On January 5, the National Football League released the much-anticipated schedule for the playoffs. The playoff games started on January 10, with the wildcard games of the LA Rams vs the Carolina Panthers at Carolinaas well as the Green Bay Packers vs the Chicago Bears at Chicago. 

The Denver Broncos were the AFC champions, with the Seattle Seahawks the NFC champions, allowing them to earn their number one seed and first round bye in their respective conferences.  

After the first seed were the division winners. For the AFC it was the Denver Broncos (West), Jacksonville Jaguars (South), Pittsburg Steelers (North) and New England Patriots (East). For the NFC, it was the Philadelphia Eagles (East), Chicago Bears (North), Carolina Panthers (South) and Seattle Seahawks (West). 

The NFL wrote a schedule that was sure to engage fans, with purposeful placements that allowed certain rivalries such as the Chicago Bears and Green Bay Packers to compete.  

The Bears, along with the Rams, Bills, 49ers, Patriots and Texans, will be moving into the divisional round. The Bears will play the Rams at Chicago on January 18, The Bills will play the Broncos at Denver on January17, the 49ers will play the Seahawks at Seattle on January 17 and the Patriots will play the Texans at New England on January 18.  

The Philadelphia Eagles won the 2025 Superbowl, but this year it looks like many teams have the chance to take the title for the 2026 year with many new and prominent quarterbacks such as Josh Allen and Caleb Williams. To check the rest of the playoff schedule and the division leaderboards, check out the graphics below.