The NFL playoffs are back and at it once again after a very strange yet entertaining season. Coming along with the month of January is everyone’s favorite time of the season. It’s time to discover who the best team is in the league. This year, however, the playoffs are going to be looking slightly different. Due to COVID and a unanimous decision made by NFL team owners the NFL is allowing two extra teams a spot in the playoffs. These extra teams are teams that normally would have been one spot away from qualifying. The two lucky teams that we’re able to claim these spots were the Indianapolis Colts and the Chicago bears. 

Excluding those two teams, the other qualifying teams for the playoffs consist of the Tennessee Titans, Baltimore Ravens, Pittsburgh Steelers, Cleveland Browns, Buffalo Bills, Washington Football Team, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, LA Rams, New Orleans Saints, Green Bay Packers, and Kansas City Chiefs. 

However, it is playoff season and the playoffs have already begun. With just round one of the playoffs already being completed and some seriously intense games, the Titans were defeated by the Ravens leaving them out of the playoffs along with the Steelers who were defeated by the Browns, the Colts who were eliminated by the Bills, the Washington Football team who was defeated by the Buccaneers, the Seahawks who were eliminated by the rams, and the Bears who were defeated by the Saints. Each game was a good game but in the end, someone has to leave the playoffs and these were the unfortunate teams that left. 

Due to COVID, the way that playoffs will work will be very interesting. Nobody knows if there are going to be any complications that could include delayed games, teams playing without certain players and positions alongside other injuries that may occur, and even more. It won’t necessarily be unknown to football fans as we saw some of these complications occur in the regular season. Even with last week’s playoffs some of these problems occurred yet, the teams still pushed through and played. Of course, delayed games during a playoff season could be the biggest problem because if you have one delayed game you’re interfering with the schedule of the next week’s games and the bracket as well. 

This year’s NFL playoffs are going to be a year with a true test of how much the teams and players participating have grit and are willing to fight to have a chance in the Super Bowl. Not only do they have to go and play one of the most physically challenging and demanding sports, but they also have to deal with COVID, losses of football players, losses of certain sports, and the constant change of a delayed game. With week two of the playoff games consisting of: The Rams vs. Packers, Ravens vs. Bills, Browns vs. Chiefs, and Buccaneers vs. Saints. These next few weeks leading up to the superbowl will be intense and full of a constant grind to win.