Texans defense eliminates Steelers from NFL Playoffs, Divisional round storylines

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With the Texans defense thrashing the Steelers on Monday night, the wild card round is over and NFL fans can begin looking forward to the divisional round. Of course, some of us already watched our quarterback don his Superman cape and carry their team to victory. (Love you, Josh Allen.)

It’s the most exciting time of the year for football, with the playoffs trucking along and college about to crown a national champion. But what to do about our sports needs mid-week? Well, lucky for you, there’s plenty to catch up on, and still quite a bit of sports action to watch on this mid-January Tuesday, so let’s dive into it.

🏈 Five things to know Tuesday

1. Texans defense leads rout of Steelers. The final game of the wild card round went from a nail-biter to a laugher as the dominant Texans defense finally broke down Aaron Rodgers and the Steelers offense. The Texans held a narrow 7-6 lead at the half, but a strip sack touchdown and pick six by the Houston defense was enough to cement what became a 30-6 victory. The Steelers converted just two of 14 third downs in what could prove to be the final game of Rodgers’ career. Houston will travel to New England for a divisional round matchup. Here’s the complete bracket with recaps and schedules.
2. Dylan Raiola commits to Oregon. The Ducks have landed their quarterback of the future, with former Nebraska QB Dylan Raiola committing to play in Eugene. This could present an interesting situation, with Dante Moore not guaranteed to declare for the 2026 NFL Draft despite being a near-lock as a first-round pick. Can Raiola and Moore co-exist as two talented players on a national championship contender? Meanwhile, Sam Leavitt has committed to LSU, as the Tigers landed the No. 1 player in the transfer portal.
3. College basketball rankings undergo a shake-up. Vanderbilt is No. 3 in the Top 25 And 1 rankings, and it could be a while before the Commodores suffer their first loss. Arizona has taken over the top spot in the Coaches Poll after Michigan suffered an upset loss to Wisconsin. Michigan also fell from No. 2 to No. 4 in the AP Top 25. In the women’s AP Top 25, UConn is the unanimous No. 1.
4. Fun with college football bowl rankings. Brad Crawford ranked all 41 college bowl games this season; unsurprisingly, Miami’s epic Fiesta Bowl win over Ole Miss took the top spot. Ahead of the CFP championship between Indiana and Miami, Chip Patterson ranked every champion of the CFP era.
5. Xabi Alonso fired by Real Madrid. Real Madrid pulled off a shock managerial change, letting Xabi Alonso go and installing Alvaro Arbeloa as the new manager. Chuck Booth went into detail on what went wrong for Alonso at Real Madrid.

🏈 Do not miss this: Storylines abound heading into NFL divisional playoff round

The matchups are set for the divisional round of the NFL playoffs following the Texans being the fourth road team to advance this weekend. The wild card round was, well, wild, with incredibly close games and drama throughout — at least until the fourth quarter of last night’s game in Pittsburgh. But the drama should only pick up from here, and there are plenty of storylines that have emerged as we head toward the second weekend of the playoffs.

In Saturday’s 34-31 wild card win over the Panthers, Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford sprained the index finger on his throwing hand. Stafford is expected to play Sunday against the Bears, but it’s still to be seen what impact the injury will have on the MVP favorite’s performance.

Other injuries are also going to shake up how divisional rounds may play out. With George Kittle out with a torn Achilles, Christian McCaffery says the 49ers will be playing for the sidelined tight end the rest of the way. Patriots Pro Bowl cornerback Christian Gonzalez is in concussion protocol after hitting his head on the turf in Sunday night’s game with the Chargers. The already thin Buffalo wide receiver room took another hit with Gabe Davis out for the remainder of the year with a torn ACL.

Also read:

🏀 How has Anthony Davis’ injury affected his trade value?

It was mind-blowing when the Mavericks traded Luka Dončić to the Lakers, with Anthony Davis as the centerpiece coming to Dallas in return. The trade, among other issues, led to the firing of Dallas general manager Nico Harrison, and has not paid off well, with Davis continuing his career trend of battling injury after injury. Most recently, Davis suffered ligament damage to his left hand that could end his season if surgery is required.

That’s a big issue for Dallas, with the team shopping Davis on the trade market in an attempt to continue to build around Cooper Flagg. Sam Quinn took a look at what Davis’ latest injury means for his trade value and what the Mavericks can expect moving forward.

• Quinn: “There may still be teams that view him as a worthy investment for the 2026-27 season and beyond, but at his age, his value is likely to decline with each passing year. The best postseason run he has left in him was probably going to be 2026, and now it might be over before it begins. Take those win-now teams off of the table and the price goes down by sheer volume. The more teams want a player, the more his team can get for him. A lot of suitors are probably walking away right now.
  “And those who remain are reckoning with those 296 injuries to 51 unique body parts. It seems as though every time Davis starts to build some momentum, an injury takes it. Will anyone trust Davis to remain healthy after a trade? And even if he does, what sort of player will Davis be for them?”

🏈 Playing NFL head coach matchmaker

While there are eight teams that have not seen their seasons end, plenty of others are just trying to find the right man to steer the ship moving forward. There are several head coaching gigs available (eight, to be exact) and intriguing names such as John Harbaugh, Mike McDaniel and Kevin Stefanski available to fill those spots.

Tyler Sullivan played matchmaker to determine the best men to fill those eight openings. Sullivan has Harbaugh ending up as coach of the Giants. Sullivan also looked at the three best fits for Harbaugh, placing the Falcons and Titans at No. 2 and 3, respectively.

• Sullivan: “New York is a destination that has a young quarterback in place, and Jaxson Dart flashed a tremendously high ceiling during his rookie campaign. That said, he’ll need to be reined in with some of his scrambling, which Harbaugh should view as an easy fix. Once Dart gets that honed in, he’ll be quite the dual-threat quarterback, which Harbaugh knows something about after coaching Lamar Jackson to two NFL MVP awards.
  “But the Giants are not just a good fit because of Dart. The roster has potential, with wideout Malik Nabers and running back Cam Skattebo headlining a young skill-position group, along with a defensive line that features Brian Burns, Dexter Lawrence and Abdul Carter.”

👍👎 The best (and not-so-best) of the rest

📺 What we’re watching Tuesday

⚽ Carabao Cup: Manchester City at Newcastle United, 3 p.m. on Paramount+
🏀 No. 16 Virginia at No. 20 Louisville (M), 7 p.m. on ESPN2
🏒 Red Wings at Bruins, 7:30 p.m. on TNT
🏀 Spurs at Thunder, 8 p.m. on NBC
🏀 No. 3 UConn at No. 25 Seaton Hall (M), 8 p.m. on TruTV
🏀 West Virginia at No. 7 Houston (M), 8:30 p.m. on FS1
🏀 No. 2 Iowa State at Kansas (M), 9 p.m. on ESPN
🏀 Oregon at No. 8 Nebraska (M), 9 p.m. on Big Ten Network
🏒 Stars at Ducks, 10 p.m. on TNT
🏀 Trail Blazers at Warriors, 11 p.m. on NBC