NFL playoffs heat up

by Brayden Laslo, Staff Writer

The following story was written by a student on the staff of The Jaguar Times as part of Hilliard Bradley High School’s Journalism Production course.

NFL teams fight for a spot at the superbowl. Photo courtesy of Unsplash.

The wildcard round has already passed us. The biggest question is yet to be answered, but The Jag Times has you covered with the safest bets for this year's Super Bowl. Wildcard weekend didn’t disappoint with wins by the Bills, Rams, Buccaneers, Ravens, Saints, and finally the biggest upset, the Browns getting the win over the Steelers. The divisional round is set to kickoff this weekend with the one seed Packers taking on the Rams, the Bills and Ravens, and the AFC’s one seed Chiefs taking on the Browns and finally the Buccaneers and Saints. It was a great way to start off the playoffs and the new year.

The Jag Times had the chance to take others' opinions on their super bowl matchups for this year. “I feel the Buffalo defense is gonna neutralize Lamar Jackson and the Raven off sense and they have the ability to make the Super Bowl and their opponent will be the Packers” (Dylan Newcomb, 12). “I support the Browns through and through so they are my pick for representing the AFC in the super bowl and I think they will play the Saints” (Max Hockman, 10).

They all have valid opinions with facts to back them up, but as we all know the games will ultimately determine who’s in the Super Bowl and will take home the Lombardi. The titles favorites are the Chiefs followed by the Packers and Bills. Either way the game will be exciting no matter what happens throughout the playoffs. The Packers defeated the Rams 32-18. The Rams have the number one defense, but the Packers have the number one offense and that was on total display this past weekend. The Bills took down the Ravens 17-3 while it was a slow game the Bills defense proved to be too much for Lamar and the Ravens. The Browns took a tough loss to the Chiefs 22-17 Patrick Mahomes took a hard hit on a goal line run and is still questionable to play against the Bills on Sunday. The final game was the Buccaneers against the Saints where the Bucs were in control forcing four takeaways and playing solid offensive football. They proved to the doubters that they were truly contenders all along.

The Jag Times is looking forward to the Super Bowl and finally putting this conversation to rest!