NFL playoff schedule, bracket: AFC, NFC dates, locations
The 2024 NFL playoffs are almost here, and all six wild-card matchups will be set after the Detroit Lions and Minnesota Vikings battle for the NFC's No. 1 seed on Sunday night. The Kansas City Chiefs already secured the 1-seed in the AFC, giving them a bye to the divisional round and home-field advantage throughout the playoffs.
Wild-card weekend will feature games on Jan. 11, 12 and 13. Games in the divisional round will be on Jan. 18 and 19. The conference title matchups will be on Jan. 26.
Here is what we know about the AFC and NFC brackets, including seeding and the schedule from wild-card weekend until Super Bowl LIX, which will be played Feb. 9 at Caesars Superdome in New Orleans. The wild-card schedule will be announced during Week 18.
Full schedule will be announced during Week 18.
(7) Green Bay Packers at (2) Philadelphia Eagles
(5) Minnesota Vikings OR Detroit Lions at (4) Los Angeles Rams
(6) Washington Commanders at (3) Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Bye: (1) Detroit Lions OR Minnesota Vikings
(7) Denver Broncos at (2) Buffalo Bills
(5) Los Angeles Chargers at (4) Houston Texans
(6) Pittsburgh Steelers at (3) Baltimore Ravens
Bye: (1) Kansas City Chiefs
There will be four divisional-round games -- two on Jan. 18 and two on Jan. 19. Game times will be announced come at a later date. Here's what we know so far:
The NFC and AFC Championship Games will be played at the home stadiums of the highest-remaining seeds for each conference.
The Super Bowl for the 2024 season will be played at Caesars Superdome in New Orleans. The game will air on Fox. Kendrick Lamar will perform during the halftime show. The NFC representative will be the home team.
NFL playoff scenarios, stakes for each postseason-bound and postseason-hopeful team during Week 18
The NFL playoff field is nearly set. Here's what's left in the Week 18 scramble.
Kansas City Chiefs: They are the No. 1 seed in the AFC playoffs, an honor that gives them a first-round bye and home-field advantage through the conference's postseason action. The Chiefs didn't play for anything in their regular-season finale loss at the Denver Broncos and sat out some starters, including Patrick Mahomes. The road to the Super Bowl in the AFC goes through Arrowhead.
Buffalo Bills: They visited the New England Patriots in the regular-season finale with nothing to gain and lost 23-16. The Bills already secured the AFC's No. 2 seed, so they'll host the worst conference wild-card team during wild-card weekend. That postseason opponent will be the Denver Broncos.
Baltimore Ravens: Lamar Jackson and company clinched the AFC North title with a victory over the Cleveland Browns on Saturday.
That means the Ravens are the AFC's No. 3 seed and will host a wild-card game against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Houston Texans: Nothing was on the line for the Texans in Week 18, though they had no issue beating the Tennessee Titans. The Texans clinched the AFC South in Week 15, but they couldn't improve their seeding. As the conference's worst division winner, Houston is locked into the No. 4 seed.
The Texans will host the Los Angeles Chargers during wild-card weekend.
Los Angeles Chargers: They walked into Week 18 at the Las Vegas Raiders with a wild-card berth in hand. The Chargers earned the No. 5 seed with a strong win Sunday against the Raiders. That No. 5 seed will earn them a trip to Houston to face the Texans during wild-card weekend.
Pittsburgh Steelers: They had a playoff berth secured in mid December but failed to get the No. 5 seed after losing Saturday night vs. the Bengals.
They will be the No. 6 seed and will visit the Baltimore Ravens during wild-card weekend.
Denver Broncos: They secured the final wild-card berth as the No. 7 seed in the AFC with their 38-0 wipeout of the resting Kansas City Chiefs. The Broncos are now headed to Buffalo in Round 1 of the playoffs.
The Chiefs already clinched the conference's No. 1 seed, so they didn't use their starters throughout the regular-season finale in Denver.
Miami Dolphins: The Dolphins needed help to nab that last wild-card spot in the AFC — which they didn't get from the Kansas City Chiefs. The Denver Broncos' 38-0 victory against the visiting Chiefs eliminated the Dolphins from the postseason picture.
Cincinnati Bengals: They had the hardest chance at securing a playoff bid among the AFC postseason hopefuls and didn't get the break they needed in Denver. The Bengals needed the Broncos to lose to the visiting Kansas City Chiefs, which didn't happen as Denver cruised to a 38-0 victory.
Detroit Lions: They can win the NFC North, their conference's No. 1 seed and home-field advantage throughout the NFC postseason with a victory over the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday night.
An unlikely tie against the Vikings would also deliver the Lions the No. 1 seed thanks to its victory on Monday night vs. the San Francisco 49ers.
A Week 18 loss dooms the Lions to the No. 5 seed, where they would face on the road in Round 1 the Los Angeles Rams.
Philadelphia Eagles: The NFC East champions are locked into the No. 2 seed in the conference. They defeated the New York Giants, 20-13, on Sunday with nothing on the line. Even Saquon Barkley took it easy, passing on taking a shot at Eric Dickerson's single-season rushing record.
