And then there were 14.
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.
But the NFL’s playoff teams were not created equally.
The Kansas City Chiefs hope to become the first team in league history to win three consecutive Super Bowls.
The Detroit Lions, Buffalo Bills and Minnesota Vikings all seek their long-awaited first Super Bowl crown, while the Baltimore Ravens and Philadelphia Eagles aim to return to prosperity.
Other contenders must prove they belong.
Before the NFL playoffs kick off this weekend, here are the Daily News’ power rankings of the final 14.
14. HOUSTON TEXANS
No one is denying the excellence of second-year quarterback C.J. Stroud, but his Texans did little to inspire confidence going into the postseason.
Season-ending injuries to playmaking wide receivers Stefon Diggs and Tank Dell capped the potential of their offense.
They beat the Bills in Week 5, but that was before those injuries. They went 0-5 against the Vikings, Lions, Chiefs, Ravens and Green Bay Packers.
Their 31-2 loss at home to the Ravens on Christmas Day — with Houston native Beyoncé in the building! — was particularly disconcerting.
Houston won the AFC South at 10-7, with five of those wins coming against opponents within that lowly division.
13. PITTSBURGH STEELERS
The clock struck midnight on the Cinderella Steelers.
After Pittsburgh stunned the NFL with a 10-3 start, the Steelers turned into a pumpkin with losses in their final four games.
Individually, none of those losses — which came against the Eagles, Ravens, Chiefs and Cincinnati Bengals — were anything to panic about, but cumulatively, they showed the Russell Wilson-led Steelers are outclassed against the NFL’s very good and great teams.
12. DENVER BRONCOS
Coming into the season, the Broncos were expected to be among the NFL’s weakest teams.
But that was before rookie quarterback Bo Nix thrived as a passer and runner in Sean Payton’s system, and before the Denver defense anchored by shutdown cornerback Patrick Surtain II emerged as one of the NFL’s best.
The AFC’s No. 7 seed is ahead of schedule, which means making the playoffs was a success alone. Anything else will be a bonus for this 10-7 bunch.
11. LOS ANGELES RAMS
A team led by Matthew Stafford, Cooper Kupp and head coach Sean McVay should never be ruled out, and they did go 9-3 in their final 12 games to win the NFC West at 10-7.
But the typically high-powered Rams actually allowed more points per game (22.7) than they scored (21.6) this season.
Wide receiver Puca Nacua and running back Kyren Williams are excellent, and rookie pass rushers Jared Verse and Braden Fiske both flashed, but the 31-year-old Kupp is coming off of a down season by his lofty standards, and the retired Aaron Donald isn’t walking through the door.
This is a much different — and less deep — team than the one that won the Super Bowl three years ago.
10. TAMPA BAY BUCCANEERS
Powered by the gun-slinging Baker Mayfield, this Bucs offense can be downright scary.
Another 1,000-yard season from Mike Evans, along with second-half surges by rookies Bucky Irving and Jalen McMillan, helped Tampa absorb the season-ending loss of Chris Godwin and win the NFC South at 10-7.
But the Bucs secondary is vulnerable, and relying on winning shootouts is typically not a successful formula in the NFL playoffs.
9. WASHINGTON COMMANDERS
Perhaps an even bigger surprise than the Broncos were the Jayden Daniels-led Commanders.
Daniels, the No. 2 pick in last year’s draft, immediately looked the part of a franchise quarterback, and his big arm and elite running make the Commanders a threat against anybody.
Washington’s defense, too, performed better than expected, helping the Commanders improve from 4-13 last season to 12-5 this year.
8. GREEN BAY PACKERS
The Packers didn’t quite skyrocket in their second season under Jordan Love like some expected after last year’s playoff run, but they still finished 11-6 in football’s toughest division.
Green Bay boasts balance few other teams can rival, with a power run game fueled by Josh Jacobs; a big-play defense that delivered 31 takeaways; and a Love-led passing attack that’s three deep at wide receiver even after Christian Watson suffered an ACL tear in the season finale.
Indeed, the Cheeseheads root for a team without any holes.
7. LOS ANGELES CHARGERS
It may sound cliché, but running the football and playing good defense are still important ingredients in today’s NFL.
And that is the DNA of Jim Harbaugh’s football team.
The Chargers authored the league’s stingiest defense in terms of points allowed (17.7 per game), and the recent return of J.K. Dobbins from a knee injury gives them an explosive option in a backfield that can also grind out tough yardage behind a stout offensive line.
That’s not to mention the Chargers employ one of the NFL’s best quarterbacks in Justin Herbert, who found a reliable target in rookie wide receiver Ladd McConkey.
