The New York Giants had another disappointing season. As Dan Duggan writes, the fate of general manager Joe Schoen should be clear.
📝: “Mara’s instinct obviously was not validated. The bar to make progress was incredibly low after a three-win season, but the roster built by Schoen still could barely clear it.
“Even the positives Mara trumpeted look more hollow a year later.”
📝: “The plan this week is to have exit meetings with players on Monday and Tuesday at The Star. Exit meetings with the coaching staff are scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday.
“The most notable change is likely to happen at defensive coordinator. Matt Eberflus’ first season in that role has been a complete disaster. Dallas allowed a franchise record 511 points in 17 games. The previous record was 473 in 2020, a 16-game season. Following that season, Mike Nolan was fired as defensive coordinator, his first with the club.”
Read more below.
Uncertainty looms for Cleveland
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The Cleveland Browns won their regular season finale over the Cincinnati Bengals. But as our Zac Jackson writes, uncertainty looms for the Browns as they enter the offseason.
📝: “Nobody knows what’s next for the Browns, who haven’t denied any rumors that coach Kevin Stefanski will soon be fired and who wasted a strong — and at times elite — defense with a putrid offense all season. But the Browns won their last two games. Whatever that means for draft order or any late evaluation of Stefanski’s standing in Cleveland, this was a team that didn’t simply roll over. With the defense guiding things and Garrett chasing history, the Browns beat two division rivals to finish the season.”
Read more below.
Giants get No. 5 pick
The New York Giants got the No. 5 pick in the 2026 NFL Draft. It could’ve been higher if they lost today.
As our Giants writer Charlotte Carroll writes, things get a bit more complex for the Giants.
📝: “With the Giants’ first-round draft position secured, now comes four months of debate on how the Giants should utilize their choice. Unfortunately for New York fans, the prospect of wheeling and dealing the pick has gone down significantly with the drop in draft positioning.
“If the Giants had the No. 1 pick, there would be a real discussion on whether the Giants would trade the pick to recoup draft assets.”
Read more below.
Final NFC standings
The Athletic
Above are the final NFC standings. The Seahawks were the deserved No. 1 seed after their resounding win over the San Francisco 49ers.
The Bears and Eagles both finished 11-6, with Chicago having the tiebreaker over Philadelphia. Carolina finished 8-9 but won the NFC South, winning the tiebreaker over Tampa Bay and Atlanta.
The Arizona Cardinals finished with the worst record in the NFC at 3-14. They will get the No. 3 pick in the 2026 NFL Draft.
Bills, Jaguars meet in playoffs
The Buffalo Bills will travel to Jacksonville to take on the Jaguars in wild card weekend. These two teams last met in September 2024, where the Bills trounced the Jags 47-10.
Safe to say, both teams are in much different places now. The Jaguars had 13 losses a year ago and improved to 13 wins in 2025, winning the AFC South. The Bills had an up-and-down season, hoping to lean on the experience of Josh Allen to go on a playoff run.
Allen versus Trevor Lawrence? Sign me up. It’s going to be a fun game.
Patriots set to face Chargers
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The New England Patriots got the No. 2 seed in the AFC with their win over the Miami Dolphins. They face the No. 7 seed Los Angeles Chargers at home in the AFC wild-card round.
The Patriots ended the season on a three-game winning streak. Drake Maye is one of the leading candidates to win MVP. For the Chargers, questions swirl around Justin Herbert and how well the offensive line can protect the quarterback. He was sacked a career-high 54 times in 2025.
Regardless, this should be a fascinating matchup between two prolific offenses.
No. 1 seeds in playoffs
The Denver Broncos and Seattle Seahawks are the two number one seeds entering this year‘s NFL playoffs. This means that both teams get a bye through the first round.
The Broncos are AFC West champions and the No. 1 seed for the first time since 2015. That season they went on to win Super Bowl 50.
