What we learned from the 2025 NFL Divisional Round: Saquon Barkley owns the Rams, Travis Kelce can still flip the switch

The divisional round, widely considered the best weekend on the football calendar, is on schedule and did not disappoint. Everything you were looking for as a fan could be found to some extent throughout these four games, including upsets, snowy weather, high-octane offenses, and stellar play on defense. There were also some sensational individual efforts.

While some of these contests went as planned, there were definitely a few surprises along the way, providing us with definitive answers to the questions we had going into the list. Below, we’ll highlight some of the things we learned from another crazy weekend of playoff football.

Travis Kelce can still flip the switch

At 35, Travis Kelce is closer to the end of his career than the beginning. With that in mind, the question still looms around the legendary tight end as to whether or not he can still be a destructive force when the situation calls for it. In recent years, Kelce has picked his spots throughout the regular season. Last season, he was able to flip the switch once the lights were on and helped Kansas City win another Super Bowl title. As we entered these playoffs, those same questions — wondering if he could flip the switch — loomed, and he answered them brilliantly.

In Kanas City’s win over the Texans, the tight end recorded a season-high 117 yards on seven catches, along with a touchdown. This was his ninth career playoff game with 100 or more receiving yards, which passed Jerry Rice for the most all-time.

One of the big storylines of Sunday’s playoff game between the Rams and Eagles was whether or not Barkley could come close to his dominant performance against Los Angeles from earlier this season. Well, looks like he can/did it. In Week 12, Barkley ran for 255 yards against the Rams, then followed that up with a 205-yard rushing performance in the divisional round victory. Those Sunday totals represented the fifth-most rushing yards in a playoff game ever.

Taking his previous totals into account, Barkley has 534 total scrimmage yards against the Rams this season, which is the most against a single team in a season since 1950 (including the playoffs).

While Daniels played at LSU and has been in many hostile environments during his playing career, Saturday’s playoff game at Ford Field against the Detroit Lions was arguably the biggest stage of his life. And he didn’t blink. Daniels led the Commanders into Detroit and pulled off one of the biggest upsets in recent memory. He completed 22 of 31 passes for 299 yards and two touchdowns in the winning effort while adding 51 yards on the ground.

Daniels is only the second rookie to defeat the No. 1 seed in the playoffs, and the sixth rookie to start a conference championship game. He is also the third player in NFL history to have at least 500 passing yards, 75 rushing yards, four passing touchdowns and zero interceptions through two postseason games, joining Patrick Mahomes (2019) and Josh Allen (2021). He is tied with Ben Roethlisberger for the most wins by a rookie (14) in NFL history, and if he breaks the record, he will also become the first rookie to appear in the Super Bowl.

The Lions could not overcome numerous injuries

Every team deals with injuries, but the Lions have seemed particularly tough on the defensive side of the ball throughout the season. Aidan Hutchinson, suffering a serious leg injury, was the headliner throughout the season, but various other injuries within the team began to pile up, leading to questions whether Dan Campbell’s club – a betting favorite to win the Super Bowl – – could resist it. Those injuries haven’t eased up either, with starting corner Amik Robertson going down early in Saturday’s playoff game against Washington. This latest injury was one of several straws that broke the camel’s back and led to the Lions facing practice squad players in a playoff game. This ultimately contributed to their demise in this upset defeat.

Crows are their own worst enemy

The Baltimore Ravens outscored the Buffalo Bills 416-273, converted seven of their 10 third-down opportunities and averaged 7.3 yards per play in Sunday’s playoff game. Despite this, they were sent home, largely because they were fighting. Baltimore committed three turnovers that led to 10 points scored by Buffalo in what turned out to be a two-point loss. In addition to giving the ball away, the Ravens couldn’t execute when they needed to most. After orchestrating an 88-yard touchdown drive and setting himself up with an opportunity to tie the game, Lamar Jackson hit an open Mark Andrews for the potential score, but the veteran tight end (who also fumbled earlier in the match) simply dropped the catch.

This is eerily similar to Baltimore’s AFC championship loss to the Chiefs last year, where mental errors and turnovers cost the Ravens a chance at the Super Bowl title. If they had been just a little more careful with the football in this game and executed simple live plays on the 2-point attempt above, there’s a good chance they would have advanced.