Two High-Stakes Playoff Games Today Determine Path to Super Bowl 2026
The 2026 NFL divisional round enters its final day Sunday with two pivotal matchups that will send four teams closer to Super Bowl LX. The Houston Texans face the New England Patriots at 3 p.m. ET on ESPN, followed by the Los Angeles Rams visiting the Chicago Bears at 6:30 p.m. ET on NBC in what promises to be an intense evening of playoff football.
These games today complete the divisional round slate, following Saturday’s contests where the Denver Broncos topped the Buffalo Bills and the Seattle Seahawks defeated the San Francisco 49ers. The winners of today’s matchups will advance to the conference championship games next weekend.
Texans Seek Historic Victory in Foxborough
The fifth-seeded Texans earned their first road playoff win in franchise history during the wild card round, routing the Pittsburgh Steelers 30-6. Now they travel to Gillette Stadium to face the second-seeded Patriots, who dominated the Los Angeles Chargers 16-3 with a suffocating defensive performance in their playoff debut under quarterback Drake Maye.
Houston’s momentum from winning a franchise-first AFC divisional playoff game on the road could provide confidence, but the Patriots’ defensive prowess presents a formidable challenge in this playoff games matchup.
Bears Host Rams in Historic Divisional Showdown
The Chicago Bears will host the Rams in their first divisional-round home game in 15 years, seeking to build on a remarkable wild card performance. The Bears engineered the third-largest fourth-quarter comeback in NFL history against Green Bay, with quarterback Caleb Williams throwing for 184 yards in the final quarter alone to secure a 31-27 victory.
The Rams, seeded fifth, upset the Carolina Panthers 34-31 in the wild card round and will attempt to continue their playoff run against a Bears team riding a wave of momentum.
Super Bowl 2026 Road Narrows
As we enter the nfl brackets’ divisional round conclusion, eight teams remain in the playoff picture with Super Bowl championship dreams. These football games tonight will reduce that number to four, setting up next weekend’s conference championship contests that determine which AFC and NFC teams advance to the championship game in February.
Fans can track football scores and find the nfl bracket updates across major sports networks, with the divisional round nfl coverage extending across multiple platforms including NBC, ESPN, and streaming services.
What Teams Are Left?
The remaining teams competing in the 2026 nfl playoffs are:
- AFC: Denver Broncos (1 seed), New England Patriots (2 seed), Houston Texans (5 seed), and Buffalo Bills (6 seed, eliminated Saturday)
- NFC: Seattle Seahawks (1 seed), Chicago Bears (2 seed), Los Angeles Rams (5 seed), and San Francisco 49ers (6 seed, eliminated Saturday)
With divisional round matchups underway, the path toward Super Bowl 2026 grows clearer with each playoff game played this weekend.
