
The first round of the NFL postseason begins this weekend with the Wild Card Playoffs in both the AFC and NFC conferences — but the reigning Super Bowl the champions will not play a match.
The Kansas City Chiefs have earned the #1 seed in the AFC their Christmas win in 2024 over the Pittsburgh Steelers.
“I thought it was a team performance. The defense stepped up, the offense stepped up (and) everybody had their stamp on the game,” quarterback Patrick Mahomes told reporters after the game. “I told my pregnant wife (Brittany Mahomes) I was going to get seed number 1 so we could have the baby.
The No. 1 pick must not play in a wild card game. (Meaning that in the NFC, the Detroit Lions also have an off week.) The remaining top seven teams in the conference will take the field, while the Chiefs and Lions get what is best described as a hard-earned day off. For Patrick, it’s also when his wife must give birth of their third baby.
The Chiefs will play the winner of one of the Wild Card games later this month in a divisional playoff round. The division winners ultimately face off in an attempt to advance to the conference championship, which of course determines the NFC and AFC teams that will play in the 2025 Super Bowl.
Super Bowl LIX will be held in New Orleans on Sunday, February 9, and the Chiefs are hoping to make history and win a third consecutive Lombardi Trophy.

“To win one is extremely difficult, to win two in a row like the Chiefs did — as we know in the history of the sport — almost impossible,” retired quarterback Tom Brady said during a Fox Sports broadcast in September 2024. “Win three in a row? There’s a reason no one has done it. To put three of those together … with the last draft, a very tough schedule, all the turnover in free agency, keeping guys motivated, it’s a big challenge.”
Brady, 47, added: “Fortunately they have a great coach Andy Reid (who) never looks back. He’s not going to say, ‘Hey, because we were great last year, we’re going to be great again this year.’ He holds those guys accountable. But to win it all again is an important task.”
During the final game of the regular season and head of the divisional round, Reed made the decision to sit on a few top starters including Patrick, 29, Travis KelceChris Jones and more. Backup defender Carson Wentz began the Jan. 5 road trip against the Denver Broncos, which ultimately ended in a 38-0 loss to the Chiefs, eliminating the Cincinnati Bengals and Miami Dolphins from the playoffs.