The National Football League playoffs for the 2025 season began on January 10, 2026, and concluded with Super Bowl LX on February 8 at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, California where the Seattle Seahawks defeated the New England Patriots for the franchise's second title.
This is the first postseason since 2014 not to feature the Kansas City Chiefs. 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.
A total of 12 fourth-quarter lead changes occurred in the first four of the six wild card games played. These four games (Rams–Panthers, Packers–Bears, Bills–Jaguars and 49ers–Eagles) were decided by a winning touchdown inside the final three minutes.
Participants
Bracket
Schedule Round Away team Score Home team Date Kickoff(ET / UTC–5) National TV network(s) Streaming Viewers (millions) TV rating Wild-card round Los Angeles Rams 34–31 Carolina Panthers January 10, 2026 4:30 p.m. Fox Fox One 28.0 12.8 Green Bay Packers 27–31 Chicago Bears 8:00 p.m. Prime Video 31.6 12.5 Buffalo Bills 27–24 Jacksonville Jaguars January 11, 2026 1:00 p.m. CBS Paramount+ 32.7 15.7 San Francisco 49ers 23–19 Philadelphia Eagles 4:30 p.m. Fox Fox One 41.0 18.6 Los Angeles Chargers 3–16 New England Patriots 8:15 p.m. NBC Peacock 28.9 12.5 Houston Texans 30–6 Pittsburgh Steelers January 12, 2026 8:15 p.m. ESPN/ABC ESPN DTC 29.1 15.1 Divisional round Buffalo Bills 30–33 Denver Broncos January 17, 2026 4:30 p.m. CBS Paramount+ 39.6 21.0 San Francisco 49ers 6–41 Seattle Seahawks 8:20 p.m. Fox Fox One 32.0 13.8 Houston Texans 16–28 New England Patriots January 18, 2026 3:00 p.m. ESPN/ABC ESPN DTC 38.0 27.5 Los Angeles Rams 20–17 Chicago Bears 6:30 p.m. NBC Peacock 45.4 18.4 Conference championships New England Patriots 10–7 Denver Broncos January 25, 2026 3:00 p.m. CBS Paramount+ 48.6 22.8 Los Angeles Rams 27–31 Seattle Seahawks 6:30 p.m. Fox Fox One 46.0 20.9 Super Bowl LX Seattle Seahawks 29–13 New England Patriots February 8, 2026 6:30 p.m. NBC Peacock 125.639.7
Wild-card round Saturday, January 10, 2026 NFC: Los Angeles Rams 34, Carolina Panthers 31
This was the second playoff meeting between these two teams, following the Carolina Panthers' 29–23 win over the then-St. Louis Rams in the 2003 NFC Divisional Round in the opening seconds of the second overtime. This was the Panthers' first home playoff game since the 2015 NFC Championship Game, in which they beat the Arizona Cardinals 49–15 to reach Super Bowl 50. In Week 13 of this season, the Panthers upset the Rams, 31–28.
The Panthers entered their first playoff game since the 2017 season as the largest home underdog in NFL playoff history. Cam Newton, the quarterback for the Panthers' last postseason game, banged the 'Keep Pounding' drum before the game. The Panthers received the ball from the opening kickoff, but were stopped on their own 45-yard line after failing on fourth down. The Rams responded quickly with a 14-yard touchdown pass from Matthew Stafford to Puka Nacua. With 1:24 left in the first quarter, Rams cornerback Cobie Durant intercepted Bryce Young on the Rams' 44-yard line. After the pick, the Rams scored on a backwards pass to Nacua, who took it in for a 5-yard run. The Panthers responded with a 7-play, 65-yard drive that was capped by a 1-yard touchdown run from Chuba Hubbard to cut the score to 14–7, but a Harrison Mevis field goal on the next possession put the Rams up by 10. After forcing the Panthers to punt, Los Angeles then punted themselves, only for Panthers returner Trevor Etienne to muff the catch, allowing Troy Reeder to recover the ball on the Carolina 41-yard line. They managed to get into the red zone, but were stopped on fourth down at Carolina's 19-yard line. The Panthers made their way down the field thanks to a 28-yard pass interference penalty and a 37-yard completion to Jalen Coker, before Bryce Young scrambled 16 yards into the end zone to reduce the deficit to 3 points with 44 seconds left in the half. The Panthers' ensuing kickoff fell short of the landing zone, giving the Rams the ball on their own 40-yard line. Stafford connected with Davante Adams to move the Rams just inside Carolina territory, but on third down from the 46-yard line, the usually sure-handed Nacua dropped a long pass that would have scored a touchdown; instead, the Rams had to punt and the Panthers knelt out the half with the score at 17–14.
