While the Wild Card round was an instant classic for the NFL, the Divisional Round of this year's postseason was admittedly more chalky. All four favorites at kickoff won their games, though two required overtime to do so. But the big takeaway from this week's games came in Denver, as the Buffalo Bills let their best chance to reach a Super Bowl slip through their fingers.
There was certainly controversy at the end thanks to some questionable officiating, but Buffalo's 33-30 overtime defeat to the Broncos was the key storyline that hung over the rest of the weekend. Let's wrap up Divisional weekend's winners and losers by starting with the Bills, who will regret their missed opportunity for a long time.
NFL Divisional Round winners and losers
Loser: Buffalo Bills
Sean McDermott was rightfully indignant about the officiating, which saw officials ignore a potential pass interference in the end zone at the end of regulation and call two on the Bills to set up the winning field goal (as well as the very quick review on the interception Josh Allen threw in overtime). But even with all of that factored in, the Bills did not help themselves by turning the football over on three other occasions, including two late in the first half that handed the Broncos 10 points right before the break.
In a year with no Patrick Mahomes, Joe Burrow or Lamar Jackson in the postseason, there was simply no excuse for the Bills not to get to the Super Bowl, even if they had to win three road games to do it. There will be a lot of soul searching in Buffalo in the coming weeks, as they just squandered their easiest potential path to the Big Game with no guarantee the stars will align again.
Winner: Sean Payton
It came about nine years too late for Saints fans, but Sean Payton was finally the beneficiary of a pass interference call to help decide a playoff game. There had been rightful doubters of the Broncos, who had showed some struggles (particularly on defense) down the stretch, but Payton made masterful use of his bye week to refocus Denver ahead of a very tough matchup with Buffalo.
The Broncos looked much more like their early season form in this game and showed mental fortitude to survive blowing a late lead in the fourth quarter. Even with the devastating loss of Bo Nix, which we'll cover in our next item, Payton has enough ammo to get back to the Super Bowl with his new team.
Loser: Bo Nix
You have to feel bad for Nix, who outplayed the reigning NFL MVP in the game of his life but saw his postseason come to an end due to injury. Nix suffered a broken bone in his ankle on the fourth-to-last play of the game, which will require surgery and force him to become a spectator for the remainder of Denver's playoff run.
The Broncos saw Nix make some incredible throws throughout the game, including an absolute dime to Marvin Mims with under a minute to go in regulation to give Denver a late lead. It now falls to Jarrett Stidham to finish the job for the Broncos, which is unfortunate considering Nix absolutely earned his chance to play for a place in history.
Winner: Kenneth Walker
Even though Rashid Shaheed's return of the opening kick for a touchdown really opened the floodgates for Seattle on Saturday night, the Seahawks won the game on the strength of Kenneth Walker and the ground game. Sam Darnold made enough throws to show his oblique injury wasn't a hindrance, but it was a big help to see Walker shred the 49ers defense for 119 yards and three touchdowns.
An early injury to Zach Charbonnet put the backfield firmly in the hands of Walker, who averaged 6.1 yards per carry on the night. The running game has been a skeleton key for the Seattle offense, and if Walker is truly back, there may not be anyone still standing who can stop the Seahawks.
Loser: San Francisco 49ers
There really wasn't much that Kyle Shanahan and Robert Saleh could do with their injury-riddled team, which ran into an absolute buzzsaw in Seattle. San Francisco deserves credit for reaching the Divisional Round with a litany of key stars hurt, but seeing Christian McCaffrey suffer a stinger in the second quarter proved to be the final blow for a group that has been leaking oil for a while now.
It is fair to wonder what happens with the 49ers going forward since Saleh, whose coaching held together the beleaguered defense, is in prime position to get a second shot as a head coach in this cycle. Better health for a lot of players should help in 2026, but the NFC West remains loaded, making Shanahan's path back to the postseason difficult.
Winner: The Patriots defense
Snow games can always cause chaos in January, and that was evident in Foxboro, where the New England Patriots and Houston Texans combined for eight turnovers in ugly conditions. The reason that the Patriots came out on top despite Drake Maye's struggles is due to an elite defensive performance, and an excellent game plan from interim DC Zak Kuhr which had CJ Stroud's head spinning all day.
The turnovers that New England forced were massive, putting seven points on the board with Marcus Jones' pick six and getting the Houston offense off the field early and often. The Patriots were able to run a ton of plays on the vaunted Texans defense, wearing the group down and putting the game away late.
Loser: C.J. Stroud
No player had a worse showing for themselves in the postseason than Stroud, who basically cost his team a chance to get to the Super Bowl due to issues with ball security. After coughing up the football three times last week, fumbling twice and tossing an interception, Stroud outdid himself by throwing four first-half picks to put the Texans in a 21-10 hole they couldn't overcome.
Houston has never advanced past the Divisional Round in franchise history, and Stroud's awful showing here ensured that trend would continue. There will be some serious offseason questions about the progression of Stroud's career, which has seemingly plateaued after a tremendous rookie season in 2023.
Winner: Los Angeles Rams
Even though the Rams were clearly the better team than the Bears on paper entering Sunday night's game, they had a tremendous obstacle to overcome in the form of the snowy Chicago weather. The final game of the Divisional Round was played on a frigid night at Soldier Field, with snow throughout the contest — not an ideal recipe for a team that plays most of its games indoors and runs its offense through MVP candidate Matthew Stafford and the passing attack.
It wasn't always pretty, but the Rams took advantage of a critical Caleb Williams interception in overtime to drive down the field and set up a game-winning field goal from Harrison Mevis. The victory sets up Round 3 between the Rams and Seahawks in Seattle next Sunday night, with the winner of that game likely entering Super Bowl LX as the heavy favorite.