2023–24 NFL playoffs

The National Football League playoffs for the 2023 season began on January 13, 2024, and concluded with Super Bowl LVIII on February 11 at Allegiant Stadium in Paradise, Nevada with the Kansas City Chiefs defeating the San Francisco 49ers. This was the first postseason since 1998 not to feature either Peyton Manning or Tom Brady, as they both played their final NFL games in the 2015 and 2022 seasons, respectively.

In the Wild Card round, the No. 7 seed Green Bay Packers defeated the No. 2 seed Dallas Cowboys, becoming the first No. 7 seed ever to win a playoff game. The Detroit Lions won their first playoff game since 1991 by defeating the Los Angeles Rams.

The Kansas City Chiefs became the first team to win back-to-back Super Bowls since the New England Patriots successfully did so in 2003 and 2004. In addition, it marked the first postseason since the 2016–17 playoffs that the Super Bowl went into overtime.

Participants[edit]

Within each conference, the four division winners and the top three non-division winners with the best overall regular season records qualified for the playoffs. The four division winners are seeded 1–4 based on their overall won-lost-tied record, and the wild card teams are seeded 5–7. The NFL does not use a fixed bracket playoff system, and there are no restrictions regarding teams from the same division matching up in any round. In the first round, dubbed the Wild Card playoffs or Super Wild Card Weekend, the second-seeded division winner hosts the seventh seed wild card, the third seed hosts the sixth seed, and the fourth seed hosts the fifth seed. The 1 seed from each conference receives a first-round bye. In the second round, the Divisional playoffs, the number 1 seed hosts the lowest-seeded surviving team from the first round (seed 4, 5, 6, or 7), while the other two surviving teams play each other, with the higher-seeded team hosting. The two surviving teams from each conference's divisional playoff games then meet in the respective AFC and NFC Conference Championships, hosted by the higher seed. Although the Super Bowl, the championship round of the playoffs, is played at a neutral site, the designated home team is based on an annual rotation by conference.^[1]

Bracket[edit]

* Indicates overtime victory

Schedule[edit]

The playoffs began with Wild Card Weekend on January 13–15, 2024. The Divisional round was played on January 20–21, with the winners of those games advancing to the Conference Championship games on January 28. Super Bowl LVIII was played on February 11 at Allegiant Stadium in Paradise, Nevada.^[2]

Wild Card playoffs[edit]

Saturday, January 13, 2024[edit]

AFC: Houston Texans 45, Cleveland Browns 14[edit]

This was the first postseason meeting between the Browns and Texans. During the regular season, the Browns defeated the Texans 36–22 in Houston in Week 16. Deshaun Watson, who was the starting quarterback for Cleveland since 2022, suffered a season-ending injury in Week 10. He was the starting quarterback for Houston from 2017 to 2020. In the third quarter, Joe Flacco threw back-to-back interceptions that were returned for touchdowns.^[24] This was the Texans' first playoff win since the 2019 season.

AFC: Kansas City Chiefs 26, Miami Dolphins 7[edit]

This was the fourth postseason matchup between the Dolphins and Chiefs, with Miami winning all three previous contests. The most recent playoff meeting between these two teams was in the 1994–95 Wild Card round, which Miami won 27–17.^[25] It was the first postseason clash between the two teams in Kansas City since Christmas Day 1971, which remains the longest NFL game played; the Dolphins won that game 27–24 after two overtime periods. During the regular season, the Chiefs defeated the Dolphins 21–14 in a neutral-site game in Frankfurt, Germany in Week 9. This was the first game where Dolphins receiver Tyreek Hill returned to Arrowhead Stadium since he left the Chiefs. With a kickoff temperature of −4 °F (−20 °C), this became the fourth coldest NFL game in history.^[26] With the Lions winning their playoff game against the Rams the next day, Miami became the team with the longest playoff game win drought.^[27][28][29]

With 28 million viewers watching, Peacock recorded their busiest day in history on January 13.^[30]

Sunday, January 14, 2024[edit]

NFC: Green Bay Packers 48, Dallas Cowboys 32[edit]

Coming in as huge underdogs, the Packers stunned the Cowboys and won 48–32.

