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Buffalo Bills QB Josh Allen and New England Patriots QB Drake Maye
The NFL season is winding to a close, but there are still several games on the final day of the regular season yet to be played before the NFL playoff schedule can be released — which could come down to the final snap of the season.
The playoff field was precarious going into Week 18, with few seeds locked and two divisions yet to be won. The league has followed a reliable pattern when releasing the playoff schedule, which means a late night for those waiting to find out when the wild-card games will be played.
NFL Playoff Schedule Will Be Coming Late on Sunday
The league is expected to announce the 2026 playoff schedule late on Sunday, likely during the final game of the weekend between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Baltimore Ravens. The league has announced the full bracket during Sunday Night Football in recent years, and by then the entire field will be set outside of the AFC North, which will be determined in the final game and whose winner will take the No. 4 seed in the conference.
Last year, the NFL announced the playoff schedule at 8:41 p.m., not long after kickoff of the Sunday Night Football game. Because the entire field will be set outside of one seed in the AFC, the league will be able to release close to a full schedule.
There will be plenty at play up until that point. Several teams can improve their playoff seeding based on the results on Sunday, including another game that will determine a division winner. After the Tampa Bay Buccaneers beat the Carolina Panthers on Sunday, both teams will await the results of the game between the Atlanta Falcons and New Orleans Saints.
A win by the Falcons would send the Panthers to the playoffs, while a Saints win sends the Buccaneers.
NFL Playoff Games Times Already Set
While the NFL will wait until late on Sunday to announce which teams will play, the time slots are already set by the league. There will be six games in wild-card weekend, featuring the No. 2 through No. 7 seeds in each conference.
Since the NFL expanded to seven playoff teams in the 2020 season, there have been games played on both Saturday and Sunday along with one game on Monday Night Football.
The games will be played:
- Saturday, Jan. 10: Games played at 4:30 p.m. and 8:15 p.m.
- Sunday, Jan. 11: Games played at 1 p.m., 4:30 p.m., and 8:15 p.m.
- Monday, Jan. 12: Game played at 8:15 p.m.
There are four more games in the divisional round, with three winners from each conference and the No. 1 seeds, fresh off a bye week.
- Saturday, Jan. 17: Games played at 4:30 p.m. and 8:15 p.m.
- Sunday, Jan. 18: Games played at 3 p.m. and 6:30 p.m.
The next weekend will be Conference Championships, with the four remaining teams vying for a trip to the Super Bowl.
- Sunday, Jan. 25: AFC Championship at 3 p.m. and NFC Championship at 6:30 p.m.
There will be a two-week break before the remaining two teams face off in Super Bowl 60.
- Sunday, Feb. 8: NFC champion vs. AFC champion at 6:30 p.m.
Those who want to look out for the full NFL 2026 playoff schedule release can keep an eye on the league’s official page on X, where it has been announced in recent years.
Nathan Dougherty is a sports reporter covering the NFL for Heavy.com, with a focus on the Buffalo Bills, Detroit Lions and Miami Dolphins. Previously he wrote for the Rochester Business Journal and served as the assistant editor of athletic trade magazines Coaching Management, Athletic Management and Training & Conditioning. He is based out of Rochester, New York, and loves everything football. More about Nathan Dougherty
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