NFL play-offs: Profiles and ones to watch for eight teams in divisional round

And then there were eight.

After the longest ever regular NFL season and a rather predictable wildcard weekend, we've got the eight best teams playing in four blockbuster contests to look forward to on Saturday and Sunday.

Here, we take a look at the eight remaining Super Bowl contenders and highlight what to watch for in the big games.

• Rodgers takes aim at 49ers as grudge matches dominate NFL divisional round

Saturday (away team first, times in GMT)

• Cincinnati Bengals v Tennessee Titans (21:30)

• San Francisco 49ers v Green Bay Packers (01:15)

Sunday

• Los Angeles Rams v Tampa Bay Buccaneers (20:00)

• Buffalo Bills v Kansas City Chiefs (23:30)

The contenders

Tampa Bay Buccaneers - the champions

• Coach: Bruce Arians

• Super Bowl wins: Two (2002, 2020)

The Bucs are a well-rounded side who can run and throw the ball. They're big scorers, and have scored 30 points or more in the five play-off wins they've managed with quarterback Tom Brady, including the Super Bowl victory in his first campaign with the team last season, so they're a tough team to stop.

Brady may be 44, but this year he led the NFL in touchdown passes and passing yards - with his 5,316 his best ever return in a season. He's beaten everyone in the NFL and is now giving Old Father Time a run for his money as well.

Tom Brady and Rob Gronkowski celebrate last year's Super Bowl victory.

On defence they can cause plenty of problems too, but their main stars will be receiver Mike Evans and tight end Rob Gronkowski. 'Gronk' is a four-time Super Bowl winner alongside Brady, and came out of retirement to join his long-time quarterback last season.

Brady and Gronkowski have combined for the most play-off touchdowns in history (15) and when the chips are down this combination often breaks the game wide open.

Los Angeles Rams - all in to win

• Coach: Sean McVay

• Super Bowl wins: One (1999)

Having started in Cleveland and now in their second stint in LA, the nomadic Rams won the Super Bowl while based in St Louis - when they became known as 'The Greatest Show on Turf' due to their high-scoring attacking play.

No-one has been more aggressive in the trade market than this Rams team, who are going all-in to win under head coach Sean McVay. The Rams have spent money and draft picks to bring in quarterback Matthew Stafford, former Super Bowl MVP Von Miller on defence and wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr.

The Rams hope gunslinger Stafford can make the difference in big games, but he's known for making errors at the wrong time - having thrown the most pick sixes in the league this season.

Wide receiver Cooper Kupp won the triple crown by topping the NFL in catches (145), receiving yards (1,947) and receiving touchdowns (16) so Stafford targets him often, but the Rams also have a tough defence built around three-time Defensive Player of the Year winner Aaron Donald. He's the type of player that gives QBs nightmares.

Green Bay Packers - 'Title Town' wants trophy back

• Coach: Matt LaFleur

• Super Bowl wins: Four (1966, 1967, 1996, 2010)

A huge team from a tiny town in Wisconsin, known as 'Title Town' from the days when the Packers won nine NFL titles before then winning the first two Super Bowls. The Vince Lombardi Trophy they all now play for was even named after the Packers' legendary coach.

Being the only non-profit, fan-owned team in American sport adds to the allure, but away from the history this team now is one of the best around, with head coach Matt LaFleur taking them to the last two NFC Championship games.

Quarterback Aaron Rodgers is favourite to win back-to-back MVP awards, although despite being one of the best ever in his position he's only made one Super Bowl. This could also be his "last ride" with the team after his big summer falling-out with Packers officials.

On the field, Rodgers has a devastating connection with receiver Davante Adams - who has more touchdown catches in the last five years than anyone else. Problems in the run game and defence has seen them fall at the final hurdle before, but both areas have improved and hopes are high.

San Francisco 49ers - the Deebo show

• Coach: Kyle Shanahan

• Super Bowl wins: Five (1981, 1984, 1988, 1989, 1994)

One of the most high-profile teams in the league were serial winners in the last 1980s but have lost their last two Super Bowls, including just a couple of years ago with this coach and current quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo.

Star defender Nick Bosa is a key man as he creates constant pressure on opposing quarterbacks with his freakish speed and strength, while Kyle Shanahan runs a unique running game that often bamboozles defences before the ball is even snapped.

