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. 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. The Bills opened the second half with the ball and went up 13–7 on a Prater field goal after a 6:48 drive stalled at Jacksonville's 29-yard line. Little then cut the lead to three with a successful 43-yard field goal. 2:45 into the fourth quarter, Lawrence zipped a 6-yard pass to
Parker Washington, who had been checked for a concussion earlier in the game, for a touchdown to take a 17–13 lead. The Bills briefly retook the lead four minutes later after an Allen touchdown pass to
Dalton Kincaid for 15-yards. In the third lead change in the fourth quarter, the Jaguars scored a touchdown on a pass and run from Lawrence to
Travis Etienne for 14-yards to go up 24–20 with 4:03 left in the game. Buffalo went back in front with 1:02 left after Jacksonville, with no more timeouts left, conceded a Josh Allen
tush push at the 1-yard line. The play before, the Bills were successful on a tush push on 4th-and-inches for 9-yards that set up the touchdown and the fourth lead change of the quarter. On the first play of what turned out to be their last drive,
Cole Bishop intercepted a Lawrence pass that was deflected off
Tre'Davious White intended for
Jakobi Meyers to seal the Bills' first playoff road win in
33 years.
NFC: San Francisco 49ers 23, Philadelphia Eagles 19 This was 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.
Demarcus Robinson starred on the first possession of the game, catching a 61-yard pass and run from
Brock Purdy and scoring a 2-yard goal line touchdown, to take the early 7–0 lead. The Eagles scored a touchdown on their first possession by virtue of a
Dallas Goedert end-around from the 1-yard line, but
Jake Elliott missed the extra-point. With 6:08 left in the second quarter, the referees picked up an illegal block downfield flag after
Jalen Hurts found Goedert on a 9-yard touchdown pass to take a 13–7 lead. Star tight end
George Kittle was carted off the field on the 49ers' next possession, which later revealed to be an Achilles tear. The 6-play 49ers drive ended on an
Eddy Piñeiro 36-yard field goal. On the last play of the half without any timeouts, Purdy fumbled the ball out of bounds before Piñeiro had a chance to attempt a long field goal, thus the clock ran off 10 seconds and the score remained 13–10 at halftime. Earlier in the second quarter, head coach
Nick Sirianni and receiver
A. J. Brown had to be separated on the sidelines after Sirianni confronted Brown for dropping a pass. The third quarter saw a combined 106 yards from both offenses, including a Brock Purdy interception. The only points in the third quarter were the Eagles extending their lead to six on a Jake Elliot 41-yards field goal 2:35 left in the quarter. The 49ers scored a touchdown at the start of the fourth quarter on an end-around pass from wide receiver
Jauan Jennings to
Christian McCaffrey for 29 yards to lead by one point, 17–16.
All-Pro Quinyon Mitchell picked off Purdy for the second time in the game at 12:04 in the fourth quarter, his third interception in the last two postseasons for the Eagles. The Eagles then went on a 8-play, 47-yard drive that was stalled in the red zone, with the team having to settle for a 33-yard field goal from Elliot to retake the lead at 19–17. The 49ers quickly responded with a 10-play, 66-yard drive that ended with a Purdy to McCaffrey 4-yard touchdown pass with 2:54 remaining in the game to go ahead 23–19; instead of going for the
two-point conversion to go up six points, head coach
Kyle Shanahan elected to kick the extra-point, which Piñeiro missed. Hurts led Philadelphia down the field, including a 4th-and-5 conversion on a 15-yard pass to Goedert on the Eagles own 40-yard line, but for like much of the Eagles offense in the second half, the drive stalled inside San Francisco's half of the field. Their quest for back-to-back championships ended after failing to pick up a first down inside San Francisco's 21-yard line. This was the Eagles' first home loss in the playoffs under head coach Nick Sirianni (2021–present). The 49ers out-gained the Eagles by only 54 yards throughout the game, but the Eagles were unable to take advantage of two Brock Purdy interceptions, going three-and-out after each interception. Philadelphia's offensive coordinator,
Kevin Patullo, also received tremendous backlash from fans online for his play-calling in the second half, and he was subsequently fired after the game.
