NFL playoffs 2026: Teams, fixtures, UK kickoff times, how to watch on road to Super Bowl LX
Watch the Wild Card round of the NFL playoffs live on Sky Sports NFL from Saturday January 10-Monday January 12; the Philadelphia Eagles are defending champions on the road to Super Bowl LX at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, California.
Tuesday 6 January 2026 14:14, UK
The NFL playoffs are set! Here is your guide to the teams, schedule and how you can watch along on the road to Super Bowl LX at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, California.
The postseason kicks off on Saturday night when the Los Angeles Rams visit the Carolina Panthers, before Wild Card weekend concludes with the Pittsburgh Steelers against the Houston Texans in the early hours of Tuesday morning.
Sean Payton's Denver Broncos and Mike Macdonald's Seattle Seahawks both have a week off as the AFC and NFC's respective No 1 seeds, before beginning their playoff campaign in the Divisional Round.
You can watch every minute of the NFL playoffs live on Sky Sports.
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Playoff matchups:
AFC Wild Card round:
- (7) Los Angeles Chargers @ (2) New England Patriots
- (6) Buffalo Bills @ (3) Jacksonville Jaguars
- (5) Houston Texans @ (4) Pittsburgh Steelers
First-round bye: (1) Denver Broncos
NFC Wild Card round:
- (7) Green Bay Packers @ (2) Chicago Bears
- (6) San Francisco 49ers @ (3) Philadelphia Eagles
- (5) Los Angeles Rams @ (4) Carolina Panthers
First-round bye: (1) Seattle Seahawks
Wild Card weekend schedule
Saturday, January 10 - KO 9.30pm: (5) Los Angeles Rams @ (4) Carolina Panthers
Matthew Stafford has produced some of the best football of his career to emerge as MVP frontrunner while throwing for a league-leading 4,707 yards and 46 touchdowns to just eight interceptions.
Offseason addition Davante Adams scored 14 receiving touchdowns before suffering a hamstring injury, while Puka Nacua has rivalled the dominance of Seattle's Jaxon Smith-Njigba with a second-most 1,715 yards through the air.
Their 581 total yards of offense against the Seahawks defense during their 38-37 overtime loss is perhaps the best reflection of their offensive potency, while their youthful rebuild on defense in life after Aaron Donald has maintained its trajectory as a Championship-contending unit.
The Carolina Panthers had a division rival to thank on Sunday as they secured the NFC South and a playoff berth with a losing record of 8-9 ahead of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers thanks to the Atlanta Falcons beating the New Orleans Saints.
It would come just a day after they were beaten 16-14 by Tampa Bay. Former No 1 pick quarterback Bryce Young has taken notable strides under Dave Canales in his third year in the NFL to lead the Panthers to their first playoff berth since 2017, but Carolina hindered by inconsistency.
Rico Dowdle led the Panthers with 1,076 rushing yards alongside 297 yards through the air, while Tetairoa McMillan marked his rookie campaign with a team-best 70 catches for 1,014 yards and seven touchdowns.
Sunday, January 11 - KO 1am: (7) Green Bay Packers @ (2) Chicago Bears
For periods of the season the Packers have looked like a Championship-calibre team, spearheaded by one of the league's most aggressive quarterbacks in Jordan Love and boasting an elite Jeff Hafley-inspired shape-shifting defense bolstered by the offseason addition of Micah Parsons.
They were dealt a major blow in Week 15 when Parsons suffered a season-ending torn ACL in Green Bay's loss to Denver, which would start a four-game losing streak to finish the campaign.
Matt LaFleur has also had to cope without star tight end Tucker Kraft and wide receivers Christian Watson and Jayden Reed for multiple games within an injury-stricken offense, Romeo Doubs topping the receiving chart with 724 yards and Josh Jacobs rushing for 929 yards and 13 touchdowns on the ground.
This is a new era. And this is a new Chicago Bears team.
Ben Johnson was appointed head coach in the offseason having asserted himself as one of the NFL's hottest commodities during his time as Detroit Lions offensive coordinator. Immediate success has arrived in the form of a third-ranked rushing offense and a playoff-bound spike in the development of 2024 No 1 pick quarterback Caleb Williams.
Chicago's defense meanwhile finished the regular season with a league-high 33 takeaways as the Bears return to the playoffs for the first time since 2020.
Sunday, January 11 - KO 6pm: (6) Buffalo Bills @ (3) Jacksonville Jaguars
Sean McDermott's nearly-men Buffalo Bills have been beaten by the Kansas City Chiefs in the playoffs in four of the last five seasons, including two AFC Championship Game defeats.
This time there is no Patrick Mahomes, Andy Reid or Steve Spagnuolo standing in their way after Kansas City missed out on the postseason for the first time since 2014. Reigning MVP Josh Allen remains the defining feature to Buffalo's best shot yet at ending their agonising Super Bowl wait, combining for a second-most 39 total touchdowns while leading all quarterbacks with 579 yards and 14 scores on the ground.
Running back James Cook led the NFL with 1,621 rushing yards as Allen's chief right-hand man in the league's top-ranked running attack, while questions remain of Buffalo's receiver depth.
