NFL Divisional Playoffs Recap: Heartbreaking Weekend

Updated: 1/19/2026 11:08 a.m.

It was nothing but a heartbreaking week for football fans overall. Injuries, bad performances, and the end of the idea of a team who has never even been to a Super Bowl making it to the big stage.

That said, Seahawks and Patriots fans are probably the most happy right now.

Buffalo Bills vs Denver Broncos

This game had to go into extra time because of how even the teams were. It was a back-and-forth contest down to the wire. Both Josh Allen and Bo Nix had great performances. James Cook III was electric with 117 rushing yards. Dalton Kincaid and Marvin Mims Jr. were dominating the field.

However, the heartbreak came towards the end of the game when Nix broke his ankle on a play that did not even have contact. It was a play to center the kicker for the game-winning field goal. This injury resulted in Nix being out for the rest of the season. This means that the Broncos’ season will hinge on Jarrett Stidham, who has not thrown a pass this season.

By most counts, the Bills did everything right, but they just could not stop Nix. They were able to keep the Broncos rushing game from getting anything going, and the Bills offense was electric besides two interceptions from Allen. Still, Nix went 26/46 for 279 yards, three touchdowns, and just had one interception and zero sacks.

However, the glaring issue the Bills had were fumbles. They lost three fumbles and had five total. This, and the lack of putting on pressure on Nix is what led to the Bills getting the loss, a team I personally wanted to see win it all.

The surprising result of this game was also the Bills firing their head coach Sean McDermott.

San Francisco 49ers vs Seattle Seahawks

There’s almost not much to say about this game as the Seahawks were just dominant. There was some concern that Sam Darnold was not 100%, but Kenneth Walker III basically said, “it’s fine, I got this,” and rushed for 119 yards and three touchdowns. Darnold only threw for 124 yards, which is crazy for the amount of points on the board. It does help that Rashid Shaheed had a 95-yard kick return for a touchdown.

For the 49ers, this team could just not get anything going. Brock Purdy only threw for 140 yards with one interception, Christian McCaffrey rushed 11 times but only gathered 35 yards and the 49ers had three fumbles, losing two of them. It also did not help that McCaffrey was injured in the second quarter. The Seahawks just aboslutely destroyed any offense the 49ers tried to get going.

Perhaps the woes all around were due to the absences of George Kittle, Fred Warner, and Nick Bosa. The heartbreak of this game. After all, the playoffs should be a time where the biggest stars of the year meet, but unfortunately again, injuries destroyed the chances of seeing that for this game.

However, the Seahawks showed no mercy and maybe exposed the glaring holes of depth for the 49ers.

Houston Texans vs New England Patriots

This was a heartbreaking game for the Texans. The franchise quarterback had a career-bad game. C.J. Stroud threw four interceptions. On top of that, the Texans could not get any kind of run game going and the defense had a difficult time stopping Drake Maye, who threw or 179 yards and three touchdowns.

That said, the Texans defense kept them in it, as they caused four fumbles all against Maye, but the Patriots defense had Stroud’s number especially Carlton Davis III, who had two interceptions and Marcus Jones who had a pick-six.

The pressure was all on Stroud after the game which left head coach DeMeco Ryans having to defend Stroud: “CJ’s our guy. I believed that he could come back out in the second half and flip it. I believed that he can play better, and he did that. He did play better. We had some positive drives in the second half. I believed he would do that, and he did that,” Ryans said as reported by Newsweek.

The Texans are not immune to quarterback problems. The franchise has had the likes of Matt Schaub’s decline happen within the team, Deshaun Watson who had sexual assault allegations, and it just seems like this team cannot get something going. That said, it is far from the end-of-days for Stroud, and as a fan of Stroud personally, I do hope that this is his lowest point and he comes back next year with a vengeance. I have alluded to before that the Texans have a QB curse, and my hope is that Stroud breaks that.

As for the Patriots, they have the matchup to make it to the Super Bowl barring a complete breakdown. With Bo Nix hurt, and issues with the Broncos running game, the Patriots are prime to win the AFC Championship given that they shut down the Texans run game and are ballhawks which puts a lot of pressure on Stidham.

Los Angeles Rams vs Chicago Bears

I think the majority of football fans were hoping the Chicago Bears were having their moment this year, but alas, the Rams drowned that dream for another year. Matthew Stafford was basically perfect, Kyren Williams saw the endzone multiple times, and the Rams’ receiving corps showed off its depth. On the defensive side, the Rams were able to get three interceptions with two belonging to Cobie Durant.

For the Bears, Caleb Williams had a rough game throwing three interceptions. Still, he kept in it and threw 257 yards and two touchdowns, but although the Bears stayed in it, perhaps the three issues that resulted in their loss was that D’Andre Swift never reached the endzone, and the Bears could not create turnovers. The two fumbles they did cause, the Rams recovered. Also, as mentioned already Williams’ three interceptions swayed the turnover ratio between the two teams to far into the Rams’ favor.

Otherwise, the two teams were pretty even, and even though the Williams threw three interceptions, the Rams could not pull away which led to overtime. This could spell trouble for the Rams as they head to a Seahawks team that is feeling the momentum of defeating the 49ers comfortably. The previous two rounds between the Rams and Seahawks were both close contests and the record is 1-1 for both teams. It is worth noting, that the Seahawks play at home. Still, the game is a coin flip.

Keep an eye out for my game previews of both the AFC and NFC Championship games!