If you’re a football-watching, red-blooded American sports fan, these are the times that are good. Say what you will about the 12-team College Football Playoff, good or bad, but it has undeniably added viewing inventory to late December and early January.
Additionally, the 14-team NFL playoff, which has been around in this structure since the COVID season in 2020, has made the first round of the playoffs a six-game weekend (up from four games). This is fantastic!
So here we go! This weekend, starting tonight, we get two College Football Playoff semifinal games, both being played in bowl game venues, and six, COUNT ‘EM SIX, NFL playoff games! Here is the rundown, with the PENDERGAST EXCITEMENT SCORE (scale of 1 to 10) for each game. Let’s get ready to veg out on the couch for five days together!
Thursday 1/8:
Fiesta Bowl — #10 Miami (-3.5) vs #5 Ole Miss, 6:30 p.m. (ESPN)
Miami was the last team into the field, leap frogging Notre Dame in the final rankings. They’ve proven they belong with hard-hitting wins over Texas A&M. Meanwhile, Ole Miss has won two playoff games with a skeleton coaching staff after Lane Kiffin hightailed it out to LSU. Ole Miss is the sympathy play, and an incredible story if they keep winning.
PENDERGAST EXCITEMENT SCORE: 7.6
Friday 1/9:
Peach Bowl — #5 Oregon vs #1 Indiana (-3.5), 6:30 p.m. (ESPN)
Through the first two years of the 12-team playoff, only one team with a first round bye has won a game, and it is Indiana’s 38-3 thrashing of Alabama last week. Oregon had a win last week, equally lacking in drama, 23-0 over Texas Tech. These two teams met in the regular season, with the Hoosiers winning a statement game in Eugene.
PENDERGAST EXCITEMENT SCORE: 6.3
Saturday 1/10:
Los Angeles Rams (-10.5) at Carolina Panthers, 3:30 p.m. (FOX)
With the college deck cleared, it’s onto the NFL, and looky here! The early Saturday game and it does NOT involve the Houston Texans! Indeed, this Panthers team is probably less compelling than any of the previous eight Texans playoff teams. Add in the fact that the Rams somehow lost to the Panthers in the regular season, and the revenge factor makes this a long day for Bryce Young and company.
PENDERGAST EXCITEMENT SCORE: 5.3
Green Bay Packers (-1) at Chicago Bears, 7 p.m. (Amazon)
Hey, any time there is cold weather football inside the NFC North, between two rival teams, and I can watch it on television, as opposed to sitting in that brutal weather, I am here for it! This is just old school fun right here, between two teams that split their games in the regular season.
PENDERGAST EXCITEMENT SCORE: 9.1
Sunday 1/11:
Buffalo Bills (-1) at Jacksonville Jaguars, Noon (CBS)
With Patrick Mahomes out of the postseason this year, if ever there were a time for Josh Allen to finally rise up and claim a Lombardi Trophy, this is it. However, he will likely have to do it by going on the road three times. It starts in Jacksonville, where I’m positive Jags head coach Liam Coen will turn the Jags’ underdog status into some contrived disrespect for his team. Like the Texans, the Jags are riding a massive winning streak into the postseason. This is the game of the weekend.
PENDERGAST EXCITEMENT SCORE: 9.4
San Francisco 49ers at Philadelphia Eagles (-4.5), 3:30 p.m. (FOX)
These are the two teams that have represented the NFC in the Super Bowl the last three seasons. Both come in a little flawed. The Niners’ defense, without Nick Bosh and Fred Warner, is a shell of what it usually is. Meanwhile, the Eagles have managed an 11-6 record, despite iunconcistency and infighting from their star players.
PENDERGAST EXCITEMENT SCORE: 8.2
Los Angeles Chargers at New England Patriots (-3.5), 7 p.m. (NBC)
Well, I hope everyone enjoyed that three season period where the Patriots sucked, because now they’re good again, and don’t appear to be going away anytime soon. Their QB Drake Maye is the likely MVP for the regular season, and they open the playoffs by playing a West Coast team at home, in frigid temperatures. Also, this particular West Coast team, the Chargers, has lost both their starting tackles and is a cursed playoff franchise.
PENDERGAST EXCITEMENT SCORE: 7.9
Monday 1/12:
Houston Texans (-3) at Pittsburgh Steelers, 7:00 p.m. (ABC)
We will have a lot more to say about this game in this space over the next few days, but I think it’s safe to say that this is the most national love the Texans have been getting heading into the postseason in their existence. It’s undoubtedly the biggest playoff stage they’ve played on, against a team that hasn’t lost a Monday night home game since 1991. Yes, you read that right.
PENDERGAST EXCITEMENT SCORE: 10.0
This article appears in Private: Jan 1 – Dec 31, 2026.