Who is the one team favoured to stop a Kansas City Super Bowl three-peat? NFL Playoffs Week 2 preview

Two MVP frontrunners go head-to-head and two NFC dark-horses will look to prove doubters wrong: but can any team stop KC in the NFL playoffs?

Jaymz Clements

@jaymzclements

2 min read

January 16, 2025 - 3:49PM

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NFL Playoffs Divisional Round Week 2 Preview with NFL Straya

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After a disappointing Wild Card Round that saw five of the six games turn into lopsided affairs, the NFL playoffs are off to a bit of a rocky start, but that will all likely change this weekend with a looming Week 2 Divisional Round slate that’s stacked with tantalising match-ups.

It also marks the first time fans will see the AFC and NFC No. 1 seeds in the reigning champs Kansas City and the nascent Detroit Lions as they open their 2025 playoff accounts on Sunday (Australian time) against the Houston Texans and Washington Commanders respectively.

Monday then delivers two incredibly interesting games as the LA Rams visit the Philadelphia Eagles and the two MVP favourites face off as Josh Allen’s Buffalo Bills host Lamar Jackson and the Baltimore Ravens in what promises to be one of the most anticipated games in NFL playoff history.

But the fun could be short-lived for whichever team wins that Bills-Ravens game as they could then face a 15-2 Chiefs team looking to become the first team to pull off a Super Bowl three-peat in the AFC Championship game.

Still, there’s one team considered a better chance at preventing that Chiefs three-peat: the 15-2 Detroit Lions - coming off their best-ever season and toting the NFL’s best offence (33.2 points per game) - who remain Super Bowl favourites after their Week 18 win over the Minnesota Vikings sowed up the NFC’s 1-seed.

Detroit finished the season with the second-best ranked passing AND rushing offence behind Jared Goff and OC Ben Johnson, and were 7-2 at home in 2024, so it’s not hard to see why they’re slight favourites ahead of KC.

The route to the Super Bowl from the NFC runs through Ford Field, just as it runs through Arrowhead in the AFC.

As it stands before Divisional Round, Detroit is the favourite to win Super Bowl LIX, rated ahead of a tightly-priced group of Kansas City, Philadelphia, Baltimore and Buffalo, with the Rams, Commanders and Texans considered outsiders.

Who will win Super Bowl LIX in just 25 days? ðŸ†ðŸ¥³ pic.twitter.com/Xe9dhYhZsF
— FOX Sports: NFL (@NFLonFOX) January 15, 2025

With only eight teams remaining there’s plenty of questions to be answered this weekend.

Do the Houston Texans stand a chance against Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs, or will the Chiefs quiet the doubters?

Can the Washington Commanders ride rooked quarterback Jayden Daniels to an upset in Detroit, or can the Lions and its No. 1 ranked offence assert themselves as their defence gets healthier?

Is the Philadelphia Eagles offence good enough to get back on track against an LA Rams defence that dominated the Vikings in the Wild Card round matchup?

Will Buffalo-Baltimore live up to the hype as one of the great playoff showdowns?

The two remaining NFL Aussies will be in action on Monday as well, with Jordan Mailiata and Daniel Faalele suiting up for the Eagles and Ravens respectively, and fans hoping we could get an all-Aussie Super Bowl if both their teams manage to make it through the next couple of weeks.

Either way, it’s a massive playoff round ahead, so dig into NFL Straya’s NFL Divisional Round preview above.

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