AFC: New England Patriots 16, Los Angeles Chargers 3 This was the fifth playoff match-up between the Chargers and Patriots. The Patriots had won the last three meetings: 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. This was the Patriots' first home game since losing to the
Tennessee Titans (coincidentally, who were coached by current Patriots coach
Mike Vrabel) in the
2019 AFC Wild Card Game in
Tom Brady's last game for the team. The Chargers and Patriots did not meet in the regular season. The Chargers missed opportunities early in the game with two goal line chances in the first half, only to come away with three points. At halftime, New England held a 6–3 lead. The Patriots were putting together their best drive of the game in their first possession of the third quarter before
Drake Maye was sacked by
Odafe Oweh and fumbled on the Chargers' 18-yard line, which was recovered by
Da'Shawn Hand. The Patriots later extended their lead to 9–3 on an
Andrés Borregales field goal with 1:43 left in the third quarter. In the fourth quarter at 9:45, Maye threw a touchdown pass to former Charger
Hunter Henry to extend their lead to 16–3. This would end up being the final score, as the Patriots picked up their first playoff win since
Super Bowl LIII and improved to 4–0 in the
Super Bowl era against the Chargers franchise.
Monday, January 12, 2026 AFC: Houston Texans 30, Pittsburgh Steelers 6 This was the first playoff matchup between these two teams. This was the first season in which the Texans qualified for the postseason as a wild card team, thus this was also their first playoff game in the Wild Card round on the road in their ninth appearance in the round. This was also the first time the Texans participated in a Wild Card game that was not in the Saturday afternoon slot. The two teams did not meet in the regular season. This marked the first Steelers and Texans match-up since Week 4 of the
2023 regular season, a span of 834 days. With this lack of familiarity with each other, the Steelers and Texans started off the game by exchanging punts. The Steelers kicked a field goal to take a 3–0 lead, before
C. J. Stroud fumbled on a
flea flicker play that was blown up and recovered by rookie linebacker
Jack Sawyer on the next possession. However, the Steelers were forced to punt as the first quarter ended. The Texans then drove 91 yards down the field and scored a touchdown on a short 6-yard pass from Stroud to
Christian Kirk to give themselves a 7–3 lead, which was their second longest drive of the season. Stroud fumbled for the second time in the game with 6:14 left in the second quarter on Houston's own 23-yard line after failing to secure the snap cleanly from
shotgun. The Texans' league-leading defense stepped up again, forcing the Steelers to another
Chris Boswell field goal directly after the
two-minute warning to make the score 7–6, which was the score heading into halftime. In the first drive of the second half, Stroud marched the Texans to the red zone before throwing behind
Xavier Hutchinson and getting intercepted by
Brandin Echols, for Stroud's third turnover of the game. However, after the interception, the Steelers were forced to punt. A
Kaʻimi Fairbairn field goal extended the Texans lead to 10–6 at the start of the fourth quarter. On the next possession,
Aaron Rodgers was strip-sacked by
All-Pro Will Anderson and the fumble was recovered and returned for a 33-yard touchdown by fellow All-Pro
Sheldon Rankins. After a Steelers punt, the Texans scored another offensive touchdown on a
Woody Marks 2-yard run. The Texans defense put an exclamation mark on their effort for the game with a
pick-six of Rodgers by
Calen Bullock for a 50-yard touchdown. The Texans won their first playoff road game of the franchise's 23-year history by the score of 30–6. The Texans out-gained the Steelers 408–175 on offense, and the Texans' defense out-scored the Steelers' offense 14–6. Rookie running back Woody Marks had 112 yards on the ground with 19 carries (his first game rushing for 100 yards or more) and Christian Kirk caught eight balls for 144 yards, with both players also scoring a touchdown. The Steelers have now lost seven straight postseason games while
Mike Tomlin tied
Marvin Lewis for most consecutive playoff losses for a head coach. Tomlin stepped down as Pittsburgh's head coach the next day after 19 seasons with the team. ==Divisional playoffs==