The NFL Divisional Round is already over. It went by in the blink of an eye, and next thing we know, we’ll be sitting on our couch watching the conference championship.

There were only four games this week, but there’s still a lot to talk about. From another heartbreaking loss for the Bills to Seattle’s dominant victory over San Francisco, here were my biggest takeaways from NFL Divisional Round weekend.

The loss wasn’t all on Josh Allen, but he could’ve (and should’ve) won that game

Josh Allen has been one of the best playoff performers we’ve ever seen. He shows up in the playoffs every single year, but his team has always let him down. They certainly didn’t help him this time around, but some of the blame for this loss has to fall on Allen.

Defensively, the Buffalo Bills were not great on Saturday. They came into this game as the No. 1 pass defense in all of football, but allowed Bo Nix to throw for 279 yards and three touchdowns. But it wasn’t just the stats that were bad. Every time the Broncos needed a big play through the air, they got it. They had that busted coverage at the end of the half, which allowed a touchdown instead of a field goal, and on the Broncos’ go-ahead fourth-quarter drive, they allowed Nix to go 6-for-7 for 66 yards and throw a 26-yard touchdown with under a minute to go. This was one of their worst efforts of the season, but Allen is not innocent in this loss.

Allen’s first big mistake came right before halftime. The Bills had the ball trailing 17-10 with 0:22 left on the clock. Instead of kneeling it out, Allen tried to scramble and coughed the ball up, giving the Broncos the football in field goal range. Wil Lutz would knock it through and give Denver a 10-point halftime lead.

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Allen would turn the ball over two more times in the third quarter before leading the Bills on three straight scoring drives in the fourth to tie the game at 30, but in reality, he should’ve won the game in regulation. If it weren’t for an overthrown pass to Dawson Knox in the closing seconds, the Bills would’ve won the game. Allen just straight-up missed him, there’s no other way to put it.

You can say what you want about the questionable interception call or the two bad pass interference penalties in overtime, but the reality is, it never should’ve gone to overtime. People are going to blame everyone but Allen for this loss, but at some point, they’ve got to put some of the responsibility on him.

I feel HORRIBLE for the Broncos

You have to feel for the Denver Broncos and their fanbase. They win their biggest game in a decade, and while everyone’s beginning to celebrate, they got the news that Bo Nix broke his ankle and is out for the rest of the year. Now, they have to start Jarrett Stidham in the AFC Championship, and it’s just hard to see a world where they win that game.

As a Saints fan, I’ve been through my fair share of playoff heartbreak. I know what it’s like to be the Super Bowl favorites and have it all ripped away from you by something completely out of your control, and it sucks. There’s nothing worse as a fan, so I feel horrible for not only the Broncos but their fans.

Maybe Stidham and that defense can pull off some magic and get them to the Super Bowl, but it’s just hard to envision them winning it all now. A magical season will seemingly come to an abrupt end soon.

Congrats, New England, you’re headed to the Super Bowl. Right?

I want to be the first person to congratulate the New England Patriots for making the Super Bowl. With their win over Houston, they have booked their ticket to Santa Clara. With Bo Nix out, there’s no reason they shouldn’t be able to go into Mile High and come out with a win, right?

While it may feel that way, I don’t think it’ll be as big of a cakewalk as most think. Sean Payton is a genius play caller, and he’s going to make this offense work with Jarrett Stidham. Is it going to be as efficient as it is with Nix under center? No. But I wouldn’t be shocked if Denver can put 20ish points on the board.

Defensively, the Broncos are dangerous. We’ve seen Drake Maye struggle when he’s put under pressure this year, and nobody pressures the quarterback at a higher rate than Denver. If Nik Bonitto and Co. can get in the backfield and make Maye uncomfortable, the Patriots aren’t going to breeze to the Super Bowl.

Next week’s game is a whole lot less interesting now that Nix is out, and New England could very well roll through the Broncos and win by 20+, but I don’t think that will be the case. I will certainly pick them to win, but don’t be surprised if Denver’s more competitive than people think.

The Seahawks should be the favorites to win it all

The Seattle Seahawks should be the favorites to win it all. After this weekend’s game, nobody should doubt what they’re capable of anymore. I know San Francisco was beat up, but a lot of people were on the 49ers this week, especially after Sam Darnold’s oblique injury news, but they showed up and dominated their rivals for the second time in three weeks.

