The NFL doesn’t ease its way into January. It kicks the damn door in, and Wild Card Weekend powered by Verizon from January 10 through January 12 is about to prove that once again, with six games across three days and zero room for excuses. This is the fifth straight year the Wild Card round ends under the lights on Monday night, and every franchise stepping onto the field knows the same brutal truth: survive now or disappear until September.
The opening salvo comes Saturday afternoon in Charlotte, North Carolina, where the No. 4 Carolina Panthers, an 8-9 division winner that barely crawled into January, host the No. 5 Los Angeles Rams, a 12-5 offensive juggernaut that scored more points and gained more yards than anyone else in football this season. Kickoff is set for 4:30 p.m. ET on FOX and FOX Deportes, and the Rams arrive knowing they already lost here once. Carolina beat Los Angeles 31-28 in Week 13, when Bryce Young carved them up with three touchdown passes and a career-high 147.1 rating. Matthew Stafford counters with a season that looks like it was pulled from a video game, leading the NFL with 4,707 passing yards and a career-high 46 touchdown passes. Carolina fans can scream about destiny all they want, but history isn’t on their side. The only previous playoff meeting between these teams came on January 10, 2004, when Carolina beat the St. Louis Rams 29-23 in double overtime in one of the longest postseason games ever played.
Saturday night shifts to Chicago, Illinois, where the oldest rivalry in the sport gets another playoff chapter as the No. 2 Chicago Bears host the No. 7 Green Bay Packers at 8 p.m. ET on Prime Video. These teams split the season series, each winning at home, because of course they did. Green Bay took a 28-21 win in Week 14, Chicago answered with a 22-16 overtime win in Week 16, and now the rubber match decides who keeps breathing. Chicago enters with the most takeaways and the fewest giveaways in the league, while Green Bay leans on Jordan Love, who has at least two touchdown passes in two of his first three playoff starts. The Bears and Packers have split their two previous postseason meetings, both in Chicago, and this one comes with division pride, playoff survival, and decades of hate piled on top.
Sunday starts in Jacksonville, Florida, where the No. 3 Jacksonville Jaguars host the No. 6 Buffalo Bills at 1 p.m. ET on CBS and Paramount+. Jacksonville enters on an eight-game winning streak, Buffalo won five of its last six, and both quarterbacks spent the season stuffing the stat sheet. Josh Allen finished with 39 combined passing and rushing touchdowns, Trevor Lawrence had 38, and Buffalo led the NFL with 2,714 rushing yards and 30 rushing touchdowns. Jacksonville counters with a defense that allowed the fewest rushing yards per game in football. Something has to break, and neither team believes it will be them.
Sunday afternoon moves to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where the No. 3 Eagles host the No. 6 San Francisco 49ers at 4:30 p.m. ET on FOX and FOX Deportes. Philadelphia has won five straight home playoff games, including a 31-7 demolition of San Francisco in the 2022 NFC Championship Game, and the Eagles believe this is the first step toward becoming the 10th team to repeat as Super Bowl champions. Jalen Hurts already has a Super Bowl LIX MVP on his resume and owns a postseason stat line that includes 10 touchdown passes and 10 rushing touchdowns, something no quarterback in NFL history has ever done. San Francisco counters with Brock Purdy, Christian McCaffrey, and a roster built to punish mistakes. Saquon Barkley and Christian McCaffrey enter this game with two of the highest scrimmage yard averages in postseason history, and neither team plans to blink.
Sunday night belongs to Foxborough, Massachusetts, where the No. 2 New England Patriots host the No. 7 Los Angeles Chargers at 8 p.m. ET on NBC, Peacock, Telemundo, and Universo. This is New England’s first home playoff game since the 2019 Wild Card round, and the Patriots arrive with the AFC’s top offense by points and yards. Drake Maye led all qualified passers in rating and completion percentage, and New England has beaten the Chargers in all three playoff meetings in the Super Bowl era. The Chargers aren’t backing down quietly, having allowed 20 or fewer points in each of the final six weeks of the season. Something has to give under the lights.
Monday night closes the Wild Card round in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where the No. 4 Steelers host the No. 5 Houston Texans at 8:15 p.m. ET on ESPN, ABC, ESPN+, ESPN Deportes, and the ManningCast. Houston enters with a nine-game winning streak, the longest by a playoff-bound team since 2022, and fields the league’s top-ranked defense by yards allowed. Pittsburgh, AFC North champions for the first time since 2020, is still chasing its first home playoff win since January 2017.
Above all of this chaos sit the top seeds. Denver earned the AFC’s No. 1 seed for the first time since 2015, tying a franchise record with 14 wins. When Denver earns the top seed, it usually ends with a Super Bowl appearance. Seattle grabbed the NFC’s No. 1 seed with a franchise-record 14 wins, and every previous time the Seahawks earned the top seed, they went to the Super Bowl.
This postseason is packed with turnarounds and chaos. Six teams reached the playoffs after missing them last season. Carolina, Chicago, and New England went from last place to division champions. Seven new division winners tied the most in a season since 2002. Since realignment, almost every franchise has tasted a division title at least once.
History looms everywhere. Seven of the 14 playoff teams have won Super Bowls since 2000, accounting for 14 of the last 25 Lombardi Trophies. New England, San Francisco, and Green Bay still sit atop the all-time playoff win list. Quarterbacks under 30 dominate this postseason, but the oldest one may still be the most dangerous.
Aaron Rodgers, now in Pittsburgh, enters at age 42 with 45 postseason touchdown passes and 5,894 postseason passing yards. Two touchdowns Monday night would move him past Joe Montana and Patrick Mahomes. Seventy-nine passing yards would push him past Ben Roethlisberger. Josh Allen continues rewriting playoff quarterback production standards. Matthew Stafford is chasing history with every throw. Jalen Hurts is stacking postseason achievements faster than anyone in the league. C.J. Stroud is trying to do something only three quarterbacks have ever done. Christian McCaffrey, Saquon Barkley, Puka Nacua, Will Anderson, and Zack Baun are all staring down milestones that only legends usually touch.
This isn’t a polite postseason. This is the NFL at its most ruthless. By Monday night in Pittsburgh, six teams will be finished, six fanbases will be furious, and only eight will still have a pulse. Wild Card Weekend doesn’t care about your regular season, your excuses, or your future. Win now, or get out of the way.
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