The Most Exciting NFL Playoff of All Time?

Conor Place '22, Cub News Writer

These past few weeks of the NFL Playoffs have debuted some of the most entertaining games in the Super Bowl Era. Full of comebacks, clutch-time plays, and coin tosses, only the highest caliber (and luckiest) teams have found themselves moving on. But in the end, the Bengals and Rams have proved themselves to be the best of the best. Let’s take a look at their journey through the playoffs as well as the top three games of the postseason so far.

 

  1. Rams @ Bucs

This divisional playoff between the greatest QB of all time and one of the most underrated QBs of all time didn’t disappoint. To no one’s surprise, Tom Brady nearly pulled off a 24-point comeback in the second half while Ram’s offense was sleeping on their lead. It showed the world just how elite of a duo Cooper Kupp and Matthew Stafford are against a solid Tampa Bay defensive line.

  1. Bengals @ Chiefs

This most recent conference championship was one for the books. Joe Shiesty, Joe Brrr, Joe Burrow – whatever you want to call him – won himself the spot as America’s QB. After an impressive 18-point comeback, Burrow solidified himself as one of the top QBs in the league. Coming off of a last-place finish in the AFC North with a 4-11 record, head coach Zac Taylor led his team to an insane turnaround season. Even though the favored Rams won the Super Bowl, the matchup between the Bengals and Chiefs in future seasons with Burrow and Mahomes will continue to be among the most exciting games of the season.

  1. Bills @ Chiefs

Following massive wins over the Patriots and Steelers respectively, the Bills and Chiefs was another matchup between the best QBs in the league: Josh Allen and Patrick Mahomes. While the game itself was entertaining, the last two minutes of regulation alone could put it at one of the most exciting playoff games in recent history. The most notable drawback from this divisional playoff is obviously the structure of the overtime and the coin toss. I think there are obvious flaws with the overtime rules (and I’m sure Josh Allen does too) but unfortunately, that’s how it ended up playing out. If the rules allowed for both offenses to have a chance at scoring, I think this would have been even more of a shootout between two of the league’s best QBs.