And once again, the NFL Playoffs brought us some wild finishes. Now that we're into the conference championship week, just four NFL teams remain, and you could argue that all four were and are the four best teams in the NFL.
Even with the NFL having so much parity this year, the best teams typically stand out in the end. The biggest storyline of the weekend honestly came from the Buffalo Bills at Denver Broncos. The Broncos won in overtime but lost starting QB Bo Nix to a broken ankle.
All of a sudden, the AFC title game looks a lot different, and even though the game is in Denver, the Patriots might end up being the favorite and are likely to win that game. On the NFC side of things, the Seattle Seahawks and Los Angeles Rams each got past their opponents, but that was not much of a surprise. Let's power rank the four teams eliminated this past weekend.
Power ranking the teams that lost in the 2025 NFL Divisional Round
4. Houston Texans
The Houston Texans have a Super Bowl-caliber defense, but CJ Stroud really has not played all that well since his rookie season back in 2023. At this point, you have to wonder if the team is going to start doing a bit of homework on the position.
You absolutely cannot extend Stroud this offseason but should pick up his fifth-year option. Year four in the NFL is going to be massive for him, as this team is built to win now and has won 32 regular season games over the past three regular seasons. Houston doesn't feel like as slam dunk of a team as we though. The Texans are no. 4 in our power rankings, as this franchise is really at a bit of a crossroads right now.
Houston isn't in an ideal spot right now, and the Divisional Round proved that to us big-time.