By Jonathan Sager, Staff Writer
After a wild ending to a chaotic NFL season the playoffs are set to begin on the weekend of January 10, 2026. The first round of the playoffs is called the wild card round in which six games will be played.
First, in the NFC the 5 seed Los Angeles Rams traveled to Raleigh to play the four seed Carolina Panthers on Saturday at 4:30pm. Going into the game the Rams were heavily favored to win as they had a regular season record of 12-5 while the Panthers had a losing record of 8-9, only sneaking into the playoffs due to playing in a weak NFC south. Junior Jonathan Krum elaborated: “I think that this is the easiest game to predict because the Rams have so much firepower on offense and the Panthers have been so inconsistent.”
Despite the lopsided early predictions, the game ended up being closer than expected. The Rams started out by taking a 14-0 lead against the Panthers; however, quarterback Bryce Young and the rest of the Panthers began to chip away at that lead. By halftime the Panthers had narrowed the difference, with the Rams leading 17-14. In the second half of the game each team traded touchdowns, Carolina even taking their first lead of the game. Going into the two minute warning the Panthers led 31 to 27 but Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford completed a touchdown pass to tight end Colby Parkinson with only 38 seconds left on the clock. The Rams ultimately ended up winning the game 34-31.
The next game of the NFL playoffs was between divisional rivals. The second seed Chicago Bears hosted the seventh seed Green Bay Packers at 8:20pm on Saturday. Because these teams play in the same division, they had already played each other twice this season. Although starting out the season strong, even being preseason Super Bowl favorites, the Packers had a lot of injuries to key players this season including linebacker MIcah Parsons, tight end Tucker Kraft, and wide receiver Christan Watson. The Packers finished the season 9-7-1. On the contrary the Bears had a low start to their season, losing their first two games of the season but have gained momentum since then behind their quarterback Caleb Williams. Junior Lucas Taylor predicts that the Bears will win because “the Packers haven’t been playing well, they don’t have Micah Parsons and Caleb Williams has been playing pretty well.”
Taylor’s prediction came true in an unexpected way. The Packers began to dominate early on, taking a 21-3 lead going into the fourth quarter. The game seemed over, but the Bears rallied late to score 25 points in the fourth quarter to win the game with a final score of 31-27.
After the Bears and Packers game, the next game on the playoff schedule was the AFC’s three seed Jacksonville Jaguars hosting the six seed Buffalo Bills on Sunday at 1:00pm. Taylor predicted that the Jaguars would win: “The Bills are kind of a two man team and I don’t know what Josh Allen and James Cook are going to be able to do against that defense since the Jags have a really good run defense.”
Despite Taylor’s predictions, the Bills ended up winning the game off of a game winning drive by quarterback Josh Allen.
After the Jags/Bills game The NFC’s six seed San Francisco 49ers traveled to Philadelphia to take on the three seed Eagles at 4:30pm on Sunday. Both Krum and Taylor said that this game would be tough to call. Despite winning the Super Bowl last year, the Eagles have struggled on offense all year, even though they have an elite defense. The 49ers, on the other hand, have been dealing with constant injuries all year and have a weak defense. Krum predicted that the Eagles would end up winning. “I think that the Eagles defense is really strong. They have a lot of experience and the 49ers have so many injuries right now which will come back to bite them.”
Unlike Krum’s predictions, the 49ers ended up winning the game. The Eagles offense had trouble scoring points, and their special teams missed kicks. The 49ers offense won off of a two touchdown performance from Christian McCaffrey although Brock Purdy threw two interceptions. The game ended with a final score of 23-19.
The final Sunday game took place at 8:15 in which the AFC two seed New England Patriots hosted the seventh seed Los Angleles Chargers. This season has been a massive breakout for the Patriots going from a 4-13 record last season to a 14-3 record this season with quarterback Drake Maye leading the charge as an MVP candidate. The Chargers, on the other hand, have been inconsistent. Krum predicts that the Patriots would win because “Drake Maye has been dominating all season.” Krum also predicts that Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert would throw two picks during the game, allowing the Patriots to win.
The Patriots ended up dominating the chargers to a 16-3 victory. The Chargers subpar offensive line could not keep up with the Patriots defense and offense led by Drake Maye.
Finally, the wild card round finished with the AFC five seed Houston Texans playing the four seed Pittsburgh Steelers. Both of these teams have had wild journeys to make the playoffs. The Houston Texans lost the first three games of the season but have only lost two more games since then. They made the playoffs off of the back of an elite defense with star players like Will Anderson. The Steelers made the playoffs off the back of a heartbreaking missed field goal by Ravens kicker Tyler Loop in week 18. Krum thought the Texans would take home the victory because “the Texans defense is looking really good this year.”
The first half of the Steelers Texans game was actually very close. The Texans only led by one point going into halftime. In the second half, however, the Texan’s elite defense showed up, scoring a pick six and causing several turnovers. The final score was Texans 30, Steelers 6.
After an enthralling wild card weekend, the next round of the NFL playoffs are set. Fans will have to wait in anticipation for the next round to see if their team will be able to advance to conference championships and then to the Super Bowl.