First-year head coach Liam Coen has transformed the trajectory of the Jacksonville Jaguars, not only leading the franchise to its best record since 2005 but inspiring the best football of former No 1 pick quarterback Trevor Lawrence's career.
Lawrence has accounted for 19 total touchdowns to just one interception in the last six games, with Parker Washington emerging as his most trusted weapon on the outside.
The Jaguars defense meanwhile finished the year ranked second in total takeaways with 31, having managed a league-fewest nine in 2024. They are riding an eight-game winning streak into the postseason.
Sunday, January 11 - KO 9.30pm: (6) San Francisco 49ers @ (3) Philadelphia Eagles
The San Francisco 49ers survived injuries to Brock Purdy, George Kittle, Fred Warner, Trent Williams, Ricky Pearsall and Nick Bosa on their way to not only a playoff berth but an opportunity to clinch the No 1 seed during the final week.
They would, of course, come up shy against the Seahawks but Kyle Shanahan is worthy of his Coach of the Year contention having kept his depleted team alive against the odds.
Purdy has been on a heater since taking over from Mac Jones, who impressed to go 5-3 in his absence, while Christian McCaffrey has marked his return from injury by rivalling Bijan Robinson at the top of the scrimmage yards chart with a second-ranked 2,126.
It has been an indifferent title defense for the reigning Super Bowl champion Eagles.
Their season has been marred by constant criticism of a stagnant offense, within which AJ Brown has been visibly disgruntled while offensive coordinator Kevin Patullo has faced unrelenting scrutiny.
But here they stand, still on course and still arguably the deepest and most dangerous roster in football. Vic Fangio's defense boasts the personnel to be as damaging and as throttling as any in the league, while quarterback Jalen Hurts has a proclivity for thriving in postseason football.
Saquon Barkley is still also due a mammoth game having been largely bottled up this season behind an offensive line missing Lane Johnson but still considered among the league's most well-drilled units under Jeff Stoutland.
Monday, January 12 - KO 1.15am: (7) Los Angeles Chargers @ (2) New England Patriots
The New England Patriots return to the playoffs having clinched their first AFC East division title for the first time since 2019, the final season of Tom Brady's illustrious career in Foxboro.
Second-year quarterback Drake Maye has starred to play his way into unlikely MVP contention as a long-term answer under center, igniting a return to contention alongside first-year head coach Mike Vrabel.
Maye finished the year 354 of 492 passing for a league-high completion percentage of 72, while posting 4,394 yards (fourth-most) and 31 touchdowns (third-most) to just eight interceptions with a league-best passer rating of 113.5. Veteran wideout Stefon Diggs would emerge as his most trusted target with 85 catches for 1,013 yards, while rookie running back TreVeyon Henderson has dazzled with his game-breaking chunk play threat out of the backfield.
Justin Herbert leads the Los Angeles Chargers into the playoffs with the destructive arm talent to hurt any defense in football, second-year head coach Jim Harbaugh having made it his personal mission to extract the best from one of the most gifted young play-callers in the NFL.
Herbert has utilised a committee receiving core in Ladd McConkey, Keenan Allen and Quentin Johnston, but saw his offensive line shredded by season-ending injuries to star tackles Rashawn Slater and Joe Alt. Harbaugh and Jesse Minter's defense rank fifth in total yards behind Tuli Tuipulotu, who has 13 sacks and 20 tackles for loss.
Tuesday, January 13 - KO 1.15am: (5) Houston Texans @ (4) Pittsburgh Steelers
Aaron Rodgers and the Steelers secured the AFC North in dramatic fashion as they beat the Ravens 26-24 in the final game of the regular season when Baltimore's Tyler Loop missed a 44-yard field goal attempt as time expired.
The game could have marked Rodgers' final in the NFL had it ended in defeat, but instead the four-time MVP leads Mike Tomlin's side to the playoffs having signed a one-year deal with the team during the offseason. D.K. Metcalf, who leads the team with 850 receiving yards, will be back from suspension after missing the last two games of the season, while star edge rusher TJ Watt returned against the Ravens having been out since Week 14.
Reaching the playoffs hasn't so much been the problem for Tomlin and co, it is what they do once they get there. The Steelers have not won a postseason game since the 2017 season, falling in the Wild Card round five times in that period.
DeMeco Ryans' Texans enter the playoff behind the NFL's best defense, fronted by star edge rushers Will Anderson Jr. and Danielle Hunter and a ball hawk-rich secondary made up of Derek Stingley Jr, Kamari Lassiter and Jalen Pitre.
It is a game-wrecking unit that has at times compensated for Houston's struggles on offense, CJ Stroud needing only to limit the mistakes in order to make this operation thrive.
Sure, a 1,000-yard outlet on the outside like Nico Collins also helps their cause. Stroud and the Texans arrive as one of the league's most in-form teams after nine straight wins, including victories over the playoff-bound Jaguars, Bills and Chargers.
AFC No 1 seed - Denver Broncos (14-3 - 1st in AFC West)
Sean Payton's Broncos ended the Chiefs' monopoly on the AFC West title this season as Denver marched to the No 1 seed as the class of the AFC.
