Rookie brain farts. Game-changing lapses in single coverage. The NFL’s second-worst QB. That’s how you lose a Super Bowl.

With the NFL playoffs set to begin this week, two prominent teams will not be competing: the Kansas City Chiefs and the Detroit Lions. Both had phenomenal

Lions fans are irked with me. I mean irked, as in mildly annoyed, as in might not want to buy me an ice cream sundae, or let me merge into a busy line of traffic. I don’t think they hate me. Detroit football fans don’t seethe like that.

This Lions team doesn't have many problems after an incredible regular season, but they do have one fatal flaw that could prove costly.

The Lions and Chiefs are in a tier of their own odds-wise, thanks to their 15-win seasons and accordant first-round byes. But both have nagging concerns that, if you squint hard enough, begin to look a lot like vulnerabilities. Will any of their potential opponents through the postseason be able to capitalize on those vulnerabilities?

The Ravens easily won their Week 16 rematch, but that was with Pickens sidelined as both teams navigated a three-game, 11-day gauntlet. Tomlin, of course, owns the Ravens. Pittsburgh holds a shocking 8-2 advantage against its bitter rival this decade.

The gauntlet that is the NFL regular season is over, and the seven teams in each conference that managed to separate themselves over that 17-game marathon are the only ones who remain standing.