After getting the ball first after electing to receive the opening kickoff, the Packers drove 75 yards in almost 8 minutes, capping the drive with an Aaron Jones touchdown run from 3 yards out to go up 7–0. After the teams traded punts, cornerback Jaire Alexander intercepted a ball off of Dak Prescott deep in Cowboys' territory. At the beginning of the second quarter, the Packers cashed in on the turnover with another Aaron Jones touchdown run, which came from one yard out, to go up 14–0. Following a Cowboys' punt, the Packers drove 93 yards and capped it when Dontayvion Wicks caught a 20-yard touchdown pass from Jordan Love, although the extra point was missed, leaving the score at 20–0. On the next drive, Prescott threw another interception that was returned 64 yards for a touchdown by Darnell Savage with 1:50 remaining in the 1st half to extend the Packers' lead to 27–0. The Cowboys did rebound to score a touchdown on the last play of the half when Jake Ferguson caught a 1-yard pass from Prescott, cutting the lead to 27–7.

In the second half, the Packers extended their lead to 32 points, 48–16, with 10:23 left in the 4th quarter, before the Cowboys scored back-to-back touchdowns and two successful 2-point conversions to reduce the deficit to 16 points. However, the Cowboys eventually turned the ball over on downs on their last drive with less than 20 seconds left, sealing the Packers' victory. With the win, the Packers improved to 6–0 at AT&T Stadium all-time (including their win in Super Bowl XLV) and became the first seventh seed to beat a second seed since the playoffs expanded to 14 teams in the 2020 season. Conversely, the Cowboys became the first second seed to lose against a seventh seed since it expanded to 14 teams in the 2020 and it snapped the Cowboys' 16-game home win streak.^[31]

This was the ninth overall postseason matchup in the rivalry between the Cowboys and Packers. The postseason series between the two teams had been tied 4–4, with the most recent meeting being in the 2016 NFC Divisional Playoffs, which the Packers won 34–31 in Arlington.^[32] The teams did not meet in the 2023 regular season.

NFC: Detroit Lions 24, Los Angeles Rams 23[edit]

This was the second overall postseason meeting between the Rams and Lions. The first came in the 1952 National Conference Championship, which the Lions won 31–21 in Detroit.^[33] It was the Lions' first home playoff game since 1993 and only their third since winning their last NFL title in 1957. It was also their first playoff game at Ford Field.^[34] This game was also notable for being the first postseason clash between Matthew Stafford and Jared Goff, the starting quarterbacks for the Rams and Lions respectively. Each had previously played for the other team before being traded for each other prior to the 2021 season.^[35] The Rams and Lions did not meet during the regular season.

The Lions wound up victorious by a final score of 24–23, their first victory in a postseason game since 1991 and only their second in the Super Bowl era.^[27][36] In his first game in Detroit as an opposing player, Stafford completed 25 of 36 passes for 367 yards and two touchdowns. Meanwhile, Goff completed 22 of 27 passes for 277 yards and a touchdown. Los Angeles Pro Bowl receiver Puka Nacua set a rookie record for receiving yards in a postseason game with nine catches for 181 receiving yards while also scoring a touchdown. Amon-Ra St. Brown was Detroit's leading receiver with seven catches for 110 receiving yards. Although neither team turned the ball over, the Rams were undone by an ineffective red zone offense: zero touchdowns in three red zone trips, while Detroit converted all three of its red zone trips into touchdowns.^[37]

With this victory, the Lions no longer had fewer playoff victories in their own stadium than another NFL team, as they equaled the Pittsburgh Steelers who had won Super Bowl XL at Ford Field. The victory, combined with the #2-seeded Cowboys' loss to the Packers earlier that day, also meant that the Lions would host two games in a single postseason for the first time in franchise history. This was the first playoff victory by a team from Detroit since 2013, when the Detroit Tigers won an ALDS matchup against the Oakland Athletics.^{[citation needed]}

Monday, January 15, 2024[edit]

AFC: Buffalo Bills 31, Pittsburgh Steelers 17[edit]

This was the fourth playoff matchup between these two teams; Pittsburgh won two out of the first three. The most recent playoff meeting occurred during the Divisional Round of the 1995–96 postseason, which Pittsburgh won 40–21.^[38] The Steelers and Bills did not meet during the regular season. The game was originally scheduled to be played on January 14 at 1:05 p.m. EST, but was delayed due to a state of emergency and travel ban declared in Western New York as a result of a massive snowstorm, marking the first time an NFL playoff game was postponed since the 2016–17 playoffs, a game that also featured the Steelers.^[39][11]

The first half was dominated by Buffalo, with a Josh Allen touchdown pass to both Dawson Knox and Dalton Kincaid respectively. Allen also had a career-long and franchise playoff record 52-yard touchdown run to put the Bills up 21–0. The Steelers made it a closer game in the second half, getting as close as 24–17 off of a blocked field goal and several touchdowns, before the Bills took a two-score lead on a Khalil Shakir touchdown grab to secure the victory, 31–17.^[40]

NFC: Tampa Bay Buccaneers 32, Philadelphia Eagles 9[edit]

This was the sixth postseason meeting between the Eagles and Buccaneers, with the Buccaneers winning three of the previous five. The most recent postseason meeting between two teams came in the 2021 NFC Wild Card Game, which the Buccaneers won 31–15 in Tampa. In the regular season, the Eagles defeated the Buccaneers in Tampa by a score of 25–11 during Week 3.^[41] This would end up being Jason Kelce's final game before his retirement a month later.

