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Welcome to the Monday edition of the Pick Six newsletter! 

The end of the NFL season is always crazy and this year has been no different. Here’s a short list of what we’ve seen go down over the past 24 hours: 

• The Chiefs forgot to show up for their game in Denver
• The Vikings forgot to show up to Detroit on Sunday night
• The Patriots fired Jerod Mayo
• The Jaguars fired Doug Pederson
• The playoff schedule came out and every NFC game is a rematch from the regular season. 

We’ll be covering all of those things, plus plenty more in today’s newsletter, so let’s get to the rundown. 

As always, here’s your daily reminder to tell all your friends to sign up for the newsletter. Your New Year’s resolution for 2025 should be to sign up everyone you know. To get them signed up, all you have to do is click here. 

1. NFL playoff schedule is out: Chargers and Texans to kick off the postseason

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The NFL playoffs are finally here and if you like rematches, then you’re definitely going to love what the NFC has in store for the wild-card round. 

With that in mind, here’s a look at the schedule for the wild-card round:

Saturday, Jan. 11

• (5) Chargers at (4) Texans, 4:30 p.m. ET (NBC). In his first year on the job, Jim Harbaugh already has the Chargers in the playoffs and they’ll get to face a Texans team that struggled down the stretch, losing two of their final three games. 
• (6) Steelers at (3) Ravens, 8 p.m. ET (Prime Video). These two teams will be meeting for the third time this season after splitting their first two games. The Steelers beat the Ravens 18-16 back in Week 11 before losing to Baltimore, 34-17, in Week 16. Even though the Steelers have lost four straight going into the playoffs, they might have some confidence going into this game since they’ve won four of their past five against the Ravens. 

Sunday, Jan. 12

• (7) Broncos at (2) Bills, 1 p.m. ET (CBS). The Broncos will be looking for their first playoff win since Super Bowl 50 and if they’re going to win, they’re going to have to do it with a rookie quarterback in Bo Nix. Rookie quarterbacks tend to struggle in the playoffs, going just 3-9 over the past 10 years.
• (7) Packers at (2) Eagles, 4:30 p.m. ET (Fox). The last time we saw these two teams on the same field came back in Week 1 during a game in Brazil where the Eagles beat the Packers 34-29. This time around, the two teams will be meeting in Philadelphia, where the Eagles are 8-1 this season. 
• (6) Commanders at (3) Buccaneers, 8 p.m. ET (NBC). Like Packers-Eagles, this is also a rematch of a game that was played in Week 1. Back in September, the Bucs destroying the Commanders 37-20 in what was Jayden Daniels’ first career game. Daniels now has a lot more experience and it will be interesting to see how he fares this time around against the Bucs’ defense. 

Monday, Jan. 13

• (5) Vikings at (4) Rams, 8 p.m. ET (ABC/ESPN). The Vikings only lost three games this season and they’re now stuck playing against one of the teams that beat them. These two teams met back in Week 8 with the Rams coming out on top 30-20. 

The Chiefs and Lions also made the playoffs, but they both got a first-round bye, so they won’t be on the field until the divisional round. 

2. Ranking the playoff teams: Lions and Ravens at the top

As you’ve probably noticed, we love to rank things here at CBS Sports so in news that probably won’t come as a huge surprise, we decided to rank this year’s playoff field. There are a total of 14 teams, and based on Cody Benjamin’s rankings, we could be headed for a Lions-Ravens showdown in Super Bowl LIX.

Here’s how Cody’s rankings broke down: 

1. Lions (15-2)

2. Ravens (12-5)

3. Chiefs (15-2) 

4. Eagles (14-3) 

5. Bills (13-4) 

6. Vikings (14-3)

7. Commanders (12-5)

8. Packers (11-6)

9. Buccaneers (10-7)

10. Rams (10-7)

11. Chargers (11-6)

12. Broncos (10-7)

13. Texans (10-7)

14. Steelers (10-7) 

If you want to read Cody’s entire rankings, be sure to click here. If you’re a Chiefs fan who wants to complain to Cody about why Kansas City isn’t the top-ranked team in the AFC, you can find him on Twitter by clicking here. 

