NFL playoffs: Lake Erie teams make history

Oft downtrodden franchises make positive history

The NFL playoffs are upon us. The 14 teams that made the postseason are set and the Wild Card matchups are on the schedule. What seems like a marathon of sprints now turns into a sprint of sprints as less than half the league vie for the chance to win the Super Bowl in Las Vegas.

For the Cleveland Browns, the road to Vegas starts on Saturday with a trip to take on the Houston Texans. Artificial Intelligence gave us a look at one potential Super Bowl matchup in the desert.

On Sunday Night Football, the Buffalo Bills locked up the second-overall seed in the AFC. The NFC’s Lake Erie team, the Detroit Lions, are the third seed in their conference and are tied for the second-best record in the NFL at 12-5.

Sadly, due to bad stretches of seasons from all three teams, especially the Browns and Lions, the three Lake Erie teams making the playoffs is actually historical:

While that image might feel a little cursed, all three teams have a realistic shot at making noise in the playoffs. Detroit and Buffalo start at home with the Bills certain to host a divisional round game if they win on Wild Card weekend.

While AI gave us a look at Browns versus Lions in the Super Bowl, Cleveland and Buffalo could match up in the next round depending on the results of Kansas City versus Miami.

How surprised are you that the Browns, Bills and Lions had not all made the playoffs in the same year before this year?