NFL Wild Card Weekend: TV Schedule, Playoff Matchups, How to Watch and More
SOURCE:CNET|BY:Matt Elliott
The NFL playoffs start with six games over the next three days. Here's everything you should know to watch.
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The NFL playoffs start with six games over the next three days. Here's everything you should know to watch.
Matt Elliott Senior Editor
Matt Elliott is a senior editor at CNET with a focus on laptops and streaming services. Matt has more than 20 years of experience testing and reviewing laptops. He has worked for CNET in New York and San Francisco and now lives in New Hampshire. When he's not writing about laptops, Matt likes to play and watch sports. He loves to play tennis and hates the number of streaming services he has to subscribe to in order to watch the various sports he wants to watch.
Welcome to the first weekend of the 2026 NFL Playoffs.
Wild Card weekend kicks off with a pair of games on Saturday, starting with the Rams and Panthers in Carolina at 4:30 p.m. ET (1:30 p.m. PT) on Fox and Fox One. On Saturday night, we get a classic NFC North battle in Chicago between the Bears and Packers at 8 p.m. ET (5 p.m. PT) on Prime Video. Yep, you'll need Amazon's streaming service to watch Chicago and Green Bay unless you live in the local market of either team (more on that below).
On Sunday, we've got a Wild Card triple-header starting in Jacksonville with the Jaguars taking on the Bills at 1 p.m. ET (10 a.m. PT) on CBS and Paramount Plus. Then, the 49ers will attempt to dethrone the defending champion Eagles in Philadelphia at 4:30 p.m. ET (1:30 p.m. PT) on Fox and Fox One, before we head to Foxboro for the Patriots and Chargers at 8 p.m. ET (5 p.m. PT) on NBC and Peacock.
Wild Card weekend is a three-day weekend because it doesn't end until Monday night in Pittsburgh with the Steelers hosting the Texans at 8:15 p.m. (5:15 p.m. PT) on ABC/ESPN and ESPN Unlimited.
Looking to repeat as Super Bowl champions, Jalen Hurts and the Philadelphia Eagles host the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday on Fox.
Mitchell Leff/Getty Images
Add it up, and you'll need five different streaming services to watch the six Wild Card games. Or you can use a live TV streaming service to watch five of the six games, and a VPN can help you get the Bears-Packers game on Saturday night.
Keep reading for the best ways to watch or stream every game, no matter where you live.
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Plan out your Wild Card weekend viewing
There are two games on Saturday, three on Sunday and one on Monday night. Here's the lineup.
NFL Wild Card Saturday
Away Team
Home Team
Time (all times ET)
TV channel
Streaming service
Los Angeles Rams
Carolina Panthers
4:30 p.m.
Fox
Fox One
Green Bay Packers
Chicago Bears
8 p.m.
N/A
Prime Video
NFL Wild Card Sunday
Away Team
Home Team
Time (all times ET)
TV channel
Streaming service
Buffalo Bills
Jacksonville Jaguars
1 p.m.
CBS
Paramount Plus
San Francisco 49ers
Philadelphia Eagles
4:30 p.m.
Fox
Fox One
Los Angeles Chargers
New England Patriots
8 p.m.
NBC
Peacock
NFL Wild Card Monday
Away Team
Home Team
Time (all times ET)
TV channel
Streaming service
Houston Texans
Pittsburgh Steelers
8:15 p.m.
ABC/ESPN
ESPN Unlimited
How to watch Wild Card weekend in the US
If you don't want to subscribe to a live TV streaming service, you can watch the CBS game with Paramount Plus, the two Fox games with Fox One, the NBC game with Peacock and the Monday night game with ESPN's direct-to-consumer streaming service.
[
](https://www.fox.com/ "(opens in a new window)")
Fox
Fox's new direct-to-consumer streaming service costs $20 a month or $200 a year and lets NFL fans watch their local Sunday afternoon games on Fox. You'll also get access to Fox's complete TV portfolio, including sports-related channels such as Fox Sports, B1G, FS1, FS2 and local Fox stations.
With Fox One, you can watch two games this weekend: Rams-Panthers on Saturday and 49ers-Eagles on Sunday.
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](https://paramountplus.qflm.net/c/159047/175360/3065?&sharedid=cnet&partnerpropertyid=235399&u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.paramountplus.com%2F&subId1=subid_value&subid2=cbscidmt=thechi "(opens in a new window)")
Paramount/CNET
You can watch the Bills-Jags game on Paramount Plus with its $8 per month Essentials tier. You can check for yourself if your area has live CBS streaming here.
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James Martin/CNET
With Peacock's $11-per-month Premium plan, you can watch the Chargers-Pats game on Sunday night. Read our Peacock review.
[
](https://cc.cnet.com/v1/otc/04Yxjj1rHOmYAxbnVDhvKNn?merchant=00at7m9DMhzHBFNWjhKDGWw&url=https%3A%2F%2Fplus.espn.com%2F "(opens in a new window)")
ESPN
ESPN DTC comes in two flavors. The ESPN Unlimited plan costs $30 a month (or $300 a year) and lets you stream all ESPN linear networks: ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPNews, ESPN Deportes, SEC Network and ACC Network. You also get access to programming on ESPN on ABC, ESPN Plus, ESPN3, SECN Plus and ACCNX. You'll need the Unlimited plan to watch the Texans and Steelers on the last Monday night game of this NFL season.