Bo Nix has fulfilled his head coach's projections as the efficient mistake-stingy quarterback capable of hurting teams with his legs and with off-platform throws to reach the postseason for a second consecutive year, while Vance Joseph has orchestrated the league's No 1-ranked defense in sacks with 68 behind Nik Bonitto, Jonathan Cooper and Zach Allen.
Opponents have sought to swerve throwing at reigning Defensive Player of the Year Pat Surtain II, instead daring to turn towards his cornerback partner Riley Moss. That has proven to be a mistake.
NFC No 1 seed - Seattle Seahawks (14-3 - 1st in NFC West)
Mike Macdonald's Seahawks officially clinched the NFC's No 1 seed and the NFC West title in Week 18 as they beat the red-hot 49ers 13-3.
Sam Darnold has amplified his incredible comeback story by turning Seattle into Super Bowl contenders having signed a three-year $100.5m deal in the offseason in the wake of his surprise resurgence with the Minnesota Vikings in 2024.
Suggestions of a fluke have since seemingly disappeared. Jaxon Smith-Njigba has catapulted himself among the NFL's elite wide receivers by leading the league with 1,793 yards to go with his 10 touchdowns, while Macdonald and British defensive coordinator Aden Durde have overseen the league's third-ranked scoring defense.
January 17-18: Divisional Round
- Game One: Saturday, January 17 - 9.30pm
- Game Two: Sunday, January 18 - 1.15am
- Game Three: Sunday, January 18 - 8pm
- Game Four: Sunday, January 18 - 11.30pm
January 25: AFC and NFC Championship games
- Conference Championship Game: Sunday, January 25 - 8pm
- Conference Championship Game: Sunday, January 25 - 11.30pm
February 8: Super Bowl LX
- AFC champion vs NFC champion: Sunday, February 8 - 11.30pm
How do the playoffs work?
The NFL is made up of 32 competing teams which are separated into two conferences: the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC).
The AFC and NFC are then further divided by region to comprise four divisions with four teams each: AFC East, North, South and West and NFC East, North, South and West.
At the end of the regular season, a total of 14 teams advance to the playoffs, including the teams with the best record in each of the respective four divisions per conference, plus a further three 'wild card' teams determined by which teams own the next-best records in each conference.
The No 1 seeds in each conference (the two teams with the best win-loss records in the AFC and NFC) receive a first-round bye, while the No 2 seeds host the No 7 seeds, the No 3 seeds host the No 6 seeds and the No 4 seeds host the No 5 seeds on Super Wild Card Weekend to open the postseason.
The No 1 seeds enter the fold during the subsequent Divisional Round when they will host the lowest remaining seed from their respective conferences, while the second-lowest remaining seed visits the second-highest remaining seed from the winners of the wild card round.
The respective winners of those two matchups then meet in the Conference Championship games, in what effectively amounts to the semi-finals for the Super Bowl as we find out who advances from each conference to play in the big game which, this year, will be held in California on Sunday, February 8.
When and where is Super Bowl 60?
The NFL will stage the 60th edition of the Super Bowl on Sunday February 8 at Levi's Stadium, the home of the San Francisco 49ers in Santa Clara, California.
It will be the second time the Super Bowl has been played at Levi's Stadium following on from Super Bowl 50 in 2016 as the Denver Broncos beat the Carolina Panthers 24-10, and the third in the San Francisco Bay Area after the 49ers beat the Miami Dolphins 38-16 at Super Bowl XIX at the end of the 1984 campaign.
The Super Bowl has typically kicked off at 11.30pm UK time, with the half-time show usually around 1am.
Who are the defending Super Bowl champions?
The Philadelphia Eagles entered the 2025 campaign as Super Bowl champions after dismantling the Chiefs 40-22 to deny Andy Reid's side a historic third straight title at Super Bowl LIX in New Orleans.
Jalen Hurts starred as he won Super Bowl MVP after throwing for 221 yards and two touchdowns to AJ Brown and DeVonta Smith, while Philadelphia's No 1-ranked defense swarmed Patrick Mahomes with six sacks and 11 quarterback hits as well as intercepting him twice, including Cooper DeJean's first-half pick-six.
Kansas City had won each of the last two Super Bowls with victories over the Eagles in 2023 before ousting the San Francisco 49ers in Las Vegas in 2024.
It marked the Eagles' second Super Bowl win after they beat the New England Patriots at Super Bowl LII in 2018.
Who is performing at half-time?
Puerto Rican reggaeton star Bad Bunny will headline next year's Super Bowl half-time show in Santa Clara, California, the NFL has announced.
Kendrick Lamar headlined the most-watched Super Bowl half-time show in history in New Orleans as 133.5m viewers tuned in to see the 22-time Grammy-winning rapper take aim at Drake, surpassing Michael Jackson's record of 133.4m in 1993.
Watch the 2025 NFL season live on Sky Sports, including every minute of the playoffs and Super Bowl LX; Get Sky Sports or stream with no contract on NOW.
