angeles Rams will take on the Baltimore Ravens in the Super Bowl this year. These two teams have had great seasons and it will be a close matchup. The Rams offense, led by quarterback Jared Goff, is explosive and they have one of the best running backs in the NFL in Todd Gurley. The Ravens defense is stout, led by linebacker Terrell Suggs. This game could go either way, but the Rams are slight favorites.