On wild-card weekend, the Eagles will host the No. 7 seed Green Bay Packers.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers: They won the NFC South with their 27-19 victory against the New Orleans Saints.
The Buccaneers also elevated to the No. 3 seed with the Los Angeles Rams' defeat to the visiting Seattle Seahawks.
As the third-seeded team in the NFC, the Bucs will face the Washington Commanders in the opening round of the playoffs.
Los Angeles Rams: As NFC West champs, L.A. entered Sunday vs. the Seattle Seahawks with a chance to clinch the No. 3 seed with a victory. They didn't get it, losing to the Seahawks. That defeat, and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' victory against the New Orleans Saints, pushed the Rams to the No. 4 seed.
The Rams will face either the Minnesota Vikings or Detroit Lions in Round 1 of the playoffs.
Minnesota Vikings: The NFL schedule makers couldn't have dreamed it up any better. In the regular-season Sunday night finale, a Vikings victory against the hosting Detroit Lions would deliver Minnesota the North divisional title, the No. 1 seed in the NFC and home-field advantage throughout the conference's postseason play.
A defeat or tie in Motown would lock the Vikings into the No. 5 wild-card seed, which would put them on the road in Round 1 against the Los Angeles Rams.
Washington Commanders: They're headed to the postseason as the NFC's No. 6 seed thanks to its victory on Sunday vs. the Dallas Cowboys.
As a No. 6 seed in wild-card weekend, the Commanders will play the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Green Bay Packers: The Packers' defeat vs. the rival Chicago Bears and the Washington Commanders' road victory against the Dallas Cowboys locks Green Bay in as the last wild-card team in the NFC playoffs.
As the No. 7 seed, the Packers will face the Philadelphia Eagles on the road in Round 1.
Atlanta Falcons: They were eliminated from postseason contention with Tampa Bay's victory vs. New Orleans. They lost in overtime to the Carolina Panthers, 44-38.
Through the second window of games on Jan. 5, here’s what the playoff matchups look like. Bolded teams have clinched a playoff spot. Teams with an asterisk have yet to play in Week 18.
NFC
1. Detroit Lions (14-2)*
2. Philadelphia Eagles (14-3) vs. 7. Green Bay Packers (11-6)
3. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (10-7) vs. 6. Washington Commanders (12-5)
4. Los Angeles Rams (10-7) vs. 5. Minnesota Vikings (14-2)*
AFC
1. Kansas City Chiefs (15-2)
2. Buffalo Bills (13-4) vs. 7. Denver Broncos (10-7)
3. Baltimore Ravens (12-5) vs. 6. Pittsburgh Steelers (10-7)
4. Houston Texans (10-7) vs. 5. Los Angeles Chargers (11-6)
Super Bowl 2023: Chiefs beat Eagles in NFL playoffs
The Kansas City Chiefs are Super Bowl LVII champs. The Chiefs topped the Philadelphia Eagles 38-35 on Sunday, Feb. 12, in Glendale, Arizona to cap the 2022 NFL playoffs.
In the conference championship round, the Eagles beat the San Francisco 49ers 31-7 in the NFC title game, while the Chiefs took out the Cincinnati Bengals 23-20 in the AFC title game.
We tracked the AFC and NFC brackets of the playoffs, from wild-card weekend up through the Super Bowl:
Kansas City Chiefs 38, Philadelphia Eagles 35Patrick Mahomes plays through ankle sprain, leads Chiefs to winMahomes named MVP after three-touchdown game
(1) Philadelphia Eagles 31, (2) San Francisco 49ers 7Eagles batter mistake-prone 49ers to punch ticket to Super Bowl
(1) Kansas City Chiefs 23, (3) Cincinnati Bengals 20Chiefs top Bengals, headed to third Super Bowl in four seasons
(1) Philadelphia Eagles 38, (6) New York Giants 7Jalen Hurts powers Eagles past Giants in rout
(2) San Francisco 49ers 19, (5) Dallas Cowboys 1249ers battle past Cowboys, head to another NFC title game
(1) Kansas City Chiefs 27, (4) Jacksonville Jaguars 20Chiefs advance to fifth straight conference title game with home win
(3) Cincinnati Bengals 27, (2) Buffalo Bills 10Bengals shut down Bills to set up rematch with Chiefs
(2) San Francisco 49ers 41, (7) Seattle Seahawks 23Purdy, 49ers find rhythm in second half
(5) Dallas Cowboys 31, (4) Tampa Bay Buccaneers 14Cowboys finally beat Brady, as Dallas routs Tampa Bay
(6) New York Giants 31, (3) Minnesota Vikings 24Jones leads underdog Giants past Vikings
Bye: (1) Philadelphia Eagles
(2) Buffalo Bills 34, (7) Miami Dolphins 31Bills begin playoff march with sloppy win over short-handed Dolphins
(3) Cincinnati Bengals 24, (6) Baltimore Ravens 17Bengals' defensive TD fuels wild-card win over Ravens
(4) Jacksonville Jaguars 31, (5) Los Angeles Chargers 30Chargers blow 27-point lead as Jaguars advance
Bye: (1) Kansas City Chiefs