The Buccaneers made the only scoring plays in the first quarter, off a Chase McLaughlin field goal and David Moore touchdown for 10 unanswered points. The Buccaneers and Eagles traded field goals in the second quarter, after which Dallas Goedert scored a touchdown for Philadelphia. The Eagles attempted a two-point conversion using their signature "tush push", but the Buccaneers were able to pull them away. Tampa Bay's defense prevented the Eagles from scoring for the rest of the game, with the Buccaneers scoring two times in the third quarter off a safety on Jalen Hurts and a touchdown from Trey Palmer, in which the Eagles' poor tackling efforts facilitated his 56-yard run to the end zone. Chris Godwin scored a touchdown for Tampa Bay in the fourth quarter as the Buccaneers completed their 23-point blowout of the defending NFC Champions.^[42]

Divisional playoffs[edit]

This was the first time that a team seeded below No. 2 (in this case, the No. 3 Detroit Lions) has hosted a divisional playoff game.

Saturday, January 20, 2024[edit]

AFC: Baltimore Ravens 34, Houston Texans 10[edit]

This was the second postseason meeting between the Ravens and Texans. The Ravens won the first matchup, the 2011 AFC Divisional Game, by a score of 20–13 in Baltimore. In the regular season, the Ravens defeated the Texans by a score of 25–9 in Baltimore in Week 1. Despite a ragged offensive start in the first half, The Ravens outscored the Texans 24–0 in the second half and advanced to their first AFC Championship game since 2012 with a 34–10 rout.

Though not getting a takeaway nor recording a sack on rookie quarterback C. J. Stroud, the Ravens defense dominated Houston. They did not allow any offensive plays by Houston inside the Ravens' 25 yard line nor gave up an offensive touchdown. Houston's only points came by a field goal and a punt return touchdown in the first half. The Baltimore crowd noise also caused a litany of Houston pre-snap penalties.

Lamar Jackson had two passing touchdowns and two rushing touchdowns as he improved to 2–3 in playoff games and 1–2 in home playoff games. This was also the Ravens' first home playoff win since the 2012 AFC Wild Card round.

NFC: San Francisco 49ers 24, Green Bay Packers 21[edit]

After losing Deebo Samuel to injury early in the first quarter, the 49ers narrowly edged out the Packers 24–21.

In the third quarter, the Packers benefited off a 41-yard pass interference penalty on Ambry Thomas and a 73-yard kickoff return from Keisean Nixon, leading to two touchdowns and a successful two-point conversion to take a 21–14 lead heading into the fourth quarter. Following a field goal from Jake Moody, Anders Carlson missed a 41-yard field goal with six minutes left in the game, and the 49ers were able to capitalize on the opportunity as Brock Purdy led his team on a game-winning drive. Although he had a sluggish performance throughout the game, Purdy completed 6-of-7 passes on the drive before Christian McCaffrey delivered the game-winning touchdown. With a minute left on the clock, Jordan Love attempted a final drive but was intercepted by Dre Greenlaw to seal the 49ers' third consecutive NFC Championship Game appearance (and their fourth in the last five seasons). Greenlaw caught Love's two interceptions of the night.

The 49ers got their first win when they entered the fourth quarter trailing by five points or more under head coach Kyle Shanahan.^[43]

This was the tenth postseason meeting in the rivalry between the Packers and 49ers, an NFL record for the most playoff matches between two teams.^[44] The most recent postseason matchup came in the 2021 NFC Divisional Game, which the 49ers won 13–10 in Green Bay. The 49ers and Packers did not meet in the regular season. Additionally, this was also the first-ever 1 seed v 7 seed playoff matchup in NFL history.

