NFL Playoffs Briefing: The stars were on display during Wild Card Weekend

Editor's Note: Throughout the NFL playoffs, Chris Myers and his research team analyze upcoming matchups, while providing news, notes, and nuggets for inside access to the information an NFL broadcaster uses to prepare for calling a game.

THOUGHTS ON WILD CARD WEEKEND

The AFC divisional round field is the same as last year, although the opponents are scrambled. In the 2023 postseason, Houston went to Baltimore and Kansas City faced the Bills in Buffalo.

In the NFC, the Detroit Lions are the only team to return. The other three divisional contestants will be different no matter who prevails in Glendale, Ariz., on Monday night.

Home teams are 4-1 in wild-card games so far this postseason – and there really isn't a "home" team Monday night in Arizona. The Vikings-Rams game is the second non-Super Bowl game in NFL postseason history to be played at a neutral site. Who knew that the first was the 1936 NFL Championship Game?  George Preston Marshall, owner of the Boston franchise he would soon move to Washington, was not happy with ticket sales in Boston, so the game was moved to the Polo Grounds in New York, where the Packers prevailed 21-6 before a crowd of nearly 30,000.

This is the fifth season since the NFL expanded the playoffs to seven teams in each conference. With losses from the Broncos and Packers over the weekend, the No. 2 seeds are 9-1 on Wild Card Weekend.  The exception came last year when Green Bay crushed the Cowboys in Dallas, 48-32.

(4) Houston Texans 32, (5) Los Angeles Chargers 12

Houston advanced to the divisional round for the sixth time since 2011. The bad news is they are 0-5 when they get there.

Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert threw four interceptions Saturday against Houston, after just