NFL Playoff Bracket 2026 Updated Picture, Schedule After Sunday's Wild Card

Sunday's slate of Wild Card games wrapped up after an exciting day of action. The NFC Divisional Round is set, while the AFC picture continues to take shape with one game remaining Monday night.

The No. 6 Buffalo Bills opened Sunday's Wild Card slate by upsetting the No. 3 Jacksonville Jaguars. With the 27-24 road victory, and a New England Patriots win, Buffalo will travel to face the top-seeded Denver Broncos in the Divisional Round. 

New England will await the winner of Monday night's matchup between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Houston Texans after closing out Sunday with a win over the Los Angeles Chargers.

Sunday's second game featured Brock Purdy and the No. 6 San Francisco 49ers defeating Jalen Hurts and the No. 3 Philadelphia Eagles 23-19 to close out the NFC Wild Card round.

The result set the NFC Divisional Round matchups, with the top-seeded Seattle Seahawks hosting San Francisco as the lowest remaining seed. The No. 2 Chicago Bears will face the No. 5 Los Angeles Rams in Chicago.

NFL Playoff Matchups

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Below is a look at the Wild Card playoff results:

NFC playoff bracket

No. 1 Seattle Seahawks (BYE)

No. 2 Chicago Bears def. No. 7 Green Bay Packers, 31-27

No. 6 San Francisco 49ers def. No. 3 Philadelphia Eagles, 21-19

No. 5 Los Angeles Rams def. No. 4 Carolina Panthers, 34-31

AFC playoff bracket

No. 1 Denver Broncos (BYE)

No. 2 New England Patriots def. No. 7 Los Angeles Chargers, 16-3

No. 6 Buffalo Bills def. No. 3 Jacksonville Jaguars, 27-24

No. 4 Pittsburgh Steelers vs. No. 5 Houston Texans, Monday, Jan. 12 at 8:15 p.m. ET

Below is a look at the Divisional Round matchups following Wild Card Weekend.

NFC playoff bracket

No. 1 Seattle Seahawks vs. No. 6 San Francisco 49ers (Saturday, Jan. 17; Time TBD; TV network TBD)

No. 2 Chicago Bears vs. No. 5 Los Angeles Rams (Sunday, Jan. 18; Time TBD; TV network TBD)

AFC playoff bracket

No. 1 Denver Broncos vs. No. 6 Buffalo Bills (Saturday, Jan. 17; Time TBD; TV network TBD)

No. 2 New England Patriots vs. No. 4 Pittsburgh Steelers or No. 5 Houston Texans (Sunday, Jan. 18; Time TBD; TV network TBD)

Buffalo Bills def. Jacksonville Jaguars

AP Photo

With a 27-24 win over Trevor Lawrence and the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday, Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills advanced to the Divisional Round of the NFL playoffs.

Buffalo entered halftime holding a three-point lead after Jacksonville missed a potential tying field goal as time expired in the second quarter.

The teams traded scores in the fourth quarter, exchanging two sets of touchdowns before Buffalo took a 27-24 lead with 4:03 remaining. On Lawrence's ensuing possession with the game on the line, he threw a game-sealing interception.

Allen finished with 273 passing yards and one touchdown while completing 28-of-35 passes and added two rushing scores. He connected with Dalton Kincaid for a touchdown.

Lawrence battled in the loss, throwing for three touchdowns and two interceptions on 18-of-30 passing.

San Francisco 49ers def. Philadelphia Eagles

AP Photo

With a 23-19 win over Jalen Hurts and the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday, Brock Purdy and the San Francisco 49ers advanced to the Divisional Round.

Despite the win, the San Francisco 49ers suffered a significant setback in the second quarter when tight end George Kittle exited with a right Achilles injury and was carted off the field. Kittle finished with one reception for six yards on the play in which he was injured.

Hurts and the Philadelphia Eagles led 13-10 at halftime and held the San Francisco 49ers scoreless in the third quarter, forcing an interception and a three-and-out to take a 16-10 lead into the final period.

San Francisco responded with two touchdowns in the fourth quarter. Another interception thrown by Purdy set up an Eagles field goal, but the 49ers still held a four-point advantage with Philadelphia backed against the wall just ahead of the two-minute warning.

Hurts and the Eagles went for it on fourth-and-11 with 43 seconds remaining after a sack and two incompletions, but the final pass fell incomplete, allowing San Francisco to take over and kneel out the win.

Purdy finished with 262 passing yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions while completing 18-of-31 passes. Christian McCaffrey rushed for 48 yards and two touchdowns and added 66 receiving yards, while Demarcus Robinson caught a touchdown pass.

New England Patriots def. Los Angeles Chargers

AP Photo

Drake Maye and the New England Patriots defeated Justin Herbert and the Los Angeles Chargers 16-3 at home Sunday, sending Los Angeles into the offseason.

New England led 6-3 at halftime as both teams were kept out of the end zone through the first 30 minutes.

Despite a third-quarter fumble, the Patriots added a field goal to extend the lead to 9-3 entering the fourth quarter, while the defense continued to stifle the Chargers, forcing a fumble and later adding a touchdown.

Los Angeles made a final push late, driving down the field while trailing by 13 points, but the comeback bid ended when Herbert was sacked on fourth-and-9, allowing New England to close out the win.

Maye finished with 268 passing yards, one touchdown and one interception while completing 17-of-29 passes, also losing a fumble. Herbert endured six sacks and threw for 159 yards on 19-of-31 passing, with one fumble lost.