Super Bowl LVII will take place on 12 February 2023 in Glendale, Arizona, at the State Farm Stadium. The most-watched annual event in the United States, the Super Bowl promises another day of glitz, glamour, and intense american football action.
Super Wild Card Weekend sets the stage
Super Wild Card Weekend has seen 12 of the 14 playoff teams in action. New York Giants perhaps pulled the biggest wild card of them all this season, defeating the much-fancied Minnesota Vikings 31-24 to make it to the Divisional Round (aka quarter-finals for the Super Bowl).
Although the story of the round perhaps goes to the Jacksonville Jaguars. The Jaguars were down 27-0 to the Los Angeles Chargers as time was dwindling in the second quarter. They then managed to pull off a miraculous comeback, winning the game 31-30. This is the third-biggest comeback ever seen in the playoffs.
Below is a roundup of the results from this thrilling weekend of action:
- San Francisco 49ers (2) 41-23 Seattle Seahawks (7)
- Jacksonville Jaguars (4) 31-30 Los Angeles Chargers (5)
- Buffalo Bills (2) 34-31 Miami Dolphins (7)
- New York Giants (6) 31-24 Minnesota Vikings (3)
- Cincinnati Bengals (3) 24-17 Baltimore Ravens (6)
- Tampa Bay Buccaneers (4) TBD Dallas Cowboys (5)
How the Divisional Round shapes up
Following the Wild Card Weekend, this provided us with the Divisional Round line-ups. Along with the six teams that made it through the wildest of weekends, they are joined by the AFC West division champions, the Kansas City Chiefs, and the NFC East division champions, the Philadelphia Eagles.
The Divisional Round looks like this:
- Kansas City Chiefs (1) vs. Jacksonville Jaguars (4)
- Cincinnati Bengals (3) vs. Buffalo Bills (2)
- Philadelphia Eagles (1) vs. New York Giants (6)
- San Francisco 49ers (2) vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (4)/Dallas Cowboys (5)
The winners will then progress to their respective Conference final (and Super Bowl semi-final). This is how the Conference round will appear:
- AFC Championship: (Divisional Round 1 winner) vs. (Divisional Round 2 winner)
- NFC Championship: (Divisional Round 3 winner) vs. (Divisional Round 4 winner)
The winners of these championships will then go on to play in the Super Bowl.
The contenders for Super Bowl LVII
We are getting closer and closer to crowning the latest Super Bowl champion. While everyone at this stage could realistically win the NFL’s grand prize, there are some teams that stand out from the rest.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, most see the Kansas City Chiefs as the favorite to win the championship. With Patrick Mahomes as their star man and after racking up a 14-3 regular-season record, the Chiefs will be hoping this is their time to win the Super Bowl for the first time since 2019.
Another strong contender is the Buffalo Bills. 13-3 in the regular season and looking good, they are hoping to finally move away from the unwanted record of being among the teams with the most Super Bowl appearances to not win the big one.
The San Francisco 49ers and Philadelphia Eagles are two other contenders to keep an eye on.