Yahoo Sports NFL playoffs schedule: AFC, NFC championship games, bracket update and more
And then there were four.
An NFL divisional round that had everything – controversial calls, surprise upsets, run-game domination in the snow and a heartbreaking dropped pass – leads football fans into a promising conference championship weekend.
On the docket for the penultimate NFL Sunday of the season: a fourth postseason meeting between the Buffalo Bills and Kansas City Chiefs in the last five years, and an all-NFC East clash between the Philadelphia Eagles and Washington Commanders.
Both conference championship games will take place back-to-back on Sunday, with the NFC championship game kicking off first.
Here's everything to know about this year's NFL conference championship weekend:
What NFL playoff games are this weekend?
Only four teams remain in the race to Super Bowl 59. Here are the matchups for the two conference championship games:
AFC championship game
No. 1 Kansas City Chiefs vs. No. 2 Buffalo Bills
NFC championship game
No. 2 Philadelphia Eagles vs. No. 6 Washington Commanders
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NFL playoffs schedule: Conference championship weekend
Both of the NFL's conference championship games will take place on Sunday, Jan. 26. The NFC championship game is first up in the afternoon, and the AFC championship game will kick off in the evening, shortly after the first game ends.
Below is a full look at the NFL's conference championship schedule.
Sunday NFL playoff games
Philadelphia Eagles vs. Washington Commanders: 3 p.m. ET | Fox
Kansas City Chiefs vs. Buffalo Bills: 6:30 p.m. ET | CBS
Updated NFL playoff bracket
The two teams remaining in each conference know each other quite well.
The Chiefs and Bills have met in the playoffs three times since 2020, with Kansas City knocking Buffalo out of the postseason in each of those meetings. Notably, the Bills were one of two teams to beat the Chiefs during the regular season this year.
Meanwhile, the Eagles and Commanders are NFC East rivals meeting for a third time this year in the NFC championship. The two teams split the regular-season series this year as each won its home game.
Here is a look at the updated NFL playoff bracket for 2025:
Conference championship weekend
AFC
No. 1 Kansas City Chiefs vs. No. 2 Buffalo Bills
NFC
No. 2 Philadelphia Eagles vs. No. 6 Washington Commanders
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How does the NFL playoff bracket work?
The NFL's playoff bracket is dynamic. Instead of a static bracket, which is standard in most other sports' postseasons, pro football doesn't have a tournament with predetermined sets of matchups.
In the NFL's playoff format, the No. 1 seed in each conference is guaranteed a bye through the wild-card round, but their divisional round matchup is not a guaranteed meeting with the winner of a specific first-round game. Instead, the top seeds in each both face whichever seed is the lowest remaining after wild-card weekend.
So, if the No. 7 seed upsets the No. 2 seed in the wild-card round, the No. 7-seeded team would travel to face the No. 1 seed on the road. But if the No. 2 seed wins, then the No. 2 seed would play the second-lowest seed remaining instead while the No. 1 seed plays the lowest remaining seed.
With just eight teams left – four in each conference – in the divisional round, there's no additional room for the bracket's dynamic nature. The four teams that won last weekend will face off in their respective conference championship games this weekend to determine who will travel to New Orleans for Super Bowl 59.
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When will the Super Bowl matchup be known?
The competitors in Super Bowl 59 will be determined by the end of Sunday night, following the conclusion of the Chiefs vs. Bills AFC championship game in Kansas City.
Full NFL playoffs schedule, results
The NFL playoffs kicked off on Saturday, Jan. 11 with the league's wild card weekend and will conclude on Feb. 9 with Super Bowl 59 in New Orleans.
Below is a look at the schedule, scores and results for that contest.
Wild card round
All times Eastern
Saturday, Jan. 11
Sunday, Jan. 12
Monday, Jan. 13
Divisional round
Saturday, Jan. 18
Sunday, Jan. 19
Conference championship round
Sunday, Jan. 26
No. 2 Philadelphia Eagles vs. No. 6 Washington Commanders: 3 p.m. | Fox
No. 1 Kansas City Chiefs vs. No. 2 Buffalo Bills: 6:30 p.m. | CBS
Super Bowl 59
Date: Feb. 9, 2025
Location: Caesars Superdome (New Orleans)
Time: 6:30 p.m.
TV: FOX
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: NFL playoffs: Schedule, bracket for conference championship weekend
