The AFC game pairs nightmare defenses and ascending young quarterbacks. The NFC game has innovative offenses coming off electric comeback missions. Sunday looks superb for playoff football.<\/p>\n
NFL divisional-round action closes with four winners from last weekend. First, Drake Maye and his New England Patriots host C.J. Stroud and the Houston Texans. Despite such talent under center and in shotgun, that afternoon kickoff could be a cold rock fight of bullish pass rushes and mechanical secondaries. Once that\u2019s in the books, Caleb Williams\u2019 Chicago Bears welcome Matthew Stafford\u2019s Los Angeles Rams. Ben Johnson and Sean McVay should scheme up imaginative looks; the league\u2019s touchdown leaders face the takeaway kings. Here\u2019s what to know and how to watch the Sunday games.<\/p>\n
NFL divisional playoff guide (Sunday)<\/p>\n
Watching in person? Get tickets on StubHub<\/a>.<\/p>\n GameTime (ET)TVStreaming<\/p>\n Texans at Patriots<\/p>\n 3 p.m.<\/p>\n ABC, ESPN<\/p>\n Rams at Bears<\/p>\n 6:30 p.m.<\/p>\n NBC<\/p>\n Peacock<\/p>\n ABC is free over the air. All ESPN programs also stream on ESPN Unlimited, the network\u2019s direct-to-consumer service<\/a>.<\/p>\n Houston Texans at New England Patriots<\/p>\n Texans (13-5, No. 5 seed): To the surprise of few, Houston\u2019s defense tore doors off hinges in its wild-card assignment. The final damage to the Pittsburgh Steelers: 175 total yards allowed, four sacks and a pick six from Calen Bullock. While Mike Tomlin and Aaron Rodgers look to their nebulous futures, the aggressive Texans got their inaugural road playoff win.<\/p>\n Now, their sights are set on another franchise first. Houston arrives at 0-6 in divisional-round games since joining the league in 2002. Yet no team in football is hotter: DeMeco Ryans\u2019 crew dropped its first three games but has won its last 10. All-Pro edge rushers Will Anderson Jr. (first team, 12 regular-season sacks) and Danielle Hunter (second team, 15 sacks) lead a mashing front seven. Bullock\u2019s playoff pick was his fifth in 18 games. He shares the secondary with all-galaxy talent Derek Stingley Jr., hit machine Jalen Pitre and clamp corner Kamari Lassiter.<\/p>\n The Texans haven\u2019t needed a ton of scoring to win games, but the offense must be better as fields narrow and stakes rise. Stroud had three turnovers<\/a> and fumbled five times in Pittsburgh; that latter mark is the highest in a playoff game this century, per TruMedia. Brilliant lead receiver Nico Collins suffered a concussion Monday<\/a>\u00a0and has been ruled out<\/a> for Sunday. In his absence, extra looks might be funneled to eight-year veteran Christian Kirk out wide, or to rookie Woody Marks from the backfield.<\/p>\n Patriots (15-3, No. 2 seed): New England\u2019s defense tore into its wild-card prey as well in a 16-3 victory over the Los Angeles Chargers. K\u2019Lavon Chaisson and Milton Williams each sacked Justin Herbert twice, and Mike Vrabel snagged his first postseason win as Patriots head coach (he won two games with the Tennessee Titans, and played linebacker on three Pats Super Bowl campaigns).<\/p>\n Maye got on the playoff board as well. The second-year quarterback and MVP candidate took a half to heat up, but he broke through with this dime-turned-dagger to Hunter Henry:<\/p>\n In the regular season, Maye led all passers in completion percentage, yards per attempt and passer rating. His offense ranked second in total scoring and sixth in third-down efficiency. If air space is restricted, rookie rusher TreVeyon Henderson can still open things with game-breaking outside speed. Other than a 35-31 loss to the Buffalo Bills on Dec. 14, New England\u2019s defense hasn\u2019t allowed more than 24 points since Week 2. Pro Bowl corner Christian Gonzalez entered concussion protocol<\/a> in the wild-card round. On Friday, he was a cleared to play against Houston.<\/p>\n Broadcast: Joe Buck and Troy Aikman take the booth for the final time this season. Lisa Salters and Laura Rutledge have updates from the field. Buck\u2019s slower, controlled call works well for low-scoring Houston football. He punctuated the breakthrough moment on Monday night:<\/p>\n STRAIGHT DART!!<\/p>\n \ud83d\udcfa :@nflonespn<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/7EWkCL4M7l<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Houston Texans (@HoustonTexans) January 13, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n The data-focused \u201cNFL Divisional Round Playbook with Next Gen Stats\u201d is also available on ESPN Unlimited. Field Yates, Chase Daniel, Domonique Foxworth and Brian Burke will be on that simulcast.<\/p>\n Last matchup: We go back to Week 6 of the 2024 season. Houston hung 41 points on what was then Jerod Mayo\u2019s team. Stroud finished victorious at 20-for-31 with 192 passing yards, three touchdowns and one interception (an end zone bobble caught by Marcus Jones<\/a>). In his first pro start, Maye completed 20 of 33 throws for 243 yards, plus a TD trio and a pair of picks. His \u201cwelcome to the league\u201d moment came via three Anderson Jr. sacks.