By Anthony Martinez, Sports Editor
The 2021-2022 NFL regular season has come to a close with big games and big implications for the coming season. With that, the final placements are set and wild-card weekend is ready to take place.
The final NFC seeding is as follows: in the number one seed, led by reigning MVP Aaron Rodgers, are the Green Bay Packers who finished 13-4. The second seed is the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who also finished 13-4. The third seed belongs to the Dallas Cowboys, who finished 12-5. The fourth seed goes to the Los Angeles Rams, who also finished 12-5 on the year.
While those were the division winners, the first wild card team and the fifth seed are the Arizona Cardinals. Following them are the sixth-seeded San Francisco 49’ers. Rounding up the NFC, is the seventh seed Philadelphia Eagles.
The AFC seeding starts with a team that shocked many, playing without their best player for half a season and still managing to grab the first seed, the Tennessee Titans who finished 12-5. Following them are the second-seeded Kansas City Chiefs, who also managed to finish up the season going 12-5. In the third seed are the 11-6 Buffalo Bills. The fourth seed goes to the Cincinnati Bengals who finished 10-7 on the year.
The wild card seeds start with the fifth seed who are the Las Vegas Raiders, who finished 10-7. They beat the Los Angeles Chargers to secure that spot in an overtime game in week 18. The sixth seed goes to the New England Patriots who also finished 10-7 on the year. Finally, the seventh seed goes to the Pittsburgh Steelers who finished the season going 9-7-1.
With seeding concluded, it now moves on to matchups over the upcoming weekend. With the change that began last year, only one team gets a bye during wild-card weekend. Those teams were the Green Bay Packers and Tennessee Titans for this year. It then moves from the highest seed to the lowest matchup system.
For the NFC, that means the Tampa Bay Buccaneers will be facing the Philadelphia Eagles. The Buccaneers are huge favorites, but have been shaken up with some injuries to a key player like Chris Godwin and their secondary as a whole. While the Eagles started the year poorly, they have played stronger at the end of the year and their run game has been incredible as of late. They need to use that to keep the ball away from Tom Brady.
The Dallas Cowboys are taking on the San Francisco 49’ers. The Cowboys will be favored, but not as high as the first matchup. The Cowboys have had some inconsistent performances but, they are still as talented as anyone else in the league. The 49’ers are somewhat of a confusing team, but still a talented defense from their defensive line to playmakers like Deebo Samuel to carry their offense.
The last wild card game in the NFC is between the Los Angeles Rams and the Arizona Cardinals. This is the hardest game to pick and choose from because both teams are incredibly talented. The Rams are as explosive as anyone on offense with some superstars on defense to make plays. While the Cardinals are creative with Kyler Murray, however they are missing Deandre Hopkins, which is a huge blow.
Moving onto the AFC, the first matchup is as one-sided as a playoff game gets with the Kansas City Chiefs facing the Pittsburgh Steelers. The Steelers have been shaky for most of the entire season. While they have had a strong defense, they’ve struggled on offense that just continues to struggle to push the ball down the field. Meanwhile, the Chiefs are the same team they have been for years now: explosive.
The next AFC matchup is between the Buffalo Bills and the New England Patriots. This game will have the most animosity of all of the games over the weekend. They already played twice this season, splitting the first two games with the Patriots winning the first and the Bills winning the second. They’ll settle the score in an intense one over the weekend.
The third and final AFC wild-card game is between the Cincinnati Bengals and the Oakland Raiders. The Bengals are an extremely young team, from their quarterback to their head coach. They are also an extremely exciting team with a lot of young playmakers who can put points up against anyone. The Raiders have dealt with huge controversy this season with the situation with their former head coach. They now have moved past that and are trying to continue forward.
The wild card games should be a lot of fun, and for football fans, it’s only the first weekend of playoff football. There are multiple more weeks to go, through, and the league will be worth watching through the end of the 2022 playoffs.
