The road to the Super Bowl is wide open

This is an excerpt from The Buzzer, which is CBC Sports' daily email newsletter. Stay up to speed on what's happening in sports by subscribing here .

Where do we even start with how weird this NFL season has been?

How about here: Kansas City missed the playoffs for the first time in the Patrick Mahomes era, finishing a dismal 6-11 after averaging close to 13 wins while reaching seven straight AFC championship games. As for the other top-five favourites to win the Super Bowl heading into the season, Baltimore and Detroit are out, Buffalo failed to win its division for the first time in six years, and Philadelphia looked like a shell of the team that rolled to a championship last year.

Meanwhile, New England rocketed from 4-13 the last two years to 14-3 to upset the Bills for the AFC East title, the perennially disappointing Chicago Bears improved by six wins to steal the NFC North, the sleepy Carolina Panthers took the NFC South (with a sub-.500 record) and 42-year-old Aaron Rodgers led Pittsburgh to the AFC North crown.

Hold on, there's more. The No. 1 seeds are Seattle and Denver, each led by a quarterback — Sam Darnold and Bo Nix, respectively — who has never won a playoff game. And the favourite to win the MVP award is 37-year-old Rams QB Matthew Stafford, who missed most of training camp with a bad back.

Needless to say, the road to the Super Bowl looks more wide open than it's been in years. Here's a quick look at the matchups for the first round of the playoffs, which kick off this weekend with six division winners hosting a wild-card team while the top-seeded Seahawks and Broncos enjoy a bye.

Los Angeles Rams (12-5) at Carolina Panthers (8-9) — Saturday at 4:30 p.m. ET: All signs point to a blowout. The