<\/p>\n Playoff history: New England claimed both previous head-to-head meetings. In January 2013, Tom Brady went off for 344 yards and three scores in a divisional duel. Brady labored more four years later, but the Bill Belichick defense feasted upon Brock Osweiler. Logan Ryan had one of three picks and one of three sacks as the Pats advanced to the AFC Championship Game (and then the famed Super Bowl LI<\/a>).<\/p>\n Texans at Patriots oddsLos Angeles Rams at Chicago Bears<\/p>\n Rams (13-5, No. 5 seed): Three of Sunday\u2019s four starting QBs are 24 or younger. And then there\u2019s Stafford, balling out at age 37. In pursuit of his first MVP award after 17 seasons, Stafford put up league-best numbers in passing yards and touchdowns in 2025. He had another three TDs and eclipsed 300 yards in last weekend\u2019s 34-31 thriller versus the Carolina Panthers. This top-shelf spiral to Colby Parkinson held as the game-winner:<\/p>\n No one scored more points this season than these loaded Rams. Stafford takes Sunday\u2019s stage accompanied by Davante Adams, who recorded 14 touchdown grabs in 14 games, and Puka Nacua, an all-consuming force with eight total TDs in his last six outings. Nacua had 18 targets in Charlotte, and Adams had 13. No other Ram saw more than three. According to TruMedia, Stafford was fourth in play-action success rate this season, and he used it at the highest rate. The defense he\u2019s up against was 29th in play-action success rate, and struggled with it again in the wild-card round.<\/p>\n The Rams notched two sacks and a pick on Bryce Young, but a tougher task awaits. Byron Young paced L.A.\u2019s regular-season defense with 12 sacks. Fellow Pro Bowl edge rusher Jared Verse had 7 1\/2, plus three forced fumbles. The group as a whole finished No. 7 in third-down conversions and No. 3 in red zone percentage.<\/p>\n Bears (12-6, No. 2 seed): Not much more can be said about this improbable, inspired team. Chicago capped a winding season of exclamation-point football with its wild-card comeback against the archrival Green Bay Packers. The Bears scrapped their 18-point deficit, a new postseason franchise record. They scored 25 points in the final quarter, third-most in league playoff history, per NFL Media. Caleb Williams hit the Air Jordan pose on a surreal, must-have fourth-and-8<\/a>:<\/p>\n \ud83d\udde3\ufe0f ROOOOOOME ODUUUUUNZE<\/p>\n \ud83d\udcfa: @NFLonPrime<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/7hfM7AaUId<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Chicago Bears (@ChicagoBears) January 11, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n Williams\u2019 top targets are a bit banged up, though. DJ Moore (knee) and Rome Odunze (foot) were both limited in Thursday\u2019s practice but were full participants Friday. Ben Johnson\u2019s system has also maximized rookies Luther Burden III and Colston Loveland. The latter, a perpetual mismatch as a 6-foot-6 tight end, had a career-best 137 yards last round.<\/p>\n On the other end, Chicago ranked just 23rd in regular-season scoring defense, but it came down with a league-most 33 takeaways. Kevin Byard hawked seven interceptions for a first-team All-Pro turn at safety. He led the NFL in INTs for a second time, eight years after originally doing so in Tennessee. Nahshon Wright was close behind with five picks on the outside. Tremaine Edmunds added four in 13 games at the linebacker spot.<\/p>\n Broadcast: The \u201cSunday Night Football\u201d crew is on the call. That means Mike Tirico for play-by-play and Cris Collinsworth for color commentary. Carrie Underwood sings that pregame song about waiting all day<\/a>. Melissa Stark and Kaylee Hartung are the sideline reporters, and they\u2019ll all but certainly wear down jackets in frigid Chicago.<\/p>\n Last matchup: It was Week 4 of last season. Though the Bears ended at 5-12 and the Rams went 10-7, Chicago got the home W under then-coach Matt Eberflus. D\u2019Andre Swift made the separation with a 36-yard fourth-quarter score. Jaquan Brisker intercepted and sacked Stafford.<\/p>\n Playoff history: Each side has one previous win. In 1950, Joe Stydahar bested George Halas at L.A.\u2019s Memorial Coliseum. Hall of Famer Tom Fears went off in that divisional game, with 198 receiving yards and three touchdowns for the Rams. But in the 1985 season, the Super Bowl Shufflers<\/a> earned a Soldier Field shutout in the conference championship game. Bears luminaries Richard Dent, Dan Hampton and William \u201cThe Refrigerator\u201d Perry all had a sack in that one.<\/p>\n Rams at Bears odds<\/p>\n Streaming and ticketing links in this article are provided by partners of The Athletic. Restrictions may apply. The Athletic maintains full editorial independence. Partners have no control over or input into the reporting or editing process, and do not review stories before publication.<\/p>\n