Sunday, January 21, 2024[edit]

NFC: Detroit Lions 31, Tampa Bay Buccaneers 23[edit]

This was the second postseason meeting between the Buccaneers and Lions. The Buccaneers won the first meeting, which came in the 1997 NFC Wild Card Game, by a score of 20–10 at Houlihan's Stadium in Tampa. In the regular season, the Lions won the meeting between the two teams by a score of 20–6 in Week 6 in Tampa. Derrick Barnes intercepted Mayfield with 1:39 remaining to seal a Lions victory. The Lions advanced to the NFC Championship Game for the first time since 1991.^[45] This marked the first time since 1957 that the Lions won two playoff games in a season. For the second week in a row, the crowd broke a decibel record at Ford Field.^[46]

AFC: Kansas City Chiefs 27, Buffalo Bills 24[edit]

This was the sixth postseason meeting in the rivalry between the Bills and Chiefs. The Chiefs lead the postseason series 4–2 against the Bills. The last meeting between the two came in the 2021 AFC Divisional Game, which the Chiefs won 42–36 in overtime in Kansas City after the Chiefs offense drove down the field in the final 13 seconds of regulation to score the game–tying field goal. In the regular season, the Bills defeated the Chiefs 20–17 in Kansas City during Week 14.^{[citation needed]}

In the highly anticipated game, the teams traded the lead five times. After the fifth lead change, in which the Chiefs scored a touchdown to take a three-point lead, the Bills attempted a fake punt after failing to pick up a first down after three tries on the ensuing series, but it failed. A play later, Kansas City advanced the ball down to Buffalo's 3-yard line with a great opportunity to extend their lead to two scores. However, Kansas City wide receiver Mecole Hardman fumbled the ball out the side of the end zone for a touchback, thus allowing Buffalo to regain possession and remain in the game. After the teams traded punts, the Bills advanced the ball into Kansas City territory, but their drive stalled in field goal range. In a play that evoked memories of the missed game-winning field goal attempt by Scott Norwood in Super Bowl XXV, Buffalo kicker Tyler Bass proceeded to miss his field goal attempt wide right, thus allowing Kansas City to take over with their three-point lead still intact. Kansas City then picked up a first down on their next possession to drain the clock and seal the victory.^[47]

The game drew the most average viewers of any divisional round game in history, with an average of 50.4 million viewers and a peak of 56.3 million viewers. The previous record of 48.5 million average viewers was established in the Packers-Cowboys game in the 2016–17 NFL playoffs.^[48] The game also became the most streamed event in Paramount+ history.^[49]

Conference championships[edit]

Per an annual rotation used by the NFL since 1997 and made official in 2002, the AFC Championship Game was the first game being played at 3:05 p.m. EST, followed by the NFC Championship Game at 6:40 p.m. EST.

Sunday, January 28, 2024[edit]

AFC Championship Game: Kansas City Chiefs 17, Baltimore Ravens 10[edit]

This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (January 2024)

This was the first time the Baltimore Ravens have hosted an AFC Championship Game in franchise history. Additionally, this was the first AFC Championship since 2017 not hosted by the Kansas City Chiefs.^[50] This is also the sixth straight AFC Championship Game appearance for the Chiefs.^[51][52]

This was also the second postseason meeting between the Chiefs and Ravens. The first meeting came in the 2010 AFC Wild Card, which the Ravens won 30–7 in Kansas City. The two teams did not meet in the regular season.

At the end of a scoreless third quarter, Lamar Jackson threw a 54-yard pass to Zay Flowers, who was then called for a 15-yard penalty after taunting over L'Jarius Sneed. As the drive carried over into the fourth quarter, Flowers received a pass from Jackson near the end zone, but Sneed forced a fumble for a touchback. The next Ravens drive reached the red zone, but ended in an interception by Deon Bush as Jackson attempted a pass to a triple-covered Isaiah Likely.

This game averaged 55.5 million viewers with a peak of 64 million viewers becoming the most viewed AFC championship game in history, as well as the most watched non Super Bowl CBS program since the 1994 Winter Olympics.^[53]

NFC Championship Game: San Francisco 49ers 34, Detroit Lions 31[edit]

This was the third postseason meeting between the 49ers and Lions. The postseason series was split 1–1 between the two teams. The most recent postseason matchup between the two came in the 1983 NFC Divisional Round, which the 49ers won 24–23 at Candlestick Park in San Francisco. The 49ers and Lions did not meet in the regular season, this was the second NFC Championship appearance for the Lions and first since 1991, in which they lost to the Washington Redskins. This is the third straight season and fourth time in the last five seasons that the 49ers have reached the NFC Championship Game.