This defense is special. It’s right up there with Houston’s; they just don’t get as much love. Mike Macdonald has worked wonders with this defense, but the job Klint Kubiak has done has been almost as impressive. He’s taken this offense to new heights in 2025, and even with Darnold’s injury, he finds a way to score 34 points with 175 rushing yards.

The Seahawks don’t have a bad matchup. They can build a game plan around any team and find ways to be successful. Playing a good run defense? That’s fine, they’ll throw it to Jaxon Smith-Njigba every play. Playing a good pass defense? Fine, Kenneth Walker will go for 116 and three scores. Playing an elite offense? This defense is good enough to lock down just about anybody.

Right now, Seattle is playing like the best team in the league, so no one should doubt their chances at winning the Super Bowl.

I mean, what the hell just happened?

How do the Bears keep doing it? Every single week, they pull something out of nowhere. The Bears were dead to rights. It was fourth down, less than 30 seconds left, Caleb Williams drifted some 30 yards backwards and just chucked the ball into the air, and somehow, Cole Kmet was right there wide open. I’m not a religious man, but it can’t be a coincidence that this happens the same year a Chicago native is elected Pope.

I’ve watched football all my life, and I can’t remember anything like this happening at the NFL level.

And just when you think the Bears had the game in the bag, Caleb Williams threw his third interception of the night, but I’m not fully convinced it was his fault. DJ Moore just gave up on his route, and it allowed Kam Curl to jump the pass and pick it off. It would’ve been contested, but I don’t think it would’ve been a pick if Moore ran through his route.

The Rams would go on to win the game with a field goal, but man, what a game.

The Bears are going to be just fine

This loss stings. Chicago had a magical season that nobody saw coming. In year one, Ben Johnson took the Bears to the Divisional Round, and they were a play or two away from making it to the NFC Championship.

Caleb Williams surprised me this season. After his rookie year, which was fine but not all that impressive, I thought he was going to be another Trevor Lawrence, but I was wrong. He’s proved a lot of his haters wrong this year. Say what you want about his completion percentage, but the offense he plays in calls for a lot more shots downfield, which is a reason that number was so low. It was a terrific season, and some of the heroics he pulled off, including tonight, were the most impressive part.

Defensively, the Bears need some work. They need a more consistent pass rush and a couple more pieces in the secondary, but that’s not hard to come by in one offseason. If they can give Dennis Allen some more pieces to work with, he can build a top-10 defense in Chicago. Tonight was proof of that.

This team is going to be just fine. Obviously, a loss like this hurts, but they’ll be back with Johnson and Williams leading the charge.

C.J. Stroud STINKS

C.J. Stroud is awful, man. After his rookie season, he looked like one of the next greats, but it has been completely downhill since.

Over the last two years, Stroud has thrown for 6,768 yards, 39 touchdowns, and 20 interceptions. Those numbers aren’t awful, but you’d like your star quarterback, who you’re about to have to pay a ton of money to (if they choose to), to have better than a 2-1 TD: INT ratio.

In the playoffs, Stroud has been even worse. In 2024, he threw for 527 yards, one touchdown, and one interception while taking 11 sacks in two games. If that wasn’t bad enough, he was even worse this year, throwing for 462 yards, two touchdowns, and five interceptions while fumbling five times. That’s less than 989 yards, three touchdowns, six interceptions, and five fumbles in his last four playoff games.

This is not someone you should pay 200+ million dollars. If I’m DeMeco Ryans, I’m trying to win a Super Bowl while this defense is still young, and more importantly, cheap. If that means moving off Stroud and putting a different guy under center, I am doing it without a single thought. It’s just going to be tough to find someone else much better.

The 49ers’ injuries were just too much

It felt like it was only a matter of time before the San Francisco 49ers’ injuries caught up to them. I applaud Kyle Shanahan for the work he’s done this year after losing Nick Bosa, Fred Warner, Brock Purdy, George Kittle, and plenty of others for the season. They probably shouldn’t have made the playoffs, much less the Divisional Round. But it’s nearly impossible to overcome all of that and win a Super Bowl.

It also doesn’t help that Seattle was an awful matchup for them. The 49ers have been able to win shootouts this year, but they’ve struggled against elite defenses, and that’s exactly what Seattle is. Then, defensively, they couldn’t put any pressure on Darnold when he did throw, and when he didn’t, they had no answer for the run game.

It was a recipe for disaster for San Francisco, and it really sucks, because if they were healthy, this team really could have won it all.