6. MINNESOTA VIKINGS
It is not typical that a 14-win team would place this low in the rankings.
However, underwhelming performances by quarterback Sam Darnold and his offensive line in Sunday night’s 31-9 loss to the Lions give some pause heading into the postseason.
Still, the Vikings had won nine games in a row before then, and Darnold largely thrived this season with weapons Justin Jefferson, Jordan Addison and T.J. Hockenson.
Finishing as the No. 5 seed means the Vikings may not get a home game even if they go on a run.
5. BALTIMORE RAVENS
Lamar Jackson may have just delivered the greatest season ever by a quarterback.
He is the first QB in NFL history to throw more than 40 touchdown passes and fewer than five interceptions.
He is the first QB in NFL history to eclipse 4,000 passing yards and 900 rushing yards.
But this is a Super-Bowl-or-bust season for Jackson, who is 2-4 in his playoff career and struggled last postseason in an AFC Championship Game loss to the Chiefs.
This year’s addition of running back Derrick Henry — who rushed for 1,921 yards and 16 touchdowns despite turning 31 last week — made Baltimore even more dangerous en route to a 12-5 record and an AFC North title.
But the Ravens allowed 244.1 passing yards per game — the second-worst rate in the NFL — making them more dependent on their offense than others on this list.
4. DETROIT LIONS
The Lions absolutely ooze confidence under head coach Dan Campbell, and they back it up on the field, too.
Their 33.2 points per game on offense led the NFL. The 20.1 points per game they allowed defensively were the seventh fewest.
They went 15-2 and were clearly the superior team in their Week 18 win over Minnesota to lock up the NFC North and the conference’s No. 1 seed.
The only real knock against Detroit is health. Star defensive linemen Aidan Hutchinson and Alim McNeill suffered season-ending injuries. No. 1 cornerback Carlton Davis III is not expected back, either, after fracturing his jaw.
Running back David Montgomery is expected back after the first-round bye, but it is unclear how close to 100% he’ll be a month after suffering an MCL injury that initially seemed destined for season-ending surgery.
It would be difficult to put the Lions over the Bills after the latter won in Detroit, 48-42, in a Week 15 meeting that wasn’t as close as the final score suggests.
3. BUFFALO BILLS
For all of Jackson’s aforementioned excellence, it is still Bills quarterback Josh Allen whom most bookmakers consider the favorite to win NFL MVP.
That’s because Allen totaled 40 touchdowns, against six interceptions, despite being largely devoid of playmakers around him.
He took only 14 sacks in a credit to his escapability and the Bills’ overpowering offensive line.
An early-season 35-10 loss at Baltimore raised concerns, but Allen and the Bills surged down the stretch, dealing the Chiefs their only loss in a game started by Patrick Mahomes and giving the Lions one of their two losses, too.
They won the AFC East at 13-4, including going 8-0 at home, and would host the Ravens should they meet in the playoffs.
Allen is 5-5 in his playoff career — including 0-3 against the Chiefs — and faces similar pressure to win as Jackson.
2. PHILADELPHIA EAGLES
It almost went under the radar how dominant the Eagles were this season.
Saquon Barkley’s 2,005 yards led a rushing attack that was easily the NFC’s best. The Eagles’ defense was the conference’s best, too, in surrendering only 17.8 points per game.
And for all of the overblown scrutiny the Eagles’ passing game garnered at times this season, Philly still boasts a battle-tested quarterback in Jalen Hurts and a dynamic wide receiver duo in A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith.
The Eagles went 14-3. They won 12 of their final 13 games, with the lone loss being last month’s 36-33 defeat by the Commanders after Hurts left in the first quarter with a concussion.
Assuming Hurts clears concussion protocol before the weekend, this could very well be the team to beat.
1. KANSAS CITY CHIEFS
Who else?
The Chiefs went 15-1 in games started by Mahomes this season, and while there were certainly some lucky finishes along the way, Kansas City’s track record is impossible to ignore.
Mahomes is 12-2 in home playoff games, and the AFC once again runs through Kansas City.
Travis Kelce delivered his second consecutive underwhelming regular season, but he delivered three strong performances last postseason and was possibly just preserving himself this year for another playoff run.
Kansas City runs the ball well, plays good defense, has a mastermind at head coach in Andy Reid and, if all else fails, employs a three-time Super Bowl-winning quarterback who seemingly always makes the necessary plays to win.
And while Beyoncé couldn’t will the Texans to victory, the Taylor Swift effect seems to serve the Chiefs just fine.
