The NFL regular season is in the books. Fourteen teams remain in the pursuit of a Lombardi Trophy.
The 2023 NFL season wrapped up Sunday night with the Bills beating the Dolphins to win the AFC East and claim the No. 2 seed in the conference.
The wild-card round has plenty of thrilling matchups. A pair of 2022 last-place AFC teams will face off in Houston between the Texans and Browns. There will also be several familiar faces squaring off against former teams, when Mike McCarthy coaches the Cowboys against the Packers and Matthew Stafford and the Rams face Jared Goff and the Lions.
Tyreek Hill will lead the Dolphins against his former team into Arrowhead Stadium for a wild-card matchup with the Chiefs. And the Bills will host a Steelers’ team that surged into the playoffs behind Mason Rudolph at quarterback.
Hoping to catch the first round of the NFL playoffs? Here’s what you need to know about the schedule for Super Wild-Card weekend.
POWER RANKINGS: Every playoff team’s real chances of winning Super Bowl 58
NFL playoff bracket 2024
There are 14 teams in the 2024 NFL playoffs. Here’s a look at who will be seeded in each spot and the matchups for wild-card weekend.
AFC
— Baltimore Ravens (1, first-round bye)
— Buffalo Bills (2) vs. Pittsburgh Steelers (7)
— Kansas City Chiefs (3) vs. Miami Dolphins (6)
— Houston Texans (4) vs. Cleveland Browns (5)
NFC
— San Francisco 49ers (1, first-round bye)
— Dallas Cowboys (2) vs. Green Bay Packers (7)
— Detroit Lions (3) vs. Los Angeles Rams (6)
— Tampa Bay Buccaneers (4) vs. Philadelphia Eagles (5)
NFL wild-card matchups 2024
AFC
Buffalo Bills (2) vs. Pittsburgh Steelers (7)
While other teams were resting their starters in the final week of the season, the Bills had to go all out in an early playoff game with the AFC East title on the line. They wound up topping the Dolphins to secure the division crown. The reward? A Pittsburgh team that appears to have found some momentum in recent weeks on offense. The Steelers will be without T.J. Watt in this game, but this is still a fearsome defense that’s well coached. How that defense handles the high-powered Buffalo offense awaits to be seen.
Kansas City Chiefs (3) vs. Miami Dolphins (6)
Patrick Mahomes has never played in a road playoff game. He won’t have to start in wild-card weekend, but as the three-seed, there’s certainly a chance he’ll be heading on the road at some point in these playoffs.
The Chiefs’ offense has been sluggish throughout the 2023 season, but they’ll have to be ready for what could be a high-scoring game against the Dolphins and former Chiefs receiver Tyreek Hill. These teams squared off in Week 9, and Kansas City contained the Dolphins in a 21-14 win. Keeping that offense quiet again could be a challenge again, even with the Dolphins missing a few key starters.
Houston Texans (4) vs. Cleveland Browns (5)
The Browns weren’t exactly an uncommon playoff pick coming into the year — though a Joe Flacco-led Browns team would have been. The Texans certainly would have met that criteria. Now, it will be the veteran Flacco against the rookie C.J. Stroud in the wild-card round. The Browns’ defense has tormented opposing offensive lines and graded as the best defense in the NFL based on EPA per dropback. Stroud ranked 13th among QBs in EPA per play.
NFC
Dallas Cowboys (2) vs. Green Bay Packers (7)
McCarthy has his fair share of history coaching against the Cowboys in the playoffs as the Packers’ head coach. The two teams squared off twice in the postseason under McCarthy’s leadership, and the Packers came out on top in both meetings (2015 and 2017). The Cowboys enter with lofty expectations, having not made it past the divisional round of the playoffs since winning it all in 1995. The Packers, the youngest team in the NFL, are looking to prove just how bright the future is with Jordan Love now under center.
Detroit Lions (3) vs. Los Angeles Rams (6)
This isn’t quite a revenge game for Goff and Stafford, the former of whom has rebuilt his image in Detroit and the latter of whom has won a Super Bowl with Los Angeles. But it should still be an extra meaningful game between these quarterbacks and the teams that selected each first overall in their respective drafts. The Rams have quietly been one of the NFL’s best offenses over the final weeks of the season, while the Lions maintained a top five offense throughout the course of the season.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers (4) vs. Philadelphia Eagles (5)
Two years ago, Tom Brady and the reigning champion Buccaneers topped an up-and-coming Eagles team in the wild-card round in Tampa Bay. Now, Philadelphia is the team coming off a Super Bowl appearance and looking to have revenge on the Buccaneers. To do that, the Eagles will need to get out of their current funk, which has seen them drop five of their past six games. The Buccaneers, on the other hand, have won five of their past six.
NFL wild-card TV schedule
Here is the complete schedule for Super Wild Card Weekend, which includes a “Monday Night Football” matchup:
Wild-card round
Saturday, Jan. 13
| Matchup/Result | Time (ET) | TV | Live stream |
| Texans 45, Browns 14 | 4:30 p.m. | NBC | Peacock, Fubo |
| Dolphins at Chiefs | 8 p.m. | — | Peacock |
Sunday, Jan. 14
| Matchup | Time (ET) | TV | Live stream |
| Steelers at Bills | 1 p.m. | CBS | Fubo |
| Packers at Cowboys | 4:30 p.m. | Fox | Fubo |
| Rams at Lions | 8 p.m. | NBC | Peacock, Fubo |
Monday, Jan. 15
| Matchup | Time (ET) | TV | Live stream |
| Eagles at Buccaneers | 8 p.m. | ESPN, ABC | ESPN+, Fubo |
NFL playoff seeds 2024
AFC
| Seed | Team | Record | Clinched |
| 1. | Baltimore Ravens | 13-4 | AFC North |
| 2. | Buffalo Bills | 11-6 | AFC East |
| 3. | Kansas City Chiefs | 11-6 | AFC West |
| 4. | Houston Texans | 10-7 | AFC South |
| 5. | Cleveland Browns | 11-6 | Wild card |
| 6. | Miami Dolphins | 11-6 | Wild card |
| 7. | Pittsburgh Steelers | 10-7 | Wild card |
NFC
| Seed | Team | Record | Clinched |
| 1. | San Francisco 49ers | 12-5 | NFC West |
| 2. | Dallas Cowboys | 12-5 | NFC East |
| 3. | Detroit Lions | 12-5 | NFC North |
| 4. | Tampa Bay Buccaneers | 9-8 | NFC South |
| 5. | Philadelphia Eagles | 11-6 | Wild card |
| 6. | Los Angeles Rams | 10-7 | Wild card |
| 7. | Green Bay Packers | 9-8 | Wild card |
