It's almost Christmas, which means it's time for playoff contenders to dream about sugarplums and flea-flickers, gum drops and strip sacks. While teams are expected to only focus on the opponent in front of them, the rest of us are free to speculate on January opponents and tasty plotlines. So, let's put the Super Bowl aside for now, and focus on the top-five most fun matchups in the playoffs, leading up to SoFi Stadium in February.
No. 5: Chargers at Bengals -- Take your pick of Justin Herbert opposing another elite quarterback, every one of those games would be fun. We just saw a wildly entertaining game when he nearly outdueled Patrick Mahomes last week. Earlier this month, the Chargers took home a wooly 41-22 win in Cincinnati, where the Bolts nearly blew a 24-0 lead. It's the matchup that gave us the epic Freezer Bowl, and could set up for a delirious wild card weekend game. Joe Burrow has the look of a guy who will be in the playoffs for many years. Would you want to battle him in January, along the banks of the Ohio River? This would be a fun rematch.
No. 4: Rams at Packers -- Some of the steam is taken out of this matchup because we saw it last season -- a rather forgettable 32-18 win for Green Bay. But that game featured Jared Goff throwing for 174 yards. This one would showcase Matthew Stafford in a stadium he's played so many times before, alongside newly acquired Von Miller and Odell Beckham Jr. This would be a delightful divisional round rematch. Aaron Rodgers has the Packers' offense humming, and a battle against the Ram's high-powered attack should yield fireworks. Cooper Kupp and Devante Adams. Aaron Donald and Jalen Ramsey. Sean McVay versus Matt LaFleur. Both teams have urgency to win right now.
No. 3: Bucs at Cowboys -- Tom Brady with a chance to send the Cowboys packing, and a sullen Jerry Jones luxury box shot. What's more fun than that? This would be a great divisional round pairing if they end up as the Nos. 2 and 3 seeds. The Bucs are taking on water, with massive injuries to Chris Godwin and Leonard Fournette. But watching Brady quietly march into Dallas and dig in for yet another dramatic playoff victim would be amazing theater. And the best victim of them all is always the Cowboys.
No. 2: Patriots at Chiefs -- It's not Brady versus Mahomes, but at least it's Belichick versus Reid. Three years ago, these two staged Brady's last great moment as a Patriot, an overtime thriller which sent New England to the Super Bowl. Ultimately, the Pats rebooted and Kansas City won the next Super Bowl, but a matchup of these two teams always leads to intriguing adjustments from a pair of Canton-bound coaches. Could Mac Jones deliver at raucous Arrowhead Stadium? Would Mahomes solve a turnover-crazy Belichick defense? The Chiefs nasty defense against the physical Patriots run attack. What's not to love?
No. 1: Cowboys at Packers -- Visions of the Ice Bowl and "Dak Caught It" would float through Green Bay all week. They met in the 1967 and 1968 NFL Championships, and had a kooky game in the strike-shortened 1982 playoffs. They met throughout the 1990s as the Cowboys built a dynasty, with Dallas winning in 1992, 1993 and 1995. The Packers returned the favor in the 2014 and 2016 divisional round, the latter being the 34-31 thriller in Dallas when Rodgers had one of his finest playoff games. This matchup has history. It has plot lines. It has Dallas returning to wintry Lambeau. Let's all dream.