3. Coaching carousel: Patriots and Jaguars dump their head coaches

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There’s a reason the day after the regular season is known as “Black Monday” around the NFL, and that’s because it’s the one day every year where at least one head coach gets fired. This year is no exception. 

The NFL season ended less than 24 hours ago and there have already been two firings with Jerod Mayo getting canned by the Patriots and Doug Pederson getting the axe in Jacksonville. 

With those two guys getting fired, now seems like a good time to check out what other things have happened or might happen to coaches around the league: 

• Patriots. The Patriots made the first big move of the offseason when they decided to fire Jerod Mayo just hours after their season finale win over the Bills. With Mayo out after just one season, it wouldn’t be a total surprise to see Robert Kraft go after Mike Vrabel. We took a look at several possible candidates, and you can check those out here.
• Jaguars. After three seasons in Jacksonville, Doug Pederson has been fired. Pederson led them to the playoffs in 2022, but went just 5-18 in Jacksonville’s past 23 games, which is a big reason why Shad Khan decided to dump him (You can read about the firing here). The biggest surprise in Jacksonville is that general manager Trent Baalke will be keeping his job. 
• Cowboys. Right now, the Cowboys are the biggest mystery of the offseason. A few months ago, it seemed like Jerry Jones was content to let Mike McCarthy’s contract expire so that he could go out and hire a new coach. However, over the past few weeks, the Cowboys front office has been mostly complimentary of McCarthy, so it’s completely possible that he could return in 2025. 
• Bears. After firing Matt Eberflus, the Bears turned the job over to interim coach Thomas Brown. During his five games as the head coach, Brown went just 1-4, so it seems unlikely that he’ll end up getting the full-time job. The Bears formally started their search process on Monday by requesting to interview Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson and defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn. 
• Jets. The Jets were the first team to start their coaching search. Over the past few days, they’ve interviewed both Ron Rivera and Mike Vrabel, and they also have an interview scheduled this week with Rex Ryan and he seems pretty confident that he’s going to land the job. 
• Saints. The Saints fired Dennis Allen back in November and since then, Darren Rizzi has been steering the ship. Rizzi went 3-4 as the interim coach, so it will be interesting to see if the Saints give him a serious look for the permanent job. 
• Bengals. Although the Bengals will almost certainly be keeping Zac Taylor, the team did make a move on Monday by firing defensive coordinator Lou Anuramo. He was actually a head-coaching candidate following the team’s Super Bowl run in 2021, but the Bengals had one of the worst defenses in the NFL this year and it’s not surprising to see them make this move. 
• Colts, Dolphins and Giants. We’re lumping these three teams together because the three head coaches here have all been informed that they will be returning for the 2025 season. The biggest surprise probably comes in New York where it looked like Brian Daboll might lose his job, but owner John Mara has decided to stick with him — and general manager Joe Schoen — for at least one more season (You can get the details on that here). 

As things stand, the Patriots, Jaguars, Jets, Bears and Saints will all be looking for a new head coach this offseason and it won’t be surprising if we see a few teams join them. For a closer look at the jobs that might come open and a full look at all the open jobs be sure to check out our coaching tracker here. 

4. NFL playoff narratives that you’ll be hearing about this week

When it comes to the 2025 NFL playoffs, there are plenty of narratives this year, so Jeff Kerr decided to take a look at one you’ll probably be hearing about this week for each team. 

1. Ravens: Lamar Jackson will come up short in the postseason again. “Jackson is just 2-4 in the playoffs, completing 57.4% of his passes with six touchdowns and six interceptions for a 75.7 rating. … Until Jackson gets to a Super Bowl, the pressure will be on him to get there. He’s under the most pressure of any quarterback in football.”
2. Packers: They can’t beat any good teams. “The Packers are 0-5 against the Vikings, Lions and Eagles this season — the three teams in the conference with 14+ wins and three of the four teams with a better record than them in the conference. Those five losses are by a combined 22 points, so the Packers aren’t getting blown out. … Green Bay will get a chance to squash that narrative next week in Philadelphia.”
3. Vikings: Sam Darnold isn’t playoff tested. “Darnold was 18 of 41 for 166 yards with no touchdowns and no interceptions in the blowout loss to the Lions. Not a good time to have one of the worst games of the season. How good will Darnold be in the playoffs, on the road no less? Will Darnold’s Cinderella story be turned into a pumpkin, or can he keep up the play he’s shown over the majority of the season. Never starting a playoff game, Darnold is the biggest wild card this postseason.”
4. Steelers: They’re end-of-season collapse will continue into the playoffs. “The Steelers once were in command of the AFC North before ending up with the same record as the Broncos. This is the longest losing streak to end the season for the Steelers since 1998. Pittsburgh averaged just 14.3 points per game during their four-game losing streak to end the season after averaging 24.8 the first 13 games. The Steelers’ playoff woes recently are also well known. They have lost three straight road playoff games and five straight playoff games overall.”

