Trav’s 2024 Divisional Round Playoffs Predictions

Super Wild Card weekend is in the books, and we now head to the Divisional round. My record was 4-2 during the opening weekend with one of my defeats being a major upset. My first defeat came when the Houston Texans demolished the Cleveland Browns at home 45-14. C.J. Stroud continued his amazing play and the defense frustrated Flacco all day. With the victory, the young and upstart Texans travel to Baltimore to face the top-seeded Ravens. My second defeat came when Green Bay went into Dallas and beat down the Cowboys 48-32. The score doesn’t tell how dominating the win was for the Packers. Jordan Love had a perfect passer rating and the defense picked Dak Prescott off twice. The Green Bay Packers will now head to San Francisco to face the 49ers. These two franchises have a lot of history so this should be a good one.

Kansas City defeated the Miami Dolphins 26-7 to advance to the Divisional round. The Chiefs defense and cold weather slowed down the Dolphins high-powered offense. On Sunday night, Detroit edged the Los Angeles Rams 24-23 in a thriller. Despite huge games from Matthew Stafford and Puka Nacua, the Lions won their first playoff game in 32 years. Buffalo took down the Pittsburgh Steelers 31-17. The game was moved from Sunday to Monday due to the snowstorm in Buffalo. In the final game, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers destroyed the Philadelphia Eagles 32-9. The Bucs dominated on both sides of the ball, and we have learned Jason Kelce has announced his retirement. We have the Divisional Round this weekend to see who advances to the conference championships.

We have the Houston Texans traveling to Baltimore to face the Ravens. Houston is coming off an impressive win at home over the Cleveland Browns. The Texans were beaten by this Ravens team in the first game of the season. This isn’t the same Texans team seeing they dropped their first two games of the season. They won 10 of their next 15 games and it led to them winning their division. Can this hungry defense frustrate Lamar into turnovers? Baltimore has run over everyone especially the last two months of the season. How much rust will they have entering this game? Can they get their running game going? Can this defense slow down the rookie signal caller? Baltimore is on upset alert in this one, but will Houston pull it off? I’m picking the Ravens to barely edge the Texans in this one. Baltimore Win 30-24

We have the second game on Saturday as the Green Bay Packers head out west to San Francisco to face the Niners. Green Bay has peaked at the right time and these young guys are out to prove something. They went to Dallas and beat a team that won 16 consecutive home games handily. Jordan Love has looked like one of the best QBs in the league over the past two months. Can the Pack offensive line contain the Niners defensive front? San Francisco has been the best team in the NFC for most of the season. They have two MVP candidates in Brock Purdy and Christian McCaffrey. The defense is as good as it gets, but can they contain the red-hot Jordan Love? I’m going with the experience at home and picking the Niners to win. San Francisco Win 34-21

We have the Tampa Bay Buccaneers traveling to Detroit to face the Lions in the first Sunday game. The Bucs have looked great over the final 6 weeks of the regular season. Tampa did lose to the Lions earlier in the season. The loss was the beginning of their 4-game losing streak, but this is a different team now. Baker Mayfield has looked great, and the defense is as physical as anyone else. The Bucs will likely be in a shootout against this Lions offense. Detroit and Jared Goff escaped with a win over Matthew Stafford and the Rams. The Lions offense is as high-powered as anyone else in the league. Aiden Hutchinson is becoming one of the best pass rushers in the league. This should be a good game, but I’m going with the Lions to win. Detroit Win 24-20

The final game of the weekend will see the Kansas City Chiefs travel to Buffalo to face the Bills. Every time these two teams meet we talk about it the following day. They met in an instant classic in the Divisional Round a couple years ago where the Chiefs won. They met a couple months ago, and it was controversial, and the Bills were able to win. Patrick Mahomes and Josh Allen are two of the best quarterbacks in the league. The defense of the Chiefs has become one of the best in the league. James Cook was one of the leading rushers this season for the Bills. Both teams have added a new dynamic they haven’t had before, and this should be another classic. It feels like Mahomes just has the number of Allen in the playoffs and it will happen again. Kansas City Win 31-30

There we are my predictions for the Divisional Round. What games intrigue you the most for the Divisional Round? What do you think about my picks? Leave some feedback below about anything NFL related or my Divisional Round picks.