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NFL playoffs schedule: Wild card weekend games, bracket update, more info

jacob camenker, usa today
·6 min read

Most of the NFL's 32 teams entered the 2024 season with a legitimate chance to compete for a playoff spot. The regular season is now over, and just 14 teams are left standing for the 2025 NFL playoffs and march to Super Bowl 59.

By the end of the league's super wild-card weekend, just eight teams will remain.

The NFL playoff field is loaded in 2025. Every team that made the postseason has at least 10 wins, while the Minnesota Vikings became the league's first wild-card team with 14 victories. That should level the playing field and give many of the wild-card teams a legitimate chance to pull off the upset.

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As such, the wild-card round of the postseason could be more exciting than usual. Fans will want to tune in to see as many games as possible, and to see exactly who their team will be playing next should they advance to the divisional round.

Here's what to know about the NFL's wild-card weekend schedule and how its playoff bracket will work in 2025.

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What NFL playoff games are this weekend?

Six NFL playoff games will be played as part of the league's wild-card weekend. They are as follows, by conference:

AFC wild-card games

NFC wild-card games

NFL wild card playoff schedule

The NFL's wild-card games will be spread out over three days – Saturday, Sunday and Monday. There will be two games Saturday, three on Sunday and a stand-alone "Monday Night Football" game to close the week.

Below is a look at the full opening-round schedule.

Saturday NFL playoff games

Sunday NFL playoff games

Monday NFL playoff games

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Updated NFL playoff bracket

The only two teams that won't be in action for wild-card weekend are the No. 1 seeds – the Kansas City Chiefs and Detroit Lions – who earned byes for finishing with the best record in each conference.

The playoff bracket isn't fixed. The No. 1 seeds will face the lowest remaining seed in the divisional round, leaving the two remaining teams to face off in the conference semifinals. The No. 1 seeds can only play teams seeded Nos. 4-7 in the divisional round while the remaining seeds can play anyone but the No. 7 seed, which would automatically draw the No. 1 seed with a victory.

Here is a look at the full NFL playoff bracket for 2025:

AFC playoff bracket

NFC playoff bracket

How does the NFL playoff bracket work?

It isn't a fixed bracket. The No. 1 seed in each conference will host the lowest remaining seed in the divisional round of the postseason, while the second-highest-remaining seed hosts the second-lowest remaining seed.

In the past, the No. 2 seed in the league got a bye week. The NFL changed that rule in 2020, when it expanded its playoff field from 12 to 14 and began having the No. 2 seed face the No. 7 seed, the latter of which previously didn't make the postseason.

The new format creates a wider variation of potential matchups for the divisional round, as the No. 1 seed faces the possibility of playing one of four teams while the other squads can also have up to four different opponents based on how the dominoes fall.

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When will wild card winners know divisional opponents?

In 2025, the NFL's divisional-round bracket will be set relatively quickly for the AFC. Once the No. 2-seed Bills play the No. 7-seed Broncos on Sunday, the AFC's divisional round bracket will be set in full, as the other two AFC games will be played Saturday.

The NFC divisional round bracket won't be set in full until after the Rams and Vikings square off on Monday night. However, the Sunday afternoon game between the Eagles and Packers will allow NFC fans to get a clearer picture of the playoff bracket.

If Philadelphia wins, the Eagles will either face the Buccaneers or the winner of the Rams-Vikings game. If Green Bay wins, the Packers will face the Lions, leaving the winners of the two remaining games to face one another.

Full NFL playoffs schedule

The NFL playoffs kick off on Saturday, Jan. 11 with the league's super wild-card weekend before concluding on Feb. 9 with Super Bowl 59 in New Orleans.

Wild-card round

All times Eastern

Saturday, Jan. 11

Sunday, Jan. 12

Monday, Jan. 13

Divisional round

Saturday, Jan. 18

  • AFC/NFC divisional game: 4:30 p.m.

  • AFC/NFC division game: 8:15 p.m.

Sunday, Jan. 19

  • AFC/NFC divisional game: 3 p.m.

  • AFC/NFC divisional game: 6:30 p.m.

Conference championship round

Sunday, Jan. 26

  • NFC championship game: 3 p.m.

  • AFC championship game: 6:30 p.m.

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 update for wild card weekend games