NFL playoffs schedule: Divisional round games, bracket update, more info

Posted by Admin January 18, 2025 NFL

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Six teams were eliminated from the 2025 NFL playoffs – which will determine the champion for the league’s 2024 season – on wild card weekend. The divisional round will feature another culling of the herd, as the eight remaining squads will be cut down to just four in a span of just over 24 hours.

The divisional round will mark the first time the No. 1 seeds in each conference throw their hats into the fray. The Kansas City Chiefs are looking to earn a third consecutive Super Bowl win while the Detroit Lions are looking to make it to the Super Bowl for the first time after experiencing heartbreak in last year’s NFC championship game.

Plenty of quality opponents remain on both sides of the bracket. The Buffalo Bills vs. Baltimore Ravens matchup in the AFC figures to be the marquee matchup of the four-game slate while the Washington Commanders will look to pull off a second consecutive seeding upset and play spoiler on the NFC side of the bracket.

Here’s what to know about the NFL’s divisional round schedule and how the league’s playoff bracket works in 2025.

What NFL playoff games are this weekend?

Four NFL playoff games will be played as the league’s postseason bracket moves onto the divisional round. They are as follows, by conference:

AFC divisional round games

NFC divisional round games

NFL wild card playoff schedule

The NFL’s divisional round will see games played on both Saturday and Sunday. There will be two games played on each day, and the action will begin with the Chiefs vs. Texans game at 4:30 p.m. ET on Saturday.

There will not be a “Monday Night Football” game in the divisional round of the playoffs. The league’s “MNF” schedule came to an end with the Rams’ 27-9 win over the Minnesota Vikings in the wild card round.

Below is a full look at the NFL’s divisional weekend schedule.

Saturday NFL playoff games

Sunday NFL playoff games

Updated NFL playoff bracket

All eight of the remaining NFL playoff teams will be in action on divisional weekend. The only two teams not yet to play a game entering Saturday’s action were the No. 1 seeds – the Chiefs and the Lions – who earned wild card weekend byes for finishing with the best record in their respective conferences.

Here is a look at the full NFL playoff bracket for 2025, which will be updated for the divisional round results:

AFC playoff bracket

NFC playoff bracket

How does the NFL playoff bracket work?

The NFL playoff bracket doesn’t begin as a fixed one. The No. 1 seed in each conference is granted a bye to the divisional round of the postseason while the remaining six teams in each conference play on wild card weekend.

Once the victors are determined, the No. 1 seed in each conference draws the lowest remaining seed for the divisional round. This can be any team seeded from Nos. 4-7, depending on the results of the game; in 2025, the AFC’s top-seeded Chiefs drew a matchup with the 4-seeded Texans while the NFC’s No. 1-seeded Lions drew into a matchup with the No. 6-seeded Commanders.

The other conference semifinals are between the two remaining teams on either side of the bracket. Once those matchups are set, the bracket becomes fixed. The winners of the divisional round games will play one another in their respective conference championship games to determine which squad gets to go to the Super Bowl.

This differs slightly from the NFL’s previous playoff bracket, during which the No. 2 seed in each conference also got a bye week. The NFL changed that rule in 2020, when it expanded its playoff field from 12 to 14 and began having the No. 2 seed face the No. 7 seed, the latter of which previously didn’t make the postseason.

The new format creates a wider variation of potential matchups for the divisional round, as the No. 1 seed faces the possibility of playing one of four teams instead of just three. It also creates more of an advantage for teams that get the bye, as they don’t have to win an extra game as they look to make a Super Bowl run.

When will divisional round winners know their opponents?

The NFL’s conference championship game matchups will be set by Sunday night, once the league’s divisional round action wraps up. The Bills vs. Ravens game will be the last contest to finish play, but once that result is booked, each conference will have two remaining teams.

Saturday’s winners will also know their two potential championship game opponents going into Sunday’s games because of the now-fixed bracket. There aren’t as many scenarios about which to worry as there are on wild card weekend; the winning teams will simply face the other surviving squad from their conference.