The pinnacle of American football is drawing near. Eight teams full of big guys are looking for their place in the Super Bowl, to be played in Los Angeles on February 13. The Californian city was the venue for the first big NFL game in 1967 between the Green Bay Packers and the Kansas City Chiefs, today also classified for postseason games.
Time passes and Tom Brady does not give up. The quarterback winner in history, with seven championship rings, wants to broaden his legacy. Last year he led the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to win a terrific Super Bowl: 31-9 against the Kansas City Chiefs. The Florida team had not won anything since 2003. In the 2021 season, Brady has done it again: his teammates have reached the playoffs. They had a 13 game win streak and only four losing streak. In the wild card round, the Bucs crushed the Philadelphia Eagles 31-15. Their rivals will be the Los Angeles Rams, with a record of 12 wins and five losses, who had no qualms about giving the Arizona Cardinals a beating (34-11).
The most striking duel will be Jimmy Garoppolo’s San Francisco against Green Bay. The Packers have entrusted themselves, once again, to the experience of their quarterback, Aaron Rodgers, to try to celebrate a Super Bowl win again, something that hasn’t happened since 2011. And they don’t lack reasons after reaping 13 wins and only four losses. They will come into the game with a week off. The 49ers come, however, after battling against the Dallas Cowboys who could not make a comeback in the last quarter (17-23). The season was somewhat turbulent with 10 wins and seven losses. Garoppolo has the bad taste in his mouth of losing the Super Bowl in 2020 against the Kansas City Chiefs. In order to play the big game of the year they had to beat Green Bay.
Patrick Mahomes, shining star of the NFL, gave the last lunge in the career of Ben Roethlisberger, leader of the Pittsburgh Steelers. The Chiefs won 42-21 at home to try to fight another year for the top spot in the NFL. In the campaign they reaped 12 wins and five losses. His next rival will be the Buffalo Bills, who have played in the snow, to aspire to surprise in the NFL. The Bills tore apart the New England Patriots, orphans of Tom Brady, with a score of 47-17. The New York team, unfortunately, have the disastrous streak of losing the Super Bowl game four times and all in a row between 1991 and 1994. In recent years, they have found a silver lining with Josh Allen.
The Bengals want redemption. The Cincinnati team snapped a 31-year streak without winning a playoff game. They did so against the favorite Las Vegas Raiders (26-19). In the season his streak was positive with 10 wins and seven losses. They will test their tenacity against one of the most stable teams of the year, the Tennessee Titans (12 wins, five losses).
Matchups and schedules
American Conference: Cincinnati Bengals vs. Tennessee Titans. To be played on Saturday, January 22 at 3:30 p.m. (Central Mexico time)
American Conference: Buffalo Bills vs. Kansas City. To be played on Sunday, January 23 at 7:30 p.m. (Central Mexico time).
National Conference: San Francisco 49ers will meet Green Bay Packers. To be played on Saturday, January 22 at 7:15 p.m. (Central Mexico time).
National Conference: Los Angeles Rams against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. To be played on Sunday, January 23 at 2:00 p.m. (Central Mexico time).
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Tom Brady, Rodgers and Mahomes for the championship: this is how the NFL playoffs will be played