NFL play-offs
Dates: 10-26 January 2025
BBC coverage: Live text coverage of every match on the BBC Sport website and app, and live radio commentary of selected games on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra and BBC Sounds.
The match-ups for the NFL play-offs are set and three weeks for now we’ll know the two teams who will face off in Super Bowl 59 in New Orleans on 9 February.
The play-offs start with Wildcard Weekend on 11-13 January, with games played on three straight weekends.
The top seeds in each division – the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC and the Detroit Lions in the NFC – have a bye for the first round.
For everyone else, knockout football begins now!
NFL play-offs schedule & kick-off times
AFC = American Football Conference, NFC = National Football conference (Seed in brackets)
Wildcard weekend
Saturday, 11 January
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AFC – Los Angeles Chargers (5) at Houston Texans (4), 21:30 GMT
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AFC – Pittsburgh Steelers (6) at Baltimore Ravens (3), 01:00 GMT (Sunday morning)
Sunday, 12 January
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AFC – Denver Broncos (7) at Buffalo Bills (2), 18:00 GMT
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NFC – Green Bay Packers (7) at Philadelphia Eagles (2), 21:30 GMT
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NFC – Washington Commanders (6) at Tampa Bay Buccaneers (3), 01:00 GMT (Sunday morning)
Monday, 13 January
Divisional Round
Saturday, 18 January
Sunday, 19 January
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Game three, 20:00 GMT
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Game four, 23:30 GMT
(Match-ups to be confirmed)
Championship Round
Sunday 26 January
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NFC Championship game, 20:00 GMT
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AFC Championship game, 23:30 GMT
How do the NFL play-offs work?
A total of 14 teams are in the NFL play-offs, seven from each Conference, in which 12 knockout games are played over three weekends to decide who will reach the Super Bowl.
Teams from each Conference are kept apart until the Super Bowl and, in each round, the highest seed remaining plays at home to the lowest seed.
The top seed in each Conference – the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC and the Detroit Lions in the NFC – have a bye for the first round, known as Wildcard Weekend, when six games are played featuring seeds two to seven.
The winners then join the top seeds in the divisional round, and the four winners there meet in the Conference Championships -effectively the Super Bowl semi-finals – as the two winners earn the right to represent their Conference in the big game.
When is the Super Bowl?
Super Bowl 59 will take place on 9 February (kick-off 23:30 GMT) in New Orleans at the Superdome, which has hosted more Super Bowls than any other stadium (seven).
It will be the first time since 2013 that the game has been played in New Orleans and the 11th overall – a joint record with Miami.
