The NFC and AFC division championship games are official. The Philadelphia Eagles will take on the Washington Commanders and TKTK will take on the Kansas City Chiefs with tickets to Super Bowl LIX.

In anticipation of next weekend's division title matchup, we asked NFL Nation reporters to pick one thing we learned about the teams we covered in the divisional round. Seth Walder discusses how each team will win to advance, Matt Bowen picks the early X-factors, and we've got the opening tip from ESPN BET.

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WSH-PHI | BUF-KC

near field communication

when: Sunday, 3 p.m. ET (Fox)
Open line: PHI -5.5 (48.5)

Competition background: The two NFC East rivals split the season series. The Eagles took the first game on Nov. 26-18, and the Commanders won the December game 36-33 despite Jalen leaving the game in the first quarter with a concussion. Rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels had a stellar season against the Eagles in 2024; he totaled 449 yards passing, 78.2 yards to quarterback, six touchdowns and three interceptions. Philadelphia and Washington last met in the playoffs in 1990, with Washington winning 20-6. ——ESPN

Just do some statistics and you’ll know: Eagles running back Saquon Barkley has had a stellar performance against Washington in his career, averaging just over 137 yards from scrimmage per game. The only player in NFL history to average more kickoff yards against a single opponent than the Eagles is Jim Brown (minimum 10 games, including playoffs). -- ESPN Research

Early X Factor: Eagles defensive tackle Jalen Carter. His ability to create chaos inside is vital to the defense. Including the playoffs, he has 6.5 sacks, 28 pressures and 14 tackles this season. Carter needs to disrupt the pocket and make impact plays to limit Daniels and Washington's offense. ——Bowen

Here’s what we learned about the Eagles in the divisional round: Philadelphia's defense has talent in big moments. Heavy snow at Lincoln Financial Field made it difficult to drive in the second half, which is when Vic Fangio's team mounted a strong attack. First, Carter stripped running back Kyren Williams for a fumble, leading to a field goal, and then linebacker Nolan Smith Jr. followed with a strip sack of his own for another three points. Heading into next Sunday's NFC Championship Game against the Commanders, there will be questions about quarterback Jalen Jalen's health (he appeared to suffer a left leg injury in the second half) and whether the passing attack can hold up. But this defense leaves no room for doubt. ——Tim McManus

What we learned about Commander during divisional play: While Daniels has proven to be special, Washington's fortunes improve when Washington's defense and run game have nights like they had against Detroit. The Commanders forced just 17 turnovers in the regular season but now have six in the playoffs, including five against the Lions. Those turnovers resulted in three touchdowns.

Plus, if the Commanders can get repeat performance from running backs Brian Robinson Jr. and Austin Ekeler next week, they'll be tough to beat. The two backs combined for 132 yards, just 15 less than they had in the previous three games. ——John Keim

Why the Eagles Will Win: They have a pure talent advantage at nearly every position except quarterback. Seriously. The Eagles have better pass catchers, better running backs, a better offensive line, a better defensive line and better defensive backs. I'm not sure if this is an issue. Philadelphia also likely has a better linebacker when healthy, though with Nacobe Dean out, the position could shift to Washington. Still, the Commanders will need the transcendent Daniels to win, as he'll have to make up for Philadelphia's dominance all over the field.

Plus, Daniels burned the Lions, in part because Detroit's own injuries forced it to blitz so hard. The many stars on the Eagles defense — from Carter to Zach Baun to Darius Slay Jr. to Quinyan Mitchell — are one of the reasons Philadelphia doesn't blitz often ( Entering the Division Round rate was 18%, fourth-lowest), which should help contain Daniels. ——Wald

Why the Commander Wins: Daniels was on fire and coach Dan Quinn had a great performance in the fourth round. Let's start with the rookie quarterback who posted a 91.8 quarterback rating, shocked Detroit and sent the Commanders to the NFC Championship Game. Daniels has proven multiple times that he can't be brought down by blitzes, posting a quarterback rating of 90.1 (second-best) against them in the regular season, but the Lions tried anyway and were severely criticized for the pick. harm. But forget about just facing the blitz: Daniels just hit incredible ball. Since the Commanders have won seven straight starting in Week 13, Daniels has a QBR of 82.3, second best during that stretch behind Josh Allen (entering Sunday).

Part of what makes Daniels' offensive production even more important is that Quinn has proven he's willing to go all-out on fourth down to keep the ball in the hands of his star quarterback. The Commanders faced four downs on Saturday, with ESPN's analytical model recommending a continuation (fifth is neutral), and Quinn elected to continue on all four occasions. Those calls alone — not the results, but the decisions — added a cumulative 7.8 percent to Washington's chances of winning. This approach makes a lot of sense and will continue as long as Quinn maintains the same mindset. ——Wald

when: Sunday, 6:30 p.m. ET (CBS/Paramount)
Open line: KC -1 (48.5)

Competition background: This will be the ninth meeting between quarterbacks Patrick Mahomes and Josh Allen. The two have a 4-4 head-to-head record, with Mahomes leading Allen 3-0 in the playoffs. The Bills and Chiefs met in Week 11 of the season; Buffalo won 30-21, which was Kansas City's only loss for a starter this season. The two teams met in the divisional round last season, with the Chiefs winning 27-24. ——ESPN

Here's what we know about the Chiefs in the divisional round: As long as tight end Travis Kelce is on the field, Kansas City will be hard to beat. Hollywood Brown, DeAndre Hopkins and JuJu Smith-Schuster all failed to catch passes against the Texans, while Xavier Worthy was underwhelming. But thanks to Kelce's help, the Chiefs still found enough offense to score 23 points and advance to the AFC Championship Game.

Kelce had 117 yards receiving, well over half of the Chiefs' total and more than double his season average of 56 yards. He looked fresh after a three-week layoff after the Chiefs clinched the top seed with a week left in the regular season. . ——Adam Teicher

Why the Chiefs will win: They have individual players who can take over games. Kelce showed he's still fresh after a quiet regular season, finishing with seven catches for 117 yards against the Texans. Chris Jones only had 5.0 sacks in the regular season, but he had more pass rush wins (62) and pressures (50) than any other defensive tackle. Trent McDuffie is one of the best corners in the league. We can't deny that Mahomes can bring playoff magic anytime this time of year. Even in a down year for the Chiefs quarterback, Kansas City has (justifiably) relied on him, with his passer rating exceeding expectations (+5%) and second-highest in the league, per NFL Next Gen Stats .

On paper, the Chiefs should be the underdog. But the world has seen the rise of Mahomes too many times to assume he won't happen again. Add in home field advantage and the Chiefs are almost as scary as ever. almost. ——Wald

Why the Bills Will Win: They are the better football team. Even entering Sunday, before beating the Ravens, FPI had the Bills 2.9 points ahead of the Chiefs at neutral sites. Why? Because they're better off playing all season long.

Entering Sunday, the Bills' 0.25 EPA per dropback was nearly double what the Chiefs had this year (0.13). They're also much better on the ground -- 0.07 EPA per game compared to the Chiefs' minus-0.03 EPA (some of that driven by Allen's engineered run game -- but, hey, that's going to have Contribute to the AFC competition) and the championship game! ). Another way to put it: The Bills have a quarterback who is playing better this year. Allen has the No. 1 QBR this season (Sunday's game) (77.3) and Mahomes is No. 8 (67.7), with Allen benefiting from protecting the offensive line behind a stellar pass rush.

There's no question that Buffalo has some pass defense issues. But offense is what wins in the NFL, and the Bills have a clear advantage on that side of the ball. ——Wald