NFL playoffs 2024: Ranking the top five potential wild-card matchups, including Matthew Stafford vs. Lions

We’re knocking on the door of 2024 and just two weeks remain in the NFL’s regular season before it’s a mad dash to Las Vegas for Super Bowl LVIII. Over these next couple of weeks, the playoff picture will crystalize and we’ll know the official matchups for Super Wild Card Weekend. That said, there are a bunch of different scenarios that could play out and produce some fantastic head-to-heads to open up the postseason. 

We’re going to comb through those scenarios and pick out some of the juiciest matchups and rank them in order of what we want to see. 

The Dolphins are currently the No. 2 seed in the AFC and vying to step up to the No. 1 seed if they win out, but there’s also a scenario where they move down in the playoff standings. If Buffalo leapfrogs them in the division, Miami would suddenly be looking at the potential of sitting as the No. 6 seed and booking a trip to Kansas City to face the Chiefs, the No. 3 seed and AFC West winner in this scenario.

Of course, the top storyline doesn’t need an introduction, but we’ll lay it out anyway: Tyreek Hill vs. Chiefs. The star wideout would have an opportunity to face his former team once again and have the ability to oust them from the playoffs. This would also be Hill’s first game against the Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium since he was traded to the Dolphins in 2022 (the Week 9 head-to-head between these teams this season was in Germany). In that international matchup midway through this season, Hill caught eight of his 10 targets for 62 yards. If they met again in Kansas City, all eyes would certainly be on Hill trying to top 100 yards in en route to the upset. 

Speaking of upsets, this would certainly qualify as a potential win for the underdog Dolphins. Kansas City has struggled mightily in recent weeks and could be ripe for a first-round exit if its offense doesn’t start getting into a rhythm, which is all the more reason this could be a must-see game.  

If Seattle wins out and the Rams drop one of their final two games (Week 18 at 49ers?), they could end up as the No. 7 seed in the NFC and look at a matchup against the defending NFC Champion Eagles at Lincoln Financial Field. The quarterback matchup in this game is pristine with Jalen Hurts hosting Matthew Stafford, and so is the coaching chess match between Nick Sirianni and Sean McVay. These are the last two teams that represented the conference in the Super Bowl, so they each should be able to rise to the occasion and make this a slugfest. 

This also could be one of the games that folks point to as a potential upset. The Rams have been one of the hottest teams in the second half winning five of their last six games coming into Week 17 and Matthew Stafford has been dealing. Meanwhile, the Eagles have stumbled in recent weeks. Even as they snapped its three-game losing streak last week, they made it unnecessarily difficult against the Giants, who kept it relatively close late. Against a better team like Los Angeles, Philly could be in trouble.  

3. Dolphins vs. Bills

Who doesn’t love a good division rivalry game? This would be the third time this season that Buffalo and Miami would play one another and the second time in as many weeks with these AFC East foes set to duke it out in Week 18 as well. Currently, the Dolphins are the No. 2 seed in the AFC with the Bills sitting as the No. 6 seed. However, there’s a chance that Buffalo could jump up as the AFC East champion if they win out and Miami loses out, so this game could actually end up being played in Orchard Park, New York. Under that scenario, Miami would be the No. 6 seed, slotting behind Cleveland in the wild-card race. It’d be looking not only to avenge losing the division at the last second but the 48-20 thumping it took from the Bills at Highmark Stadium back in Week 4.  

2. Bills vs. Chiefs

If we can get Josh Allen vs. Patrick Mahomes, you can’t pass it up. The rivalry between these two quarterbacks is arguably the best in the NFL at the moment and has featured a couple of massive playoff moments (including the infamous “13 seconds” game in the divisional round during the 2021 playoffs). If they can write a new chapter, it would be the marquee matchup on the playoff slate. If the season ended today, this would be one of the wild-card matchups with the Bills traveling to Kansas City to face the Chiefs.

Buffalo has shown as recently as this season that they can go into Arrowhead Stadium and come out with a win. Of course, that Week 14 game would be brought back into the topic of conversation and the offsides call on Kadarius Toney that saw both Andy Reid and Patrick Mahomes receive fines from the NFL for their postgame critiques of the officials. The Bills have been surging over the last few weeks and have crashed into the wild-card race after sitting at .500 when they hit the bye in Week 13. Given how inconsistent Kansas City’s offense has been this season and Buffalo’s unit seemingly hitting its stride, Allen could be looking at his first-ever playoff win against Mahomes (currently 0-2).

1. Rams vs. Lions

How can this not be the No. 1 wild-card game? As the playoff standings sit at the moment heading into Week 17, Matthew Stafford and his Rams would travel to Detroit to face the Lions. Of course, Stafford is a franchise icon with the Lions and spent the first 12 years of his career with the team before being traded to the Rams in a blockbuster trade back in 2021 that helped spark L.A. to a Super Bowl LVI title. He also holds every meaningful passing record with the organization. For him to head back into Ford Field as a visitor for the first time since that trade and on the playoff stage is box office. 

Then, there’s also the Jared Goff element to all this, too. He’d be facing the team that decided to ship him away and has an opportunity to send them packing with a Lions team that has embraced him and helped develop him into an even more efficient quarterback. This would be a high-flying and emotional game for both quarterbacks and would likely be the most anticipated game of the entire season if the matchup ultimately got locked in.