The Seahawks are the No. 1 seed for the first time since 2014. They advanced to Super Bowl XLIX before losing to the New England Patriots.
Rams, Panthers rematch
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The Rams and the Panthers met on Thanksgiving weekend, with Carolina winning 31-28 at home. Now, the two teams square off once again in Charlotte in the AFC wild-card round.
Bryce Young had a tremendous game, going 15-of-20 passing for 206 yards and three touchdowns. Mistakes defined Matthew Stafford’s game against Carolina, where he went 18-of-28 passing for 243 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions.
Los Angeles has a lot of weapons on offense. Carolina has always responded well after losing. It should be an interesting one.
Eagles, 49ers square off
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It was three years ago in the NFC Championship Game when the Philadelphia Eagles trounced the San Francisco 49ers 31-7 to advance to Super Bowl LVII. Brock Purdy was injured in that game, hindering San Francisco’s chances.
Three years later, these teams square off in the NFC wild-card round. Both teams lost in Week 18 of the regular season. Similar to that NFC Championship Game, Philadelphia will host this contest as the No. 3 seed.
The Eagles have never lost at home in the playoffs with Nick Sirianni as head coach. They will be in tough facing a high-powered offense in Purdy and Christian McCaffrey. With San Francisco dealing with a plethora of injuries on defense, the Eagles will look to take advantage, despite their inconsistent offense.
Panthers back in playoffs
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Regardless of their 8-9 record, the Carolina Panthers are NFC South champions and will host a playoff game next weekend. Here is Panthers coach Dave Canales on the opportunity to play in front of the home fans one more time.
“I’m just so excited to be in Bank of America Stadium one more time,” Canales said during a teleconference Sunday evening. “The energy that’s been there at the end of our season as we continue to build momentum and the fans showing up early, being loud, causing problems for the opponent’s offense. I know what type of an advantage that can be for us.”
Read more below from our Panthers writer Joseph Person.
Bears set to host Packers
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It does not get much better than this.
The Chicago Bears will host the Green Bay Packers at Soldier Field in a matchup 16 years in the making.
It will be their third matchup in the last six weeks.
Losing record or not, NFC South-champion Panthers has a nice ring to it
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — They didn’t talk long because both of their phones were blowing up. But Dave Canales had something he wanted David Tepper to hear.
So when Tepper picked up, Canales asked him, “Is this the owner of the NFC South-champion Panthers?”
Finally, in Tepper’s eighth season since buying the team from Jerry Richardson, the answer was yes.
More on Denver
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Sean Payton warned you on Christmas: "It doesn't have to be aesthetically pleasing."
It wasn't Sunday. But the Broncos beat the Chargers, 19-3, to earn the No. 1 seed in the AFC.
Denver finishes the regular season 14-3 and is two home wins away from a trip to Super Bowl LX.
Wild Jets stat
Garrett Wilson ends as the Jets leading receiver with 395 yards.
He played in seven games (and didn’t finish all of them).
Bengals coach Zac Taylor upset about Garrett delay
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Cincinnati Bengals coach Zac Taylor wasn’t pleased when the game stopped after Myles Garrett broke the single season sack record today.
“There’s five minutes left in our season,” Taylor told reporters. “We’re playing for our lives here. I was never told that we’re going to stop the game. In a critical moment like that, the refs just said that they made a decision that they were going to stop the game. They said they tried to do it as quickly as possible. I didn’t feel that.”
Read more below from our Jayna Bardahl.
What could've been for the Giants
The Giants are locked into the fifth pick. They would have had the No. 1 pick if they lost today since the Raiders won.
AFC playoff picture
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Below is the AFC playoff picture heading into “Sunday Night Football”:
(1) Denver Broncos (bye)
(7) Los Angeles Chargers vs. (2) New England Patriots
(6) Buffalo Bills vs. (3) Jacksonville Jaguars
(5) Houston Texans vs. (4) Baltimore Ravens/Pittsburgh Steelers
