The National Football League playoffs for the 2025 season will begin on January 10, 2026, and will conclude with Super Bowl LX on February 8 at the Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, California. This will be the first postseason since 2014 not to feature the Kansas City Chiefs, as well as the first postseason since 2007 not to feature the Chiefs or the Baltimore Ravens. Additionally, it marks the first postseason since 1998 not to feature Peyton Manning, Tom Brady, or Patrick Mahomes. It is also the first postseason since 2022 to not feature either number one seed from the previous season – the Kansas City Chiefs and Detroit Lions. With the Los Angeles Rams and Carolina Panthers facing each other in the NFC Wild Card Round, the Rams became the first team in NFL history to face every team within their respective conference in the postseason at least twice. With the Houston Texans and Pittsburgh Steelers facing each other in the AFC Wild Card Round, the Steelers become the fifth team in NFL history (Rams, Eagles, Bills, Chiefs) to face every team within their respective conference in the postseason at least once. == Participants == Within each conference, the four division winners and the top three non-division winners with the best overall regular season records qualified for the playoffs. The four division winners are seeded 1–4 based on their overall won-lost-tied record, and the wild card teams are seeded 5–7. The NFL does not use a fixed bracket playoff system, and there are no restrictions regarding teams from the same division matching up in any round. In the first round, dubbed the Wild Card playoffs, the second-seeded division winner hosts the seventh seed wild card, the third seed hosts the sixth seed, and the fourth seed hosts the fifth seed. The 1 seed from each conference receives a first-round bye. In the second round, the Divisional playoffs, the number 1 seed hosts the lowest-seeded surviving team from the first round (seed 4, 5, 6, or 7), while the other two surviving teams play each other, with the higher-seeded team hosting. The two surviving teams from each conference's divisional playoff games then meet in the respective AFC and NFC Conference Championships, hosted by the higher seed. Although the Super Bowl, the championship round of the playoffs, is played at a neutral site, the designated home team is based on an annual rotation by conference. === Bracket === Re-seeding: Home field is determined by seeding number, not position on the bracket. The NFL does not use a fixed bracket system; the outcome of the Wild Card games determine the matchups of the Divisional games. The lowest remaining seed in each conference travels to the first seed, and the second-lowest remaining seed travels to the second-highest remaining seed. == Schedule == The schedule below is tentative and subject to change. == Wild Card playoffs == === Saturday, January 10, 2026 === ==== NFC: Los Angeles Rams vs. Carolina Panthers ==== This is the second playoff meeting between the Panthers and Rams after the Carolina Panthers defeated the then-St. Louis Rams in the 2003 NFC Wild Card Game, 29–23, in the opening seconds of the second overtime. This is the Panthers’ first home playoff game since the 2015 NFC Championship Game where they defeated the Arizona Cardinals, 49–15, to reach Super Bowl 50. In Week 13 of this season, the Panthers upset the Rams, 31–28. ==== NFC: Green Bay Packers vs. Chicago Bears ==== This is just the third playoff meeting between the two longtime rivals. In the 2010 NFC Championship Game, the Packers defeated the Bears, 21–14, en route to their fourth Super Bowl championship. Chicago won the only prior meeting in the 1941 NFL Western Division Championship. This will also be the rubber match between the NFC North rivals, as the Packers defeated the Bears in their first meeting on December 7 at Lambeau Field and the Bears returned the favor erasing a 10-point fourth-quarter deficit to beat the Packers on December 20 at Soldier Field. === Sunday, January 11, 2026 === ==== AFC: Buffalo Bills vs. Jacksonville Jaguars ==== This is the third playoff match-up between the Bills and Jaguars, with the Jaguars winning the previous two games in the 1996 and 2017 (both in the Wild Card Round). The 1996 win was Jacksonville's first playoff victory in their franchise history. With the Kansas City Chiefs not qualifying for the postseason for the first time since 2014, the Bills now own the longest consecutive playoff appearance streak at seven. The Bills and Jaguars did not meet in the regular season. ==== NFC: San Francisco 49ers vs. Philadelphia Eagles ==== This is a rematch of the 2022 NFC Championship Game, which the Eagles won, 31–7. The 49ers won the only other prior playoff match-up, in the 1996 NFC Wild Card Game. The Eagles and 49ers did not meet in the regular season. ==== AFC: Los Angeles Chargers vs. New England Patriots ==== This is the fifth playoff match-up between the Chargers and Patriots. The Patriots have won the last three prior meetings, including a 24–21 victory in the 2006 AFC Divisional Round, a 21–12 victory in the 2007 AFC Championship Game, and a 41–28 victory in the 2018 AFC Divisional Round. The then-named San Diego Chargers won the 1963 AFL Championship, the team's only championship to date. The Chargers and Patriots did not meet in the regular season. === Monday, January 12, 2026 === ==== AFC: Houston Texans vs. Pittsburgh Steelers ==== This is the first playoff match-up between these two teams, as well as the first time the Texans will play on the road in the Wild Card Round. This will also mark the first time the two teams have played each other more than once in a span of less than three NFL seasons, regular and postseason combined. The Steelers will be the fifth team in NFL history to have faced all other teams within their own conference in the playoffs at least once. The two teams did not meet in the regular season. == Media coverage == Broadcasting rights of the Wild Card round is split between the NFL's existing broadcasters: CBS, Fox, NBC, ESPN and Amazon Prime Video. CBS has one game this season, which is an AFC contest which it is guaranteed annually, Fox will air two games, an NFC Wild Card game which is guaranteed annually, as well as a second game as part of a rotation with CBS and NBC since 2020. NBC's Wild Card game airs on Sunday night, while ESPN's Wild Card game airs on Monday night, with a simulcast on ABC and the Manningcast on ESPN2. This will be the second season that Prime Video exclusively streams a Wild Card game. This will be the third season that ESPN/ABC, Fox, CBS and NBC each air one divisional playoff game. CBS and Fox has the rights for the AFC Championship Game and NFC Championship Game, respectively. NBC will televise Super Bowl LX under the annual rotation of Super Bowl broadcasters. ESPN Deportes, Fox Deportes, Telemundo and Universo air all ESPN/ABC, Fox and NBC games in Spanish respectively. Peacock, Paramount+, Fox One, and the ESPN DTC service will stream all NBC, CBS, Fox and ESPN/ABC games, respectively, The league's streaming service NFL+ stream every postseason game on mobile devices only, regardless of broadcaster. == Notes == == References ==