You can check out all 14 of the playoff narratives here. 

5. Tyreek Hill seems to be done with Dolphins: Possible landing spots

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After just three seasons in Miami, it sounds like Tyreek Hill already wants out. Following the Dolphins’ 32-20 loss to the Jets on Sunday, a clearly frustrated Hill made it sound like he’ll be seeking a trade this offseason.

“I just have to do what’s best with me and my family,” Hill told the media. “If that’s here or wherever the case may be, I’m going to open the door for myself. I’m out bro. It was great playing here, but at the end of the day I got to do what’s best for my career. 

Not only did Hill miss the playoffs for the first time in his career, but he was also held under 1,000 yards for the first time since 2019. If the Dolphins do decide to trade him, there should be plenty of interested teams, so Cody Benjamin decided to take a look at a few landing spots. 

• Commanders. “The ascending Commanders already deploy one of the NFL’s best wideouts in Terry McLaurin, but they could afford to pursue an elite running mate, boasting a projected $99 million in 2025 salary cap space.”
• Chargers. “Hill spent years terrorizing the AFC West as a member of the Kansas City Chiefs, but the Chiefs’ top rivals could sorely use wide receiver help after riding an old-school run-first attack to the postseason in Jim Harbaugh’s first year atop the staff.”
• Ravens. “While Zay Flowers is an emerging star and the Ravens lean plenty on the combined rushing talent of Lamar Jackson and Derrick Henry, this team clearly wanted additional help out wide when it acquired Diontae Johnson at the in-season trade deadline. Hill would be a much splashier swing, but his speed would give the rocket-armed Jackson the most prolific deep threat he’s ever had.”

You can check out Cody’s full list here. 

6. NFL Draft order: Titans clinch top pick

Going into Week 17, the Giants had the inside track to landing the top pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, but a stunning win over the Colts knocked them out of the running. Heading into Week 18, it was the Patriots who had the inside track to land the No. 1 overall pick, but they blew any chance at getting it when they beat the Bills, 23-16, on Sunday. 

Thanks to those two wins over the past two weeks, that allowed the Titans to sneak in and steal the top pick. Since moving to Tennessee in 1997, the Titans have never had the No. 1 overall pick. The last time the Titans had the top pick came in 1978 when they were the Houston Oilers, which is almost fitting, since they were wearing their Oilers uniforms in Week 18 when they clinched the top pick. 

With that in mind, here is the official order for the top 18 spots in the draft: 

1. Titans (3-14)

2. Browns (3-14)

3. Giants (3-14)

4. Patriots (4-13)

5. Jaguars (4-13)

6. Raiders (4-13)

7. Panthers (5-12)

8. Jets (5-12)

9. Saints (5-12) 

10. Bears (5-12)

11. 49ers (6-11) 

12. Cowboys (7-10)

13. Dolphins (8-9)

14. Colts (8-9)

15. Falcons (8-9)

16. Cardinals (8-9) 

17. Bengals (9-8)

18. Seahawks (10-7)

One team that will likely be in the market for a quarterback is Cleveland. Browns general manager Andrew Berry revealed on Monday that Deshaun Watson suffered a setback while rehabbing from his Achilles injury and that setback could cause Watson to miss multiple games in 2025, if not the entire season. 

As for the rest of the draft order, we won’t know where the other 14 teams fall until they get eliminated from the postseason. If you want to take a look at the needs for each team in the top 18, we’ve got that here.