nfl wild card games
The NFL wild card games for the 2025–2026 season kick off on Saturday, January 10, 2026, and run through Monday, January 12, featuring six total matchups across the weekend.
Wild Card Weekend Overview
- Wild card weekend opens Saturday, January 10, 2026, and uses the same expanded 14‑team playoff format the NFL has used in recent seasons.
- Games are spread over three days (Saturday, Sunday, Monday) to create standalone national TV windows for almost every matchup.
Confirmed 2026 Wild Card Games
As of early January 2026, several specific wild card matchups, times, and TV details are set.
- Rams at Panthers (NFC): Saturday, Jan. 10, 4:30 p.m. ET at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte on Fox.
- Packers at Bears (NFC): Saturday, Jan. 10, 8:00 p.m. ET at Soldier Field in Chicago, streaming on Prime Video.
- Bills at Jaguars (AFC): Sunday, Jan. 11, 1:00 p.m. ET at EverBank Stadium in Jacksonville on CBS/Paramount+.
- 49ers at Eagles (NFC): Sunday, Jan. 11, 4:30 p.m. ET at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia on Fox.
- Chargers at Patriots (AFC): Sunday, Jan. 11, 8:00 p.m. ET at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough on NBC/Peacock.
- Texans at Steelers (AFC): Monday, Jan. 12, 8:00 p.m. ET at Acrisure Stadium in Pittsburgh on ESPN/ABC/ESPN+.
TV, Streaming, And Where To Watch
- Fox carries at least two NFC wild card games, including Rams–Panthers and 49ers–Eagles.
- AFC games are split among CBS (Bills–Jaguars), NBC/Peacock (Chargers–Patriots), and ESPN/ABC (Texans–Steelers), with Prime Video streaming the Saturday night Packers–Bears game.
Bracket And “TBD” Listings
- The broader postseason bracket shows additional “Wild Card Game 3–6” slots listed as TBD vs. TBD, reflecting that future years and flexible TV windows follow the same structure (early, late, and prime‑time wild card games).
- Those TBD listings are placeholders for the rotating matchups and broadcast partners, but for 2026 the specific games above fill those wild card weekend windows.
TL;DR: Wild card weekend in January 2026 features six games from Jan. 10–12, headlined by Rams–Panthers, Packers–Bears, Bills–Jaguars, 49ers–Eagles, Chargers–Patriots, and Texans–Steelers, spread across Fox, CBS, NBC/Peacock, ESPN/ABC, and Prime Video.
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