The last game of the season saw the Baltimore Ravens/Pittsburgh Steelers earn their place in the postseason, joining the 13 teams that had already qualified before the Sunday Night Football finale. Naturally, only 12 of those teams will be competing during Wild Card Weekend.
Both Denver and Seattle achieved bye weeks in Week 18, with the Seahawks defeating the San Francisco 49ers to secure the No. 1 seed in the NFC, and the Broncos’ victory over the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday confirmed the top position in the AFC. Read below to get the NFL Playoffs Schedule 2026.
WildCard Weekend 2026
Saturday, January 10
- No. 5 Los Angeles Rams will face No. 4 Carolina Panthers at 4:30 p.m. ET on FOX.
- No. 7 Green Bay Packers will compete against No. 2 Chicago Bears at 8:00 p.m. ET on Amazon Prime Video.
Sunday, January 11
- No. 6 Buffalo Bills will take on No. 3 Jacksonville Jaguars at 1:00 p.m. ET on CBS.
- No. 6 San Francisco 49ers will go up against No. 3 Philadelphia Eagles at 4:30 p.m. ET on FOX.
- No. 7 Los Angeles Chargers will meet No. 2 New England Patriots at 8:00 p.m. ET on NBC.
Monday, January 12
No. 5 Houston Texans will play against No. 4 Baltimore Ravens/Pittsburgh Steelers at 8:00 p.m. ET on ESPN.
AFC And NFC Playoffs Teams
AFC Playoff Teams
Here are the teams that have qualified for the playoffs in the AFC:
- Denver Broncos
- New England Patriots
- Jacksonville Jaguars
- Baltimore Ravens/Pittsburgh Steelers
- Houston Texans
- Buffalo Bills
- Los Angeles Chargers
- NFC Playoff Teams
Here are the seven teams that are in the playoffs on the NFC side of the bracket:
- Seattle Seahawks
- Chicago Bears
- Philadelphia Eagles
- Carolina Panthers
- Los Angeles Rams
- San Francisco 49ers
- Green Bay Packers
How will the game be played?
The Wild Card Round will see the third through seventh seeds from each conference going head-to-head with their immediate competitors (seed one or seed two). The winner of each game will move on to play the conference’s top teams in the Divisional Round on January 17-18, 2026, which will be followed by the Conference Championship games on January 25.
This format gives high seeds an advantage with bye weeks and favourable matchups. Lower seeds will still have opportunities to create an incredible playoff run, even with their lower seeding.
These Wild Card matchups represent the order of placement for playoff seeding after the rush to clinch spots and home games during Week 18. During Wild Card Weekend, the Denver Broncos (who finished as the No. 1 seed in the AFC) and the Seattle Seahawks (who finished as the No. 1 seed in the NFC) will not have games that weekend and will use that time to prepare for their respective games in the Divisional Round.
