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2025 NFL Post Season 🏈 Weekly Discussion Thread – Playoffs, Week 1
Welcome to the 2025 NFL Post Season Weekly Discussion Thread! 🏈
Share your thoughts on the first round of the playoffs — wins, losses, predictions, or anything else football-related.
Your Carolina fan, this is the last update from the focus of my beloved Panthers for a while.
Wow. What a game. Its a shame we didn't win, but this team put up a fight with the favored MVP candidate and nearly came out on top. If it weren't for Jaycee Horn being out on the final drive (injury eval) we likely have a chance to hold off their comeback. Or if Jimmy Horn didn't drop a decently placed ball on 4th down, we could have finished the comeback.
But those all are delightful what-ifs that won't change a thing. What was nice is that of the home teams that lost this weekend, we were the only one to not boo their team. People were still cheering them on and excitedly chanting for next year. The bones are there. A few linebackers and a pass rusher and this team becomes firmly well rounded. The vision is in place. The team believes they can do well. Anything short of a winning record and playoff appearance would be a failure in 2026. It won't be easy, but I believe we can do it.
The rest of the weekend was great too. It's not often that we are blessed with such a good wildcard round. Usually its filled with the "pretender" teams getting embarrassed and the only one who did were the Steelers. (Seriously, you get 3 turnovers in your favor and you still get blown out??? That's embarassing. I wouldn't know anything about that...)
My bandwagon this year is firmly hitched to the Bills. I think they can go the distance. Otherwise, I wouldn't mind seeing Darnold and the Seahawks win as well. Regardless, I feel we are in for a good rest of the playoffs
Do you think they fire Mike Tomlin ?
Well turns out that's a yes lol
Yes, I hope so! I’m tired of the mediocre coaches in the league that slip by because a loss in the wild card every year is “good enough.”
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Do you think they fire Matt Lafleur?
I think the packers are so interesting, the lack of a tradition owner keeps them from making rash decisions most of the time. That being said I think it may be time to part ways. I think it especially hurts with the lions and Vikings trending down and bears with a shocking turn around. With their new president, maybe one year? Maybe not?
Nah, Packers have enough injuries and scapegoats to protect his job. Get back Parsons, get a new kicker and then you likely don't lose that game.
Injuries are a bad excuse - look at the 49ers
The game was lost by MLF playcalling in the second half and miserable clock management. Injuries and special teams disasters (rich Bisaccia) just made it harder.
Can’t win games when it matters by taking the ball out of Love’s hands and repeatedly calling 1st/2nd down runs or bubble screens. It has been the same story for lafleur’s entire tenure, early on he was losing games by taking the ball out of Aaron Rodgers hands.
This is a awful predicament for the Steelers. He's a great standard bearer and excellent rally, but cant develop players to get a deep playoff run. What they really need is to blow it up and rebuild, but thats a hard sell. The next coach is in a rough spot with no QB and the inability to easily get one. Rodgers could come back for one more year, but then you want you keep Tomlin because Aaron likely does not want that change.
Long story short, I think he's firmly in a year-to-year basis. Latest he'll be is through 2027, as they are unlikely to extend him unless he manages to pull off a deep playoff run.
Looks like he's out.
The second half of his tenure was plagued by the problem of being stuck in the middle. Too good to get a good pick, not good enough to go the distance. They really only tried to develop 2 quarterbacks in house during his entire tenure, and neither were that great of prospects. I wonder if we'll ever have a stretch where franchise QBs move around more. Seems like the only options are to get an aging star (Favre, Manning, Wilson, Rogers) or a washout looking for a second chance (Darnold, Trubisky, Fields, Geno).
I didn't have him "stepping down" on my bingo card. It probably was a "mutual parting of ways" but there is also the possibility that he just needs a break. He'll be immediately into media land.
Jags winning the division and getting awarded with facing the Bills in the first round, while Houston got to beat down on the Steelers, is all kinds of lame. But end of the day though gotta be able to beat who's in front of you. And will at least enjoy watching Houston get their ass whooped next week
Very excited for next year. Expect Coen to learn and continue growing as a coach.
What a phenomenal weekend of football.
Panthers v Rams? Great game. Bears v. Packers? Great game. Jags v Bills? Great game. Eagles v Niners? Great game. Pats v Chargers/Steelers v. Texans? Two very solid halves of defensive football. We had four games that could've been THE game of the week any other year. Incredible.
I was neutral for half the games and went 2/3 on teams I was rooting for. The only one that let me down was the Chargers, whose bedshitting forced my favorite team to play my #1 bandwagon. That's what I get for rooting for a rival, I guess.
Actually, the Chargers loss made me reflect on the times I rooted for an AFC West team that wasn't Denver because I couldn't remember a single time they won. I did a little trip down pro football reference's memory lane and the results are insane.
2000: Young Anthony didn't understand FTR and wanted revenge against the Ravens. Ravens win 16-3.
2002: Still don't understand FTR and had some mysterious grudge against the Bucs. Bucs win 48-21.
2003: Couldn't stand Manning because he always tore up the Broncos. Plus I appreciated Dante Hall and Priest Holmes. Colts beat the Chiefs 38-31.
2006: Pats were evil. LT was amazing. Pats win 24-21.
2007: See 2006. Pats win 21-12.
2015: Would've felt a lot better playing the Chiefs instead of the Patriots and I obviously hate the Pats. Patriots win 27-20 (it worked out in the end).
2018: Another year, another wish to see Brady lose. Patriots beat Chiefs 37-31.
2020: Ugh. Brady wins again 31-9.
2025: Chargers lose to Maye and the Patriots 16-3. You've got to be kidding me.
25 years and not a single playoff win from an AFC West rival. That's not cherry picking, either. They're literally 0-8 in playoff games I want them to win. At least the Patriots had the decency to win the one time I rooted for them back in 01. There are probably a few regular season wins sprinkled in over the years, like the time we thought the Patriots were done ~4 years too early, but when it really counts the rest of the AFC West chooses to fuck me. Yes, it's me. I'm the reason.
*Honorable mention: Mahomes & co lost to the Chargers earlier this year when it would've helped Denver lock up the division. Win or lose, Mahomes has never not let me down. I should root for him more often.