Four teams have spent the last five months reaching this crucial point of the playoffs: the conference championships.
Two teams in the AFC and two in the NFC are two wins away from the ultimate prize in the NFL: a Super Bowl victory. The biggest sporting event of the year requires two conference champions to determine the best in the league.
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Super Bowl 60 will not see a first-time champion. Either the Seattle Seahawks or Los Angeles Rams will advance from the NFC. From the AFC, it’ll either be the Denver Broncos or New England Patriots.
Temperatures are around or below freezing across much of the country Sunday as the NFL playoffs reaches its peak. Here’s everything you need to know about the conference championship schedule as well as the postseason bracket entering the final three games of the year:
What NFL playoff games are this weekend?
We’re down to just three more games in this season. This weekend’s action will decide who plays in Super Bowl 60. Here are the matchups:
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AFC championship game
NFC championship game
NFL conference championship round schedule
Football fans won’t have to wait long to see who plays in Super Bowl 60. The conference championship games are back-to-back contests.
Here’s the full schedule:
Sunday NFL playoff games
Updated NFL playoff bracket
Two teams remain in each conference, including the top seeds in their respective brackets. Only one will advance to Super Bowl 60. Only one wild-card team remains in contention with the Rams set for their third consecutive road playoff game.
They’ve earned three-point wins over the Carolina Panthers and Chicago Bears in the wild-card and divisional rounds, respectively. Now they’ll be facing NFC West foe Seattle for the NFC crown.
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In the AFC, top seeds Denver and New England go at it to decide who will face the NFC champion.
Here is a look at the updated NFL playoff bracket for 2026:
AFC playoff bracket
NFC playoff bracket
How does the NFL playoff bracket work?
The NFL postseason is split into two seven-team, single-elimination brackets to decide the champion in both conferences, who will match up in the Super Bowl.
Since the 2020 NFL season, only the No. 1 seed has earned a bye to begin the postseason. Matchups are decided by seeding with the wild-card round setting the scene for the playoffs. That round matches up the No. 2 seed with No. 7, No. 3 with No. 6 and No. 4 with No. 5.
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The No. 1 seed returns from its bye in the divisional round to face the lowest-remaining seed in the conference. The second-highest remaining seed hosts the second-lowest remaining seed in the other divisional matchup.
The winners from the two divisional games face off in the conference championship game with the higher seed hosting. The winner of that game plays the Super Bowl against the conference champion from the other conference.
This is a dynamic bracket, unlike other sports. Things can change depending on which seeds advance and which are eliminated.
When will we know the Super Bowl matchup?
The matchup for Super Bowl 60 will be set by the end of the Seahawks vs. Rams game in Seattle.
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Full NFL playoffs schedule
The NFL playoffs began on Saturday, Jan. 10 with a six-game wild-card round. It will finish off with Super Bowl 60 in Santa Clara, California, on Feb. 8.
Here’s a full look at the schedule and results:
Wild-card round
All times Eastern.
Saturday, Jan. 10
Sunday, Jan. 11
Monday, Jan. 12
Divisional round
Saturday, Jan. 17
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Denver Broncos 33-30 (OT) Buffalo Bills
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Seattle Seahawks 41-6 San Francisco 49ers
Sunday, Jan. 18
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New England Patriots 28-16 Houston Texans
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Los Angeles Rams 20-17 (OT) Chicago Bears
Conference championship round
Sunday, Jan. 25
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Denver Broncos vs. New England Patriots, 3 p.m.
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Seattle Seahawks vs. Los Angeles Rams, 6:30 p.m.
Super Bowl 60
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Location: Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: NFL playoffs schedule, bracket update for conference championships
