With the Houston Texans’ emphatic wild-card win over the Pittsburgh Steelers on Monday, the NFL has finally released its television lineup for the divisional round.
The Denver Broncos, the AFC’s top seed, will host the sixth-seeded Buffalo Bills at 4:30pm EST on CBS this Saturday before the NFC’s top-seeded Seattle Seahawks welcome the sixth-seeded San Francisco 49ers at 8pm on Fox.
On Sunday, ABC and ESPN will air the fifth-seeded Texans’ divisional-round game against the second-seeded New England Patriots from Foxborough at 3pm EST before NBC’s broadcast of the second-seeded Chicago Bears hosting the fifth-seeded Los Angeles Rams at 6:30pm.
Ahead of the Seahawks’ first home playoff game in five years, and their first in front of fans since 2017, their top two coordinators each spent the end of last week interviewing for jobs elsewhere.
Offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak interviewed with the Baltimore Ravens, Atlanta Falcons and Miami Dolphins for their head coaching vacancies, while defensive coordinator Aden Durde did the same with the Falcons and Cleveland Browns. But Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald wasn’t worried about his assistants’ focus on their jobs ahead of Seattle’s matchup with the San Francisco 49ers on Saturday.
The Seahawks had a bye as the No. 1 seed in the NFC, and Kubiak and Durde did their interviews on days the team was off.
Denver Broncos quarterback Bo Nix (10) hugs wife, Izzy Nix before a recent game
‘It worked out well that they had the two days off and they could kind of shift their focus,’ Macdonald said. ‘Once it’s over, then that’s over and we’re able to move forward. So really fortunate we had the bye.’
Last week’s practices, he said, consisted mostly of self-scouting and working ahead on potential playoff opponents. Now, Seattle has turned its focus to San Francisco, which ended Philadelphia’s bid for a Super Bowl repeat with a 23-19 victory on Sunday.
Patriots coach Mike Vrabel left his team’s 16-3 wild-card playoff victory over the Los Angeles Chargers with his face literally bloodied, but an unshaken confidence in his team.
He’s optimistic because although there were some shortcomings by an offense that has sustained his team this season, he believes the Patriots played with a physicality on defense that has arrived at the perfect time.
Seattle Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold (14) celebrates a recent win over the 49ers
New England limited Chargers to 207 total yards, the ninth time this season it held an opponent to fewer than 300 yards. The Patriots’ six sacks tied for the second-most in franchise playoff history.
‘Everybody played. Everybody contributed,’ Vrabel said. ‘Guys went down. Other guys went in there and stepped up. We play a lot of guys on defense. I think they all appreciate that. I think they all have roles.’
Next up is the Patriots’ first trip to the divisional round since their run to the franchise’s sixth Super Bowl title in the 2018 season.
Meanwhile, reigning MVP Josh Allen led Buffalo to a 27-24 comeback victory in Jacksonville in Sunday’s first game. Allen scored on a 1-yard run late in the fourth quarter and Cole Bishop intercepted Trevor Lawrence’s pass to secure Buffalo’s first playoff win on the road since the 1992 AFC championship game at Miami.
Unfortunately, Bills receiver Gabe Davis tore the ACL in his left knee in the win, sidelining him for the rest of the season.
Further exacerbating matters for Buffalo is the hamstring issue facing veteran safety Jordan Poyer, who missed the entire second half of Sunday’s win. The Bills’ depleted secondary was forced to relay on rookie Jordan Hancock in Poyer’s absence, and could be forced to do so again in the divisional round if the 34-year-old cannot return to the field.