After forcing the Rams to go three-and-out to open the second half, the Panthers tied the score at 17 thanks to a 46-yard field goal by rookie kicker Ryan Fitzgerald with 7:29 left in the third quarter. Aided by a 15-yard unnecessary roughness penalty by Nick Scott for a helmet-to-helmet hit on Davante Adams, the Rams went ahead three minutes later on a 42-yard field goal by Mevis. Mike Jackson picked off Stafford after the Rams stopped the Panthers on fourth down near midfield. On the last play of the third quarter, Young connected with Jalen Coker on a 52-yard catch-and-run. Carolina scored a touchdown two plays later on a 3-yard run by Hubbard in the opening seconds of the fourth quarter to take a 24–20 lead. It was Hubbard's second rushing touchdown of the game after scoring just once in the regular season from the ground. The Rams immediately answered back with a 11-play, 67-yard drive on a Stafford 13-yard pass and run to Kyren Williams to go ahead 27–24. Plagued by special teams mishaps all year, the Rams' punt was blocked on their own 30-yard line by Isaiah Simmons. A few plays later from the 7-yard line, Young found Coker in the back of the endzone to put the Panthers up 31–27 with 2:39 left. Stafford then drove the Rams down the field on a 71-yard drive that saw him pass on each of its seven plays, capped by a Colby Parkinson 19-yard sideline catch to take a 34–31 lead with 38 seconds left. This proved to be the game-winner, as the Panthers went four-and-out on their last possession of the game.
Despite injuring a finger on his throwing hand and not completing a pass on seven straight passes from the second through the third quarter, Stafford finished with 24 completions on 42 attempts, with 304 yards, three touchdowns and one interception; he also surpassed Kurt Warner for the most postseason passing yards and completions in Rams history. Nacua had 10 receptions for 111 yards and a touchdown. For the Panthers, Bryce Young went 21–40 on 264 yards with one touchdown and an interception in his playoff debut. Jalen Coker had 9 catches on 134 yards and a touchdown. Chuba Hubbard scored two touchdowns on the ground.
NFC: Chicago Bears 31, Green Bay Packers 27
This was 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 was 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.
The Packers dominated the first half, scoring touchdowns on their first three offensive possessions. Quarterback Jordan Love, returning from a concussion suffered against the Bears in Week 16, threw touchdown passes to Christian Watson, Jayden Reed and Romeo Doubs. Green Bay's defense stifled Chicago's offense with an interception and two fourth-down stops, holding the Bears to a lone field goal. By halftime, the Packers held a 21–3 lead and had out-gained the Bears 231 to 122 in the first half.
The momentum started to shift in the third quarter. Chicago's defense forced a punt on each of Green Bay's first four second-half possessions. The Bears chipped away at the lead with two field goals from Cairo Santos and a 6-yard touchdown run by D'Andre Swift, closing the gap to 21–16 with just over ten minutes remaining. Green Bay briefly halted the comeback when Matthew Golden scored a 23-yard touchdown on a screen pass. However, kicker Brandon McManus missed the extra point, leaving the score at 27–16. Chicago responded with an 8-yard touchdown strike from Caleb Williams to Olamide Zaccheaus, followed by a successful two-point conversion to Colston Loveland to make the score 27–24.
With under three minutes remaining, McManus missed a 44-yard field goal that would have extended Green Bay's lead. Taking over with 2:51 left, Williams engineered a 6-play, 66-yard drive culminating in a go-ahead 25-yard touchdown pass to D. J. Moore. Green Bay reached the Chicago's 28-yard line on their final drive. As time expired, Love fumbled the snap and heaved a desperate pass into the end zone that was deflected by Kyler Gordon, sealing the Chicago Bears' first playoff victory since 2011. The Bears outgained the Packers 323 to 190 in the second half.
For the Bears, it was their seventh fourth-quarter comeback of the season. Meanwhile, the Packers lost their fifth consecutive game. Caleb Williams finished with 361 passing yards, completing 24 of 48 passes with two touchdowns and two interceptions, breaking the record for most passing yards in a playoff game for a Bears' quarterbacks in his playoff debut. Rookie tight-end Colston Loveland had eight receptions for 137 yards. Love finished with 323 passing yards, completing 24 of 46 passes with four touchdowns and no interceptions. Romeo Doubs had eight receptions for 124 yards and a touchdown.
In a viral speech after the game to his team, Bears head coach Ben Johnson yelled "Fuck the Packers! Fuck them", further igniting the rivalry between the two teams in his first season as coach.
Sunday, January 11, 2026 AFC: Buffalo Bills 27, Jacksonville Jaguars 24
This was the third playoff match-up between the Bills and Jaguars, with the Jaguars winning the previous two games in 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.
The Bills started the scoring late into the first quarter after a Trevor Lawrence interception led to a Matt Prater 50-yard field goal. Highlighted by three Bhayshul Tuten runs of 47 yards combined, the Jaguars scored a touchdown on a 3-yard pass from Lawrence to Brian Thomas Jr. in the opening seconds of the second quarter; afterwards, Tuten would only have one more carry the rest of the game. Ray Davis then fumbled the kickoff return to Jacksonville, but they could not capitalize off the turnover after failing on a 4th-and-2 Trevor Lawrence QB run on Buffalo's 9-yard line. The Bills offense responded for their first touchdown of the day, capping off a 10-play, 92-yard drive with a Josh Allen QB run to take a 10–7 lead; on the short 2-yard run, Allen looked like he hurt his knee, but did not miss any time afterwards. Jaguars kicker Cam Little missed a 54-yard field goal, which would have tied the score just before halftime.