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Week 18 of the NFL's regular season has concluded, and 14 teams have clinched their spot in the postseason. Seeding and the teams making/being eliminated from the playoffs came down to the wire, but everyone is excited for the 14 teams who will be making a run at the Super Bowl. In this article, we are going to detail everything that you need to know about the 2025 NFL playoffs.
NFL playoff bracket
It is worth noting that the NFL re-seeds in the playoffs, so the best team in each conference will face the worst remaining team in their conference in succeeding rounds. For example, if the seventh-seeded Denver Broncos beat the Buffalo Bills in the Wild Card round, then they will face the number one Kansas City Chiefs coming off a buy week rather than the winner of the Baltimore Ravens vs. Pittsburgh Steelers.
AFC:
- Kansas City Chiefs
- Buffalo Bills
- Baltimore Ravens
- Houston Texans
- Los Angeles Chargers
- Pittsburgh Steelers
- Denver Broncos
NFC:
- Detroit Lions
- Philadelphia Eagles
- Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- Los Angeles Rams
- Minnesota Vikings
- Washington Commanders
- Green Bay Packers
NFL postseason schedule
*Watch every Wild Card Weekend playoff game (excluding the game on Prime Video) live with fuboTV (Get Access | Save $30)*
Wild Card Weekend:
Chargers (5) @ Texans (4) on Saturday, Jan. 11 at 4:30 p.m. ET – CBS
Steelers (6) @ Ravens (3) on Saturday, Jan. 11 at 8 p.m. ET – Prime Video
Broncos (7) @ Bills (2) on Sunday, Jan. 12 at 1 p.m. ET – CBS
Packers (7) @ Eagles (2) on Sunday, Jan. 12 at 4:30 p.m. ET – FOX
Commanders (6) @ Buccaneers (3) on Sunday, Jan. 12 at 8 p.m. ET – NBC
Vikings (5) @ Rams (4) on Monday, Jan. 13 at 8 p.m. ET – ESPN, ABC
Chiefs (1) have a first-round bye
Lions (1) have a first-round bye
Divisional Round: Jan. 17-18
Championship Round: Jan. 25
Super Bowl LIX: Feb. 8
NFL playoffs preview
The Chiefs are back-to-back defending Super Bowl champions and looking to become the first team to three-peat in the Super Bowl era. While they were blown out 38-0 in Week 18 (playing their backups against a Broncos team needing to clinch), they still only lost two games all season long and have a first-round bye as the AFC's top team. The Lions secured the one seed in the NFC after one of the most anticipated regular season matchups ever. They bested the Vikings – in a winner gets a bye week game – in Week 18 in a game that featured more combined wins than any other regular season game before. Both teams will rest up and await their Divisional Round opponent. For the Lions, that rest will be much needed, as the team is dealing with a ton of injuries right now.
With the Broncos and Chiefs in the playoffs, the Los Angeles Chargers make three AFC West teams that advanced to the postseason. Many fans/experts were concerned that the Chargers would take a step back this season because they lost so many weapons in the offseason (Keenan Allen, Austin Ekeler, Mike Williams, Gerald Everett), but Jim Harbaugh has completely turned the team's mentality around. Now, the Chargers are a grind-it-out team that knows how to win ball games, and they still have an elite quarterback in Justin Herbert, too.
The Chargers' opponent, the Houston Texans, have also won games in a new fashion this year. Last year C.J. Stroud burst onto the scene, and the team's offense was only expected to get better with the additions of Joe Mixon and Stefon Diggs. The former has impressed, but the latter is out for the season with an injury, and Stroud hasn't been as much of a statistical darling this season. Instead, the team has relied on their defense to lead the way. Will Anderson and Danielle Hunter make life miserable on opposing quarterbacks.
The other postseason AFC West team – the Denver Broncos – will be taking on the Buffalo Bills. Denver has proven that they can compete with anybody thanks to their elite defense and the emergence of rookie quarterback Bo Nix. This is their first time in the playoffs since they won Super Bowl 50 in 2016, though. Meanwhile, Josh Allen's squad has made the postseason every season since 2019-20, not losing in the Wild Card Round since that 2019 season. Allen is the odds-on favorite to win the MVP this season, but the Broncos will make things hard on him. Denver sacked opposing quarterbacks the third most times (63) in a single season this century. Speaking of sacks, ex-Broncos Von Miller will be taking on his old team, a team he won the Super Bowl MVP with.
There will also be a divisional matchup in the Wild Card round in the AFC, as the Steelers will take on the Ravens. These are two teams that do not like each other and two teams that do whatever it takes to win games. You can expect a physical matchup that should come down to the wire. The teams split their regular season series.
In the NFC, the Eagles will take on the Packers. A game-winning field goal kick by the Chicago Bears broke the Packers' hearts in Week 18 and resulted in them being the last seed in the playoffs, which is unfortunate, considering the Eagles have been a juggernaut this season. Philadelphia has won 12 of their last 13 games, and Saquon Barkley became only the ninth 2,000-yard rusher ever this year.
The Eagles' lone loss during that 13-game stretch came at the hands of the Washington Commanders. Like Bo Nix, rookie Jayden Daniels has exceeded all expectations in his first year as a professional, and he seems destined to bring home Rookie of the Year honors. The Commanders are facing a Buccaneers team that has some momentum, though. In their regular-season finale, they bested the New Orleans Saints, and Mike Evans also secured his 11th-straight 1,000-yard season. That ties Evans with all-time NFL great Jerry Rice for the most consecutive 1,000-yard seasons, although Evans completed that feat in his first 11 years, while Rice didn't secure 1,000 yards until his second season.
The final postseason matchup of Wild Card Weekend will be between the Vikings and Rams. A Week 18 loss forced the Vikings to lose the division and become a five-seed rather than the top seed they could have been. Minnesota has played like one of the best teams all season, regardless, though, thanks largely to the unexpected success of Sam Darnold. The Rams' defense has played their best football going into the playoffs, so this game could be closer than people expect. Not to mention, a good chunk of the Super Bowl LVI-winning core is still intact in Los Angeles. New players like Puka Nacua and Jared Verse have extended the team's championship window.
The seven-team-per-conference playoff format has been a huge hit in the NFL in recent seasons, and this year's postseason action could go any way.
