Advertisement

Here's how the NFL playoff bracket looks ahead of divisional round

jack mckessy, usa today
·4 min read
7

Fourteen teams entered; only eight remain. The NFL playoffs' divisional round is set with the schedule, date and times for this weekend.

Division winners dominated the wild-card round in the AFC, with the Buffalo Bills, Kansas City Chiefs and Houston Texans all taking care of business in a big way. Buffalo won by 14 points, Kansas City by 19 and Houston by a whopping 31.

Wild-card games were slightly more chaotic in the NFC. The Green Bay Packers upset the Dallas Cowboys on the road in a dominating, 48-32 win. The Detroit Lions edged out the Los Angeles Rams and former Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford in a 24-23 victory Sunday night.

To close things out, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers put the cherry on top of the Philadelphia Eagles' late-season spiral, pushing them out of the postseason with a 23-point win.

After a bye week, each No. 1 seed – the San Francisco 49ers and Baltimore Ravens – will play for the first time this postseason with a conference championship appearance on the line.

Here's an update on this year's playoff bracket.

Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson (8) will look to lead his team to a win in their first playoff game of this postseason. Mandatory Credit: Mitch Stringer-USA TODAY Sports
Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson (8) will look to lead his team to a win in their first playoff game of this postseason. Mandatory Credit: Mitch Stringer-USA TODAY Sports

NFL playoffs' wild-card round: 32 things we learned, including more coaching drama to come?

Which teams are in the NFL playoffs this year?

AFC:

  • Baltimore Ravens

  • Buffalo Bills

  • Kansas City Chiefs

  • Houston Texans

  • Cleveland Browns - eliminated

  • Miami Dolphins - eliminated

  • Pittsburgh Steelers - eliminated

NFC:

  • San Francisco 49ers

  • Dallas Cowboys - eliminated

  • Detroit Lions

  • Tampa Bay Buccaneers

  • Philadelphia Eagles - eliminated

  • Los Angeles Rams - eliminated

  • Green Bay Packers

2023-24 NFL playoffs bracket

Here's how the NFL playoffs bracket looks:

AFC:

Divisional round matchups are set.

  • No. 4 Houston Texans at No. 1 Baltimore Ravens

  • No. 3 Kansas City Chiefs at No. 2 Buffalo Bills

NFC:

Here's how the NFC bracket looks.

  • No. 7 Green Bay Packers at No. 1 San Francisco 49ers

  • No. 4 Tampa Bay Buccaneers at No. 3 Detroit Lions

Wild-card round: Cowboys' latest playoff disaster is franchise's worst loss yet in long line of failures

2023-24 NFL remaining playoffs schedule (all times ET)

Divisional round

Saturday, Jan. 20

Houston Texans at Baltimore Ravens: 4:30 p.m. on ESPN/ABC, ESPN+, ESPN Deportes

Green Bay Packers at San Francisco 49ers: 8:00 p.m. on FOX, FOX Deportes

Sunday, Jan. 21

Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Detroit Lions: 3:00 p.m. on NBC, Peacock, Universo

Kansas City Chiefs at Buffalo Bills: 6:30 p.m. on CBS, Paramount+

Conference championships

Sunday, Jan. 28:

  • AFC championship game: 3 p.m. on CBS

  • NFC championship game: 6:30 p.m. on FOX

Super Bowl 58

Following a bye week for both Super Bowl teams, Super Bowl 58 will kickoff on Feb. 11 at 6:30 p.m. on CBS.

NFL playoff picture

Seeds remaining

Of the eight remaining teams in the divisional round of the playoffs, here's how much each seed is represented.

No. 1 seeds: 2, Baltimore Ravens, San Francisco 49ers

No. 2 seeds: 1, Buffalo Bills

No. 3 seeds: 2, Kansas City Chiefs, Detroit Lions

No. 4 seeds: 2, Houston Texans, Tampa Bay Buccaneers

No. 5 seeds: 0

No. 6 seeds: 0

No. 7 seeds: 1, Green Bay Packers

The Packers are the only team remaining that didn't win its division.

Quarterbacks remaining

Eight starting quarterbacks remain in the hunt for a Lombardi Trophy. None of them are even 30 years old.

Here's how the remaining playoff quarterbacks stack up by age.

  • Jared Goff, 29

  • Patrick Mahomes, 28

  • Baker Mayfield, 28

  • Josh Allen, 27

  • Lamar Jackson, 27 (as of Jan. 7)

  • Jordan Love, 25

  • Brock Purdy, 24

  • C.J. Stroud, 22

How does the NFL Playoffs' dynamic bracket work?

The NFL playoffs are dynamic, meaning the bracket changes as the playoffs progress. Every round, the highest seeds remaining are guaranteed a home-field advantage.

After the wild-card round, the Ravens and 49ers play the lowest seed remaining in their conference. For the Ravens, that's the No. 4-seeded Texans; it's the No. 7-seeded Packers for the 49ers. The Bills and Lions, as the second-highest seeds remaining in their conferences, host the second-lowest seeds remaining.

If either the Ravens or 49ers fall in a divisional round upset, the highest seed remaining below them – not the team that beat them – would get home-field advantage in their conference championship game.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: NFL Playoff Bracket 2024: Matchups, schedule ahead of divisional round