The Wild Card round of the NFL playoffs has come and gone, and the Divisional Round has been officially set.
The quarterfinals will feature two games in the NFC. The first comes on Saturday evening, where the No. 1 seed Detroit Lions host the No. 6 seed Washington Commanders. The Lions have opened up as 9.5-point favorites (ESPN BET).
The second NFC matchup comes on Sunday afternoon when the No. 2 seed Philadelphia Eagles host the No. 4 seed Los Angeles Rams. Philly enters the game as a 6.5-point favorite (ESPN BET).
Before every week of the NFL season, ESPN experts make their predictions on each contest. Out of the nine analysts picking the Divisional Round games, senior NFL writer Jason Reid was the only one to predict the Commanders to defeat the Lions.
Of the 11 total ESPN experts, Reid finished the season with the second-best prediction record, correctly picking 190-of-272 total games in 2024. He even went 4-of-6 on his wild card picks.
The Commanders have gotten hot at the right time and enter the quarterfinals matchup on a six-game winning streak. They were able to secure a 23-20 wild-card win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers thanks to a last-second field goal by kicker Zane Gonzalez.
First-year head coach Dan Quinn ended his first regular season with Washington with an 11-5 record, seven wins better than in 2023. But it may be rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels who has to guide the Commanders to an upset over Detroit.
The former LSU star has been an integral part of Washington's top ten offense, using both his passing and running skills to lead his team to 369.6 yards per game, good for seventh in the NFL.
Washington Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels
Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images
Along with Reid's Commanders pick, four of the nine ESPN experts picked the Rams to upset the Eagles. However, the most common selection for the NFC Championship Game is a matchup between the Lions and Eagles.