The Lions started off with an explosive offensive push that saw them score a touchdown within the first two minutes of the game; they would score two more touchdowns and a field goal to take a 24–7 lead at halftime. Although the 49ers' only managed a Christian McCaffrey touchdown in the first half, they proceeded to score 27 unanswered points off of huge plays: a 51-yard pass from Brock Purdy was recovered by Brandon Aiyuk as it deflected off Kindle Vildor's helmet on a touchdown drive, which was immediately followed by a fumble recovery off of Jahmyr Gibbs that the 49ers converted into another touchdown drive. In the fourth quarter, the Lions unsuccessfully attempted a fourth down conversion instead of going for a field goal, proving costly as the Lions would ultimately lose by three points. Both the 49ers and Lions got touchdowns after that point, but the Lions onside kick attempt with 56 seconds left was unsuccessful, allowing the 49ers to win.

The 24–7 halftime lead blown by the Lions mirrors a 49ers' 24–7 halftime blown lead in the 1957 NFL Western Conference Championship game against the Lions, who later went on to win the 1957 NFL Championship Game against the Browns that season. The Lions’ collapse in the NFC Championship entered football lore as part of the Curse of Bobby Layne superstition used to explain the Lions championship drought since 1957.^{[citation needed]} In addition, the 17 point comeback ties for the largest comeback in NFC Championship history.^[54]

Super Bowl LVIII: Kansas City Chiefs 25, San Francisco 49ers 22 (OT)[edit]

This was the second meeting in the Super Bowl between the Chiefs and the 49ers. The Chiefs and 49ers previously met in Super Bowl LIV in 2019, which the Chiefs won 31–20 in Miami to win their first of two Super Bowls in the Andy Reid era and first overall since Super Bowl IV in 1969. The 49ers sought their first Super Bowl victory since 1994 and their sixth overall, which would have tied them for first with the Pittsburgh Steelers and New England Patriots. The Chiefs won the game in a thrilling OT finish with a pass from Patrick Mahomes to Mecole Hardman. The Chiefs became the first team to win consecutive Super Bowls since the Patriots did so in 2003 and 2004. The Chiefs and 49ers did not meet in the regular season.

Media coverage[edit]

Three of the Wild Card games aired on NBC this postseason, which held the rights to the Saturday afternoon game under its annual rotation with CBS and Fox since 2020, the Sunday night game under the third year of a separate seven-year deal, and the Saturday night game, which was streamed exclusively by Peacock under a one-year deal.^[a] Peacock's game was sold on a stand-alone basis, as the league separated it from the broader TV rights deals that began this season.^[56][57][58] This marked the first time that an NFL playoff game was exclusively carried nationally by a streaming platform.^[59][60][61] ESPN entered its third year of their five-year deal for the Monday night Wild Card game, which was simulcast on ABC and the Manningcast alternative telecast on ESPN2.^[62][63][64] The remaining two afternoon games were carried by CBS and Fox.^{[62][63][65][66]}

Under the new TV deals, the four broadcast television partners will now each air one Divisional Playoff game per season, with ESPN/ABC took over that slot that was previously rotated between CBS and Fox.^[62][67] CBS and Fox retained the exclusive rights to broadcast the AFC and NFC Championship Games, respectively.^[66]

CBS televised Super Bowl LVIII this season, to be followed by Fox, NBC, and ESPN/ABC under a new annual Super Bowl rotation.^[62][68] Nickelodeon also had a youth-friendly broadcast of the game.^[69] CBS also has sub-licensed the Spanish-language rights for Super Bowl LVIII to TelevisaUnivision, replacing ESPN Deportes, who held the agreement for the three previous Super Bowl games aired by CBS.^[68]

In addition to having exclusive coverage of the Saturday night Wild Card game, Peacock also streamed NBC's other games. All of CBS' games streamed on Paramount+, and all ESPN/ABC's games streamed on ESPN+.^[62][66] The league's streaming service NFL+ streamed every postseason game on mobile devices only, regardless of broadcaster.^[70]

International coverage[edit]

Prior the 2023 season, DAZN signed a ten-year agreement to distribute the NFL Game Pass International service, which offered live NFL playoff games.^[71] In select countries, the NFL has also signed local media rights deals as follows:

• Australia: ESPN^[72]
• Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia, Slovenia: Arena Sport
• Canada: TSN/CTV^[73]
• Denmark: TV 2^[74]
• Finland/Sweden: TV4^[75]
• France: beIN Sports, W9^[76]
• Germany: RTL^[77]
• Japan: Nippon TV^[78]
• Mexico: Canal 5, ESPN/Star+, Fox Sports^[79]
• New Zealand: TVNZ^[80]
• Norway: VGTV^[81]
• South Korea: Coupang Play^[82]
• Spain: Movistar Deportes^[83]
• Taiwan: ELTA Sports [zh]^[84]
• United Kingdom: Sky Sports^[85]

Notes[edit]

References[edit]

External links[edit]

• Official website