watch the NFL playoffs 2026: Wild card weekend, divisional, and championship video games

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Probably the most unhinged a part of the NFL season is right here. That is proper — it is playoffs time, child.

Whether or not your workforce is in or out, you are most likely questioning what sort of streaming insanity the NFL has in retailer for this postseason. The excellent news is there are not any extra out of market video games to confuse and frustrate viewers. The dangerous information is that if you do not have cable (or a cable alternative), you are going to want a bunch of streaming providers. Concern not; I’ve achieved the annoying analysis for you already. It is higher than wallowing in self pity as a result of my workforce did not make the playoffs (I am a Ravens fan — IYKYK).

Listed here are all the main points it’s essential to watch the NFL playoffs in 2026, together with the tentative schedule, which streaming providers you want, which of them supply free trials, and the most effective streaming offers to save lots of you some cash.

What’s the 2026 NFL postseason schedule?

Wild Card Spherical

Saturday, Jan. 10

Sunday, Jan. 11

• Payments at Jaguars at 1 p.m. ET — CBS (stream on Paramount+)

• 49ers at Eagles at 4:30 p.m. ET  — Fox (stream on Fox One)

• Chargers at Patriots at 8 p.m. ET — NBC (stream on Peacock)

Monday, Jan. 12

Divisional Spherical

The Seattle Seahawks and Denver Broncos are the No. 1 seeds of their respective divisions, so that they earned a first-round bye. Within the Divisional Spherical, the bottom seed remaining within the AFC after the Wild Card weekend will play Denver for a spot within the AFC Championship. The bottom remaining seed within the NFC will face off in opposition to Seattle for a spot within the NFC Championship. These video games are TBD, however will fall on Jan. 17 and 18.

Saturday, Jan. 17

• AFC or NFC divisional matchup, 4:30 p.m. ET — TBD

• AFC or NFC divisional matchup, 8 p.m. ET — TBD

Sunday, Jan. 18

• AFC or NFC divisional matchup, 3 p.m. ET — TBD

• AFC or NFC divisional matchup, 6:30 p.m. ET — TBD

Championship Spherical

Sunday, Jan. 25

Tremendous Bowl

Sunday, Feb. 8

Which streaming providers do you want?

If you do not have cable or a digital antenna (extra on this under), you may want fairly just a few streaming subscriptions to observe the playoffs. It ought to come as no shock, contemplating what number of completely different channels and subscriptions had been required to watch the common season. The excellent news is you may simply join a single month of every service after which cancel in the event you do not need to maintain paying. Plus, some even supply free trials.

You may want Fox, NBC, CBS, and ESPN/ABC networks to observe each postseason sport, plus Prime Video. Happily, all of those channels have streaming counterparts for people with out cable.

For the NFL 2026 playoffs, you may want the next streaming providers:

Another choice, albeit an costly one, is to enroll in a dwell TV cable alternative service, like YouTube TV or Fubo, which incorporates all the networks you may want to observe dwell video games (besides Prime Video). The month-to-month price for these providers is increased than paying for all 5 of the streamers above, however most include free trials. In the event you’ve by no means signed up for YouTube TV earlier than, for instance, you may get a 21-day free trial. That will get you all through the Championship Spherical. You’d nonetheless must pay individually for a Prime Video subscription for a wildcard sport, however that is your finest guess to observe probably the most video games for the most affordable worth.

Stay TV cable alternative choices:

• YouTube TV (carries Fox, NBC, CBS, ABC, ESPN)

• Fubo (carries Fox, CBS, ABC, ESPN)

• DirecTV Stream (carries ABC, ESPN, NBC, CBS, Fox in choose markets)

• Sling Orange & Blue (carries ESPN, Fox, ABC, and NBC in choose markets)

• Hulu + Stay TV (carries ESPN, ABC, CBS, Fox, NBC)

Which streaming providers supply free trials?

Of the streaming providers and cable alternative choices above, this is a breakdown of which of them supply free trials and the way lengthy these trials final. Simply bear in mind, these trials are solely accessible to new customers normally (and generally returning customers).

Are there any streaming offers for the NFL playoffs?

In the event you’ve already exhausted a lot of the free trial choices, fret not. There are some choices to save cash on choose streaming providers in time for the playoffs. We have rounded up the most effective streaming offers for every service under.

Fox One streaming offers

Fox One and ESPN bundle

Save $10 and kill two birds with one stone by signing up for the ESPN Limitless and Fox One bundle. You may get each streamers for simply $39.99 per 30 days (fairly than $49.98), which is able to unlock entry to a few video games within the wild card spherical, seemingly a sport or two within the divisional spherical, in addition to the NFC championship sport.

Fox One annual plan

One other strategy to save on Fox One is by signing up for all the yr upfront for $199.99. Paying month-to-month provides as much as $239.88 throughout 12 months, so you may find yourself saving practically $40 with an annual plan.

Prime Video streaming offers

Prime Video solely

In the event you do not care about being a Prime member, it can save you your self $6 per 30 days by signing up for Prime Video solely. You will not get the perks of being a member (like free transport and Prime Day entry), however in the event you solely need to stream sports activities and different content material, that is your finest guess.

In fact, Amazon makes it unnecessarily difficult to enroll in Prime Video by itself. Whenever you go to enroll in a subscription, be sure you choose the choice to “see extra plans” or “change plans.” Then, navigate to the choice for Prime Video by itself. You’ll be able to nonetheless cancel everytime you need, simply as you’d a full Prime membership.

Extra Prime Video offers:

Peacock streaming offers

Peacock annual subscription

The very best Peacock deal for most individuals on any given day (when Peacock is not working any form of particular) is the annual subscription plan. You may get 12 months for the worth of 10 once you pay upfront for the entire yr. Whereas a month-to-month subscription with advertisements normally prices $10.99 per 30 days, that worth drops to $9.17 per 30 days with the annual plan. Stay sports activities embrace advertisements no matter which tier you select, so that you may as nicely go for the cheaper Peacock Premium plan for the playoffs. A Peacock subscription grants you entry to not solely a sport throughout wild card weekend, but in addition the Tremendous Bowl itself.

Extra Peacock offers:

Paramount+ streaming offers

Paramount+ Important annual subscription

Paramount+ remains to be one of many least expensive streaming providers at simply $7.99 per 30 days with advertisements, however the worth is about to leap to $8.99 per 30 days come Jan. 15. So as to lock in a deal, we propose signing up for the annual subscription earlier than that worth hike takes place. You may get a complete yr of streaming for under $59.99, which breaks down to simply $5 per 30 days. You may get entry to some completely different playoff video games, together with the AFC Championship sport, in addition to in-network AFC video games all through the common season.

Extra Paramount+ offers:

ESPN Limitless streaming offers

See Fox One bundle above.

ESPN Limitless annual subscription

In the event you’re an enormous sports activities fan, it can save you about $60 by signing up for a full yr of ESPN Limitless as a substitute of paying month-to-month. It’s going to price you $299.99 in whole, which breaks all the way down to solely $24.99 per 30 days as a substitute of $29.99.

One other strategy to watch the NFL playoffs

Wish to keep away from signing up for one million streaming providers simply to observe the playoffs? I extremely suggest getting a digital antenna. I’ve this low cost one from Amazon, and I can entry ABC, CBS, NBC, and Fox dwell totally free — no streaming subscription required. Simply be sure you examine how far the vary is for whichever antenna you select, in addition to how far you might be out of your native broadcast towers. In the event you’re in that vary, it is best to have the ability to watch dwell TV totally free. In fact, you may nonetheless want that pesky Prime Video subscription, however for the opposite networks, you are golden.