Story by Sam Bell, Staff Writer
Photo courtesy of NFL

It’s the most wonderful time of the year… AKA NFL playoff time. So far this postseason, we have seen some close games with high drama, so let’s take a look at what’s happened, and who’s still left standing.

The NFC had arguably two of the craziest games in the wild card weekend. In the first game it was the Seattle Seahawks at the Minnesota Vikings. Seattle barely pulled off the win to advance to the divisional playoff, 10-9, with Vikings kicker Blair Walsh missing the go ahead field goal as time winded down. In the other wildcard game, which featured the Green Bay Packers and Washington Redskins, the Pack was able to get a tough road win, defeating Kirk Cousins and the Redskins 35-18.

The Divisional Round, which took place the weekend of January 15, featured two games for the NFC: the Packers vs. the Cardinals and the Seahawks vs. the Panthers. The first game of these two was one that would have been a shame to miss for any football fan. With the Cardinals up 20-13, Packers QB Aaron Rodgers did what only he has been able to do this season, and that is throw a hail Mary touchdown at the end of the game to force overtime (or a win when he did this against the Lions).

This was all for naught, however, when the Cardinals scored the game winner in overtime, which helped them advance to the NFC Championship. In the other game, it started out looking like the Panthers were going to walk away with a blowout victory over the Seahawks after going into the half up 31-0. The Seahawks definitely weren’t giving up that easy though, scoring 24 unanswered points. The Panthers were able to hold on, however, which meant the Panthers and Cardinals were playing in the NFC Championship. This game was a no doubt about it win for the Panthers, who absolutely annihilated the Cardinals to make it to the Super Bowl

In the AFC for wildcard weekend, we had the Kansas City Chiefs vs. the Houston Texans as well as the Pittsburgh Steelers vs. the Cincinnati Bengals. In the Chiefs/Texans game, it was the basic definition of a blowout, with the Chiefs winning 30-0. In the Steelers/Bengals game, the Steelers pulled out the W, 18-16. For the AFC Divisional rough the Chiefs went up against the New England Patriots and the Pats pulled out the win, 27-20. The Steelers traveled to Denver to take on the Broncos, but couldn’t escape with the win, so Denver hosted the Patriots for the AFC Championship. This game did not go very well for me, but if you’re a Broncos fan, you’ll be happy to hear that they are representing the AFC in SB50, defeating the Patriots 20-18.

Now, we are down to the final two teams, the Broncos and the Panthers. Who will win? Will Peyton Manning get his second ring in what very well could be his last professional season, or will Cam Newton get his first in his very young professional career? Time will only tell, and Super Bowl Sunday will be on February 7.

About the writer…

Sam Bell is a sophomore from Mackinaw City. She played three sports in grade school, including basketball, volleyball, and softball. Outside of reporting on sports, Sam enjoys listening to music, hanging out with her friends, and with her cat, Oliver. She is a Psychology and Community Leadership major and is considering Sports Journalism.