After an exciting NFL season, 14 teams are in the NFL playoffs all aging for a coveted spot in this year’s Super Bowl. From the AFC, the Tennessee Titans, Kansas City Chiefs, Buffalo Bills, Cincinnati Bengals, Las Vegas Raiders, New England Patriots, and Pittsburgh Steelers have all qualified for the playoffs. The contenders for the NFC are the Green Bay Packers, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Dallas Cowboys, Los Angeles Rams, Arizona Cardinals, San Francisco 49ers, and Philadelphia Eagles. 

    The first week of playoffs consisted of the Wild Card Round. The top teams from both the AFC and NFC, the Tennessee Titans and Green Bay Packers, received a bye from this round. They will both automatically advance to the divisional round and play the lowest remaining seed. 

    Many Aliso Niguel Students are excited for this year’s playoffs. The most popular team has been the Rams, since the Super Bowl is set to take place in their home stadium of SoFi stadium. Many also support the Rams as they are based in Los Angeles. Others don’t have a particular team they are rooting for, but are just excited for entertaining games. 

   Nicholas Breen (10) says “I’m really looking forward to just watching all the teams play. I love seeing all the new matchups.”

    Shay Seymour (11) says, “I’m really hoping to see different teams from last year’s Super Bowl. It’s always nice to see new matchup and new franchises in the Super Bowl.”

    “I love watching the playoffs because anything can happen. It’s win or go home, which leads to some unlikely champions, which is really increasing to me,” says Riley Kluczynski (11). 

   The first round consisted of six exciting matchups, however only six of the 12 teams will continue on to fight for a spot in the Super Bowl. The results for the AFC were, a Bengals win over the Raiders (26-9), Bills 30 point win over the Patriots (47-17), and a win for the Chiefs over the Steelers (42-21). The NFC games consisted of two landslide victories, the Rams over the Cardinals (34-11) and the Buccaneers over the Eagles (31-15). The last matchup between the Cowboys and 49ers resulted in a dramatic upset, with the 49ers beating the Cowboys 23 to 17. 

    The Divisional round consists of four games, two for both the NFC and AFC. Three out for the fours games ended in a field goal tiebreaker, and both number one seeds were eliminated from Super Bowl contention. In the NFC, the 49ers beat the Packers 13 to 10, while the Titans were also beaten at home by the Bengals, 16 to 19, marking the Bengals first road playoff win in franchise history. The Buccaneers lost to the Rams 27 to 30, while the most exciting game of the week, the Bills vs the Chiefs ended with back and forth touchdowns that eventually led to overtime. This was the only game this week that did not come down to a field goal and that the home team won. The Chiefs beat the Bills 42 to 36. 

    The AFC and NFC conference championships are the last two games before the Super Bowl, and determine which two teams will compete at SoFi Stadium. The AFC championship ended in a shocking turn of events, with the Bengals beating the Chiefs in overtime with an interception and eventual field goal, 27 to 24. This will be the third time in franchise history the Bengals will go to the Super Bowl. The NFC championship took place between rivals the 49ers and Rams, and the game also ended in a last minute interception, guaranteeing a Rams victory. The final score was 20 to 17, allowing the Rams to head to the Super Bowl at their home stadium in Los Angeles.