Who will host NFC championship game? How Commanders win changes playoff bracket

Posted by author January 19, 2025 NFL

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The Detroit Lions earned the NFC’s No. 1 seed for the 2025 NFL playoffs and the home-field advantage that comes with it. It didn’t take them long to squander it.

The Lions lost their first game of the 2025 NFL playoffs to the No. 6-seed Washington Commanders in the biggest upset of the postseason thus far. Washington’s victory allowed it to get to the NFC championship game for the first time since the 1991 playoffs and also shook up the conference’s playoff bracket.

With the Lions out, the No. 2-seed Philadelphia Eagles now have the conference’s home-field advantage. They will look to retain that and earn the right to host the NFC championship game, but first, they will need to survive their divisional round matchup against a Los Angeles Rams team coming off blowout victory over the 15-win Minnesota Vikings in the wild-card round.

Here’s what to know about the NFC playoff bracket and where the NFC championship game could be played after Detroit’s elimination.

Who will host the NFC championship game?

The winner of Sunday’s Eagles vs. Rams game will host the NFC championship game in 2025. The two teams are the Nos. 2 and 4 seeds in the conference respectively which guarantees the winner of the game will be seeded better than the No. 6-seeded Commanders.

The only way the Commanders could have hosted the NFC championship game this season would have been to play the No. 7-seed Green Bay Packers in the final matchup before Super Bowl 59. The Eagles eliminated the Packers with a 22-10 win on wild-card weekend, which guaranteed Washington would not host a playoff game in 2025.

Where will the NFC championship game be played?

The NFC championship game will be played at the home stadium of either the Eagles or Rams, depending on which team wins their head-to-head matchup on Sunday.

If the Eagles win, the NFC championship game will be played at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The outdoor stadium could bring inclement weather into play for a potential Eagles vs. Commanders matchup.

If the Rams win, SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California would be tapped to host the NFC championship game. That said, it isn’t clear whether the venue would be cleared to host the contest. The Rams’ first scheduled home playoff game against the Vikings was relocated to State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona because of ongoing wildfires in Los Angeles County.

As such, the NFC championship game’s location could be in flux if the Rams are able to beat the Eagles. Still, a Rams victory would earn them home-team treatment for the contest, even if a change of venue made it more of a neutral-site affair.

The Eagles lasted hosted the NFC championship game during the 2022 NFL playoffs. Philadelphia was the No. 1 seed in the conference and beat the No. 2 seed San Francisco 49ers 31-7 en route to a Super Bowl 57 appearance.

The Rams hosted the NFC championship game the season before. They were the No. 4 seed during that postseason run by drew a matchup with the No. 6-seed 49ers in a matchup that would mirror Los Angeles’ potential clash with Washington. The 2021 NFC championship game (played in 2022) marks the only NFC title game hosted at SoFi Stadium since it opened in 2020.