Finally, NFL Odds Playoff time has arrived, and the 2025-26 seedings are set. In the AFC, the Denver Broncos finished 14-3 and earned the top seed. Following Denver are the 2-New England Patriots (14-3), 3-Jacksonville Jaguars (13-4), 4-Pittsburgh Steelers (10-7), 5-Houston Texans (12-5), 6-Buffalo Bills (12-5), and 7-Los Angeles Chargers (11-6). Meanwhile, In the NFC, the top seed is the Seattle Seahawks (14-3), followed by the 2-Chicago Bears (11-6), 3-Philadelphia Eagles (11-6), 4-Carolina Panthers (8-9), 5-Los Angeles Rams (12-5), 6-San Francisco 49ers (12-5), and 7-Green Bay Packers (9-7-1).
Correlate that the Broncos and Seahawks have earned byes for the Wild Card Round and will have home-field advantage for all playoff games in their respective conferences. The Rams, Seahawks, and Broncos opened as the favorites to win the Super Bowl.
2025-26 NFL Playoffs Overview
At the onset, gamblers will see some odd quirks for this year’s NFL Playoffs: teams with better records have lower seeds than teams with worse records.
In the AFC, the Pittsburgh Steelers earned the 4th seed by winning the AFC North Division title. That made the Steelers a higher seed than the Houston Texans, Buffalo Bills, and Los Angeles Chargers, all of whom had better records. In turn, it gets really strange in the NFC, with the Carolina Panthers getting a higher seed than the Los Angeles Rams, San Francisco 49ers, and Green Bay Packers. Carolina finished with a losing record but “won” the NFC South Division.
Overall, there are plenty of surprises for the 2025-26 NFL Playoffs. The biggest is that the Kansas City Chiefs are not in. The Chiefs played in the last three Super Bowls as AFC champions and have played in five since 2019, winning three.
On the other end of the spectrum are the New England Patriots, Jacksonville Jaguars, Seattle Seahawks, and Chicago Bears. Certainly, these teams surprised gamblers with playoff appearances. Except for the Seahawks, the Patriots, Jaguars, and Bears are coming out of dark periods of losing. Now they are playoff teams.
The defending Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles are limping into the playoffs for the defense of their title with an 11-6 record. Of great concern is some inner turmoil between quarterback Jalen Hurts and the rest of the club.
2025-26 NFL Playoff Schedule (ET)
Wild Card Round (6 Games)
Saturday, January 10, 2026
- Los Angeles Rams at Carolina Panthers, 4:30 p.m. ET, FOX
- Green Bay Packers at Chicago Bears, 8 p.m. ET, Amazon Prime
Sunday, January 11, 2026
- Buffalo Bills at Jacksonville Jaguars, 1 p.m. ET, CBS
- San Francisco 49ers at Philadelphia Eagles, 4:30 p.m. ET, FOX
- Los Angeles Chargers at New England Patriots, 8 p.m. ET, NBC
Monday, January 12, 2026
- Houston Texans at Pittsburgh Steelers, 8 p.m. ET, ABC
Divisional Round (4 Games)
- Saturday, January 17, 2026 – Sunday, January 18, 2026
Conference Championships (2 Games)
- Sunday, January 25, 2026
Super Bowl LX
- Sunday, February 8, 2026 – Levi’s Stadium, Santa Clara, CA
NFL commissioner Roger Goodell gave the media and fans a peek into the future with his dream of the Super Bowl being played on Presidents Day weekend (mid-February). The NFL wants to take advantage of a three-day holiday weekend in the United States. Thus, it allows fans to recover from their Super Bowl revelry on the Monday after the game.