The NFL playoff bracket for 2021 has taken its final shape.
The NFC East champion Washington Football Team claimed the NFC's No. 4 seed and will host the Buccaneers in the wild-card round. The Chiefs and Packers got each conference's lone bye. The Dolphins, Cardinals and Cowboys had costly Week 17 losses. And the Bills and Rams showed they can win even without their best players on the field.
Beginning Jan. 9, the NFL will show off its expanded 14-team playoff bracket (up from the usual 12 for the first time this season). Out of those 14, 12 will play in the first round thanks to a necessarily altered bye structure to wind up with the same number of playoff rounds. Additional teams mean two additional games, putting a trio of games on both Saturday and Sunday in wild card weekend.
Below is all you need to know about the NFL playoff bracket in 2021, including a complete postseason schedule, TV channels for all the playoff games and scores/results as they come.
MORE: SN predicts the entire 2021 NFL playoff bracket
NFL playoff bracket 2021
Show us your 2020-21 NFL playoff bracket Sign in to follow this. Show us your 2020-21 NFL playoff bracket. By JustinCharge, January 4 in The Geek Club.
The NFL is expanding the playoff pool this year, adding a wild card team to each conference to bring the total to 14 teams. 1 seed in each conference will get a first round bye. The opening round will feature the three division winners facing the three wild card winners (2/7, 3/6, 4/5). The NFL playoffs are not based on a pure bracket system. In the divisional playoffs, the No. 1 seed is assured of playing the lowest-seeded Wild Card survivor.
- The NFL playoff bracket for 2021 has taken its final shape. The NFC East champion Washington Football Team claimed the NFC's No. 4 seed and will host the Buccaneers in the wild-card round.
- The latest updated NFL Playoff bracket and schedule can be found on our printable NFL Playoff bracket and schedule for the Divisional Round. With an expanded playoff format in the 2020-21 NFL season, there was no shortage of chaos affecting the seeding in Week 17.
Here's a look at the complete NFL playoff bracket for 2021:
AFC
1. Kansas City Chiefs vs. 2. Buffalo Bills
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1. Kansas City Chiefs vs. 6. Cleveland Browns
2. Buffalo Bills vs. 5. Baltimore Ravens
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1. Kansas City Chiefs (bye)
2. Buffalo Bills vs. 7. Indianapolis Colts
3. Pittsburgh Steelers vs. 6. Cleveland Browns
4. Tennessee Titans vs. 5. Baltimore Ravens
NFC
1. Green Bay Packers vs. 5. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
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1. Green Bay Packers vs. 6. Los Angeles Rams
2. New Orleans Saints vs. 5. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
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1. Green Bay Packers (bye)
2. New Orleans Saints vs. 7. Chicago Bears
3. Seattle Seahawks vs. 6. Los Angeles Rams
4. Washington Football Team vs. 5. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
MORE: NFL's expanded playoff bracket, explained
NFL playoff schedule 2021
Below is the full NFL playoff schedule for 2021, complete with TV channels and live stream links.
Wild-card round
Saturday, Jan. 9
| Results |
| Bills 27, Colts 24 |
| Rams 30, Seahawks 20 |
| Buccaneers 31, Washington 23 |
Sunday, Jan. 10
| Results |
| Ravens 20, Titans 13 |
| Saints 21, Bears 9 |
| Browns 48, Steelers 37 |
Divisional round
Saturday, Jan. 16
| Matchup |
| Packers 32, Rams 18 |
| Bills 17, Ravens 3 |
Nfl Playoff Bracket 2020-21 Espn
Sunday, Jan. 17
| Matchup |
| Chiefs 22, Browns 17 |
| Buccaneers 30, Saints 20 |
Conference championships
Sunday, Jan. 24
| Matchup | Start time | TV channel | Live stream |
| Buccaneers at Packers | 3:05 p.m. ET | Fox | fuboTV |
| Bills at Chiefs | 6:40 p.m. ET | CBS | fuboTV |
Nfl Playoff Bracket 2020-21 Pdf
Super Bowl 55
Sunday, Feb. 7
| Matchup | Start time | TV channel | Live stream |
| AFC champion vs. NFC champion | 6:30 p.m. ET | CBS | fuboTV |
TV channels, live streams for NFL playoff games
Beginning with the wild-card round, NFL playoff games each week will be shown nationally on NBC, CBS, Fox and ESPN. CBS has exclusive broadcast rights for the AFC championship game, while Fox showed the NFC championship. CBS is the home to Super Bowl 55.
In Canada, you can live stream on DAZN, which offers a free trial.
Details of national and local television coverage for each playoff game are included in the tables below.
MORE: Live stream NFL playoff games on fuboTV (7-day free trial)
Wild-card round
Saturday, Jan. 9
| Matchup | Start time | TV channel | Live stream |
| Colts at Bills | 1:05 p.m. ET | CBS | CBS All Access, fuboTV |
| Rams at Seahawks | 4:40 p.m. ET | Fox | Fox Sports Go, fuboTV |
| Buccaneers at Washington | 8:15 p.m. ET | NBC | NBC Sports App, fuboTV |
Sunday, Jan. 10
| Matchup | Start time | TV channel | Live stream |
| Ravens at Titans | 1:05 p.m. ET | ESPN/ABC | ESPN App, fuboTV |
| Bears at Saints | 4:40 p.m. ET | CBS/Nickelodeon/Amazon Prime | CBS All Access, Amazon Prime Video, fuboTV |
| Browns at Steelers | 8:15 p.m. ET | NBC | NBC Sports App, fuboTV |
Saturday, Jan. 16
| Matchup | Start time | TV channel | Live stream |
| Rams at Packers | 4:35 p.m. ET | Fox | fuboTV |
| Ravens at Bills | 8:15 p.m. ET | NBC | fuboTV |
Sunday, Jan. 17
| Matchup | Start time | TV channel | Live stream |
| Browns at Chiefs | 3:05 p.m. ET | CBS | fuboTV |
| Buccaneers at Saints | 6:40 p.m. ET | Fox | fuboTV |
Conference championships
Sunday, Jan. 24
| Matchup | Start time | TV channel | Live stream |
| Buccaneers at Packers | 3:05 p.m. ET | Fox | fuboTV |
| Bills at Chiefs | 6:40 p.m. ET | CBS | fuboTV |
Super Bowl 55
Sunday, Feb. 7
| Matchup | Start time | TV channel | Live stream |
| AFC champion vs. NFC champion | 6:30 p.m. ET | CBS | fuboTV |
When do the NFL playoffs end 2021?
- Start date: Saturday, Jan. 9
- End date: Sunday, Feb. 7
Nfl Playoff Bracket 2020-21 Predictions
The NFL playoffs last about a month, starting with the wild card round, then the divisional round and conference championships before culminating in the Super Bowl on Feb. 7 in Tampa, Florida.
Nfl Playoff Bracket 2020-21
As is often the case, there's a week off between the conference title games and the Super Bowl. Normally, the Pro Bowl is played in that gap, although there isn't a physical Pro Bowl game being played in 2021.