(There is also a $12 a month ESPN Select plan that is like a rebranding of ESPN Plus. It offers you access to thousands of live games -- including small college conferences, whose games you can't watch anywhere else -- but not the NFL.)
Prime Video or VPN for Bears vs. Packers
You'll need Prime Video for the Bears-Packers game on Saturday night unless you live in the TV market of either team where it be be shown on a local TV network: NBC 26 (WGBA) in Green Bay, Fox 6 (WITI) in Milwaukee and Fox 32 (WFLD) in Chicago, according to 506 Sports.
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Michael Reaves/Getty Images
The Packers-Bears game on Saturday night will stream live on Prime Video. For millions of Amazon Prime subscribers, the Prime Video channel is already included at no extra cost. But if you're not an Amazon Prime subscriber, it might be worth it to shell out the $9 a month for the stand-alone Prime Video service, not only for this Wild Card game but also for its impressive selection of shows and movies.
For those who prefer to watch the game on TV rather than Prime Video, there's the VPN option. With a VPN, you're able to virtually change your location on your phone, tablet or laptop to get access to the game.
A VPN is also the best way to stop your ISP from throttling your speeds on game day by encrypting your traffic. Plus, it's a great idea when you're traveling and find yourself needing to connect to a public Wi-Fi network, where you'll want to add an extra layer of privacy for your devices and logins.
So, if your internet provider or mobile carrier has assigned you an IP address that incorrectly indicates your location in a blackout zone, a VPN can resolve this issue by providing you with an IP address in your correct, non-blackout area. Most VPNs, like our Editors' Choice, ExpressVPN, make it really easy to do this.
Using a VPN to watch or stream sports is legal in any country where VPNs are legal, including the US and Canada, as long as you have a legitimate subscription to the service you're streaming. Make sure your VPN is set up correctly to prevent leaks. Even where VPNs are legal, the streaming service may terminate the account of anyone it deems to be circumventing correctly applied blackout restrictions.
Looking for other options? Be sure to check out some of the other great VPN deals taking place right now.
[
](https://go.expressvpn.com/c/159047/1654835/16063?&sharedid=cnet&partnerpropertyid=235399&u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.expressvpn.com%2F&subId1=subid_value "(opens in a new window)")
James Martin/CNET
ExpressVPN is our current best VPN pick for people who want a reliable and safe VPN, and it works on a variety of devices. Prices start at $2.79 a month on a two-year plan for the service's Basic tier, and there's a 30-day money-back guarantee.
The channels you'll need for the playoffs are the same channels you needed for the regular season: CBS, Fox, NBC and either ABC or ESPN. The good news for football fans is that these channels are available on most live TV streaming services, but you'll need to note that not every service carries every local network in every area, so check each one using the links below to make sure it carries each local network where you live.
[
](https://www.directv.com/genre-packs/mysports/ "(opens in a new window)")
DirecTV
[
](https://tv.youtube.com/welcome/ "(opens in a new window)")
Sarah Tew/CNET
YouTube TV carries all the channels needed to watch the NFL playoffs and costs $83 a month. Plug in your ZIP code on YouTube TV's welcome page to see which local networks are available in your area.
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Fubo
Fubo's main package costs $85 per month and includes ABC, CBS, Fox, NBC and ESPN.
Fubo has a new skinny bundle that includes most but not all of the channels you need for the NFL. This new Fubo Sports plan costs $56 per month ($46 for the first month) and includes all the above channels except NBC for Chargers-Patriots on Sunday night. It also includes access to ESPN's new streaming app. It's worth noting that the bundle is only available in certain regions at the moment, with a gradual rollout across the country.
The live TV streaming services listed above allow you to cancel at any time. They do require a solid internet connection. Looking for more information? Check out our live TV streaming services guide.
Quick tips for streaming the NFL with a VPN
With four variables at play -- your ISP, browser, video streaming provider and VPN -- experience and success may vary.
If you don't see your desired location as a default option for ExpressVPN, try using the "search for city or country" option.
If you're having trouble accessing the game after turning on your VPN and setting it to the correct viewing area, you can try two quick fixes. First, log in to your streaming service subscription account and ensure the address registered for the account is within the correct viewing area. If not, you may need to change the physical address on file with your account. Second, some smart TVs, such as Roku, don't have VPN apps that can be installed directly on the device itself. Instead, you'll need to install the VPN on your router or the mobile hotspot you're using (such as your phone) so that any device connected to its Wi-Fi network now appears in the correct viewing location.
All the VPN providers we recommend have helpful instructions on their main site for quickly installing the VPN on your router. In some cases with smart TV services, after installing a cable network's sports app, you'll be asked to verify a numeric code or click a link sent to the email address associated with your smart TV. This is where having a VPN on your router can also be helpful, as both devices will appear to be in the correct location.
And remember, browsers can often give away a location despite using a VPN, so be sure you're using a privacy-first browser to log into your services. We normally recommend Brave.
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