NFC Wild Card Prediction: Who will advance and who will go home?
USA TODAY Sports Chris Bumbaka and Joe Rivera share who they think will emerge from the NFC wild-card round.
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The 2025 NFL Playoffs are about to begin, giving 14 teams a chance to compete for a spot in Super Bowl 60.
The 2025 playoff spot looks much different than what many expected at the start of the season. The Carolina Panthers, Chicago Bears, and New England Patriots finished last to first in their respective divisions, and perennial Super Bowl favorites like the Kansas City Chiefs and Baltimore Ravens failed to make the playoffs.
As such, the 2025 postseason race will be a very open one, as there aren’t a ton of clear favorites on either side of the bracket.
A change in the league’s typical playoff structure could make the postseason both fun and unpredictable. Of course, the reigning Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles could also derail everyone’s plans as they battle through the NFC and seek their third league championship in four years.
Here’s what you need to know about the NFL’s Wild Card weekend schedule and how this season’s playoff bracket will work.
What are the NFL playoff games this weekend?
The first six NFL playoff games will be played during the league’s wild card weekend. According to the conference, they are:
AFC wild card game
NFC wildcard game
- 2. Chicago Bears (11-6) vs. 7. Green Bay Packers (9-7-1)
- 3. Philadelphia Eagles (11-6) vs. 6. San Francisco 49ers (12-5)
- 4. Carolina Panthers (8-9) vs. 5. Los Angeles Rams (12-5)
NFL Wild Card Playoff Schedule
As usual, the NFL Wild Card Game will be held over three days. The first two games will be played on Saturday, the next three on Sunday, and the wild-card weekend will conclude with a solitary “Monday Night Football” game.
Below is the full schedule for the opening game of the 2025 NFL Playoffs.
Saturday NFL Playoff Game
Sunday’s NFL playoff game
Monday’s NFL playoff games
Updated NFL playoff bracket
Only two top-seeded teams will not play during wild-card weekend. The Denver Broncos and Seattle Seahawks each posted 14-win seasons and earned first-round byes. This gave Seattle the best record in the NFC and tied Denver with New England, but they earned a common game tiebreaker against the Patriots.
The NFL playoff standings have not been determined. This leaves the No. 1 seed to play the remaining lowest seed in the district round, leaving two teams to play.
Below is the complete 2025 NFL Playoffs bracket, updated with the results of the wild card round.
AFC playoff bracket
- No. 1 Denver Broncos (BYE)
- 2nd place New England Patriots vs. 7th place Los Angeles Chargers
- 3rd place Jacksonville Jaguars vs. 6th place Buffalo Bills
- 4th place Pittsburgh Steelers vs. 5th place Houston Texans
NFC playoff bracket
- 1. Seattle Seahawks (BYE)
- 2nd place Chicago Bears vs. 7th place Green Bay Packers
- 3rd place Philadelphia Eagles vs. 6th place San Francisco 49ers
- 4th place Carolina Panthers vs. 5th place Los Angeles Rams
How does the NFL playoff bracket work?
A total of 14 teams will participate in the NFL playoffs. The top seeds in each conference will receive a first-round bye, and the remaining 12 teams will play each other in wild-card matchups.
The NFL uses a dynamic bracket in its postseason format. This means the bracket will change as the playoffs progress.
How exactly does that process work? Postseason tournaments are reseeded after each round, rather than fixed slots. That means the No. 1 seed will play the lowest seed remaining after the wild-card round, and the remaining two teams in each conference will play each other.
If the No. 1 seed were to pull an upset on either side of the bracket, the remaining top seed would receive home-field advantage in the conference championship game. That means, hypothetically, any team in each conference could host a playoff contest at home, except for the No. 7 seed in each conference.
When will wild card winners learn their divisional opponents?
The bracket on the NFC side is expected to be fully finalized by the end of Sunday’s game between the Philadelphia Eagles and the San Francisco 49ers. Meanwhile, the AFC field will not be fully formed until the Houston Texans and Pittsburgh Steelers complete their Monday Night Football matchup.
That being said, fans will likely learn some of the matchups before the game ends. For example, if the seventh-seeded Packers beat the second-seeded Bears in Saturday night’s matchup, Green Bay would be guaranteed a matchup with Seattle in the divisional round.
Meanwhile, the AFC bracket will have at least one matchup set before the end of Sunday Night Football between the New England Patriots and Los Angeles Chargers. If the Chargers win, they will play the Broncos. If the Patriots win, one of two things will happen. If Jacksonville defeats Buffalo in the first round of the playoffs on Sunday, New England will tie the game, and if Buffalo pulls off a seeding upset, Denver will be guaranteed a matchup with the Bills.
Whatever happens, the situation will quickly become clear during wild-card weekend.
Full NFL Playoff Schedule
Here’s a complete look at this year’s NFL playoff schedule:
wild card round
always east
Saturday, January 10th
Sunday, January 11th
Monday, January 12th
- Houston Texans vs. Pittsburgh Steelers, 8 p.m. ET, ESPN/ABC
division round
Saturday, January 17th
- AFC/NFC Division Game: 4:30 p.m.
- AFC/NFC Division Game: 8:15 p.m.
Sunday, January 18th
- AFC/NFC Division Game: 3pm
- AFC/NFC Division Game: 6:30 p.m.
NFL Conference Championship Round
Sunday, January 25th
- AFC Championship Game: 3pm
- NFC Championship Game: 6:30 p.m.
60th super bowl
- tv set: NBC
- date: February 8, 2026
- position: Levi’s Stadium (Santa Clara, California)
- time: 6:30 p.m.