Deebo Samuel has also bamboozled everyone this season, the wide receiver having morphed into one of the most effective running backs in the game. Samuel has coined a new position for himself as a "wide back".

His eight rushing touchdowns this season were the most by a receiver since 1970 and his 1,770 total yards ranked third in the NFL. He had a play-off-record 72 rushing yards as a receiver against Dallas and he's even thrown a touchdown pass this season!

Good things usually happen with a large dose of Deebo.

Buffalo Bills - the nearly men

• Coach: Sean McDermott

• Super Bowl wins: None

The Bills hold the record for the most consecutive Super Bowl appearances after making four from 1990-93 - the fact they lost every single one of them remains one of the cruellest runs in sport. For the first time since those years in the early 1990s, Buffalo feel they have a team to finally do it.

After enduring the longest play-off drought in US sports, they have now knocked the famed New England Patriots off their AFC East perch, claimed back-to-back divisional titles and came within a game of a Super Bowl return last season.

They had the best defence in the league this year and in quarterback Josh Allen possess a rare talent with a jet engine for a right arm and a brutal running style that sees him regularly power through the big men on the field.

Allen pitched a perfect game in the wildcard round as the Bills scored seven touchdowns in seven possessions as they dismantled the Patriots. Allen had more TD throws than incomplete passes in a huge statement that they can go one better this season.

Kansas City Chiefs - going for three in a row

• Coach: Andy Reid

• Super Bowl wins: Two (1969, 2019)

They finally ended 50 years of hurt with their second Super Bowl success in 2019, but were then destroyed by Tom Brady's Buccaneers in the showpiece game last season. The Chiefs now hope to make amends by making three in a row.

Patrick Mahomes is a unique quarterback, an artist with a catalogue of under arm, side arm and no-look passes. He's won the MVP and Super Bowl and led the Chiefs to three straight AFC Championship games - they are certainly one of the teams to beat.

After a sticky 3-4 start this season, the Chiefs had an identity change behind a remarkable defensive turnaround, going from historically bad to genuinely good during their 9-1 finish. The defence had more interceptions (15) than touchdown passes allowed (12).

Mahomes found his groove late on, throwing 17 touchdowns and just two interceptions in his last six games as the Chiefs averaged 36.5 points per game. Travis Kelce and Tyreek Hill offer unrivalled targets but watch out for lively running back Jerick McKinnon after his monster 142-yard game against Pittsburgh last week.

Cincinnati Bengals - the team of the future

• Coach: Zac Taylor

• Super Bowl wins: None

There has not been much to shout about for a generation of Bengals fans until last week when they won their first play-off game in 31 years. This is an exciting young group of players led by second-year quarterback Joe Burrow, who has been incredible since returning from a serious knee injury.

Burrow was the most accurate passer in the NFL last season, but he also made mountains of big plays - mainly to record-breaking rookie receiver Ja'Marr Chase. Burrow, 25, has the poise and confidence of a veteran and fully earns his 'Joe Cool' nickname.

Burrow had a 4,000-yard passing season, while Chase and fellow receiver Tee Higgins had 1,000-yard seasons, as did running back Joe Mixon - and with all four under the age of 26, the future is bright in Cincinnati. The question is whether they can go all the way right now.

They've got a great highlights reel as one of the entertainers in the NFL, and can stand toe-to-toe with anyone in a shootout. After years of waiting Bengals fans are in for some wild rides over the coming years.

Tennessee Titans - the underrated top seeds

• Coach: Mike Vrabel

• Super Bowl wins: None

Formerly the Houston Oilers, they moved to Tennessee in 1997 and became the Titans in 1999, which turned out to be the season they made their one and only Super Bowl appearance.

Nobody seems to give them a chance despite the Titans finishing as top AFC seeds and having come within a game of the Super Bowl just two years ago.

Head coach Mike Vrabel has a tough, hard-running team who have the benefit of dominant running back Derrick Henry leading the way. Henry only played eight games of the regular season but ended up leading the league in yards per game with 117.1.

Having Henry back for the play-offs after injury will be huge, as injuries have hit the Titans more than most this season. They still went 6-3 without Henry as back-up D'Onta Foreman had similar stats in the run game.

Ryan Tannehill is the most unheralded quarterback left in the play-offs but he could have a big say in proceedings now he has top receivers AJ Brown and Julio Jones on the field together. Tannehill is also a huge threat in the run game.

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