Overview
- Schedule is set: Bills at Broncos (Sat 4:30 p.m. ET, CBS), 49ers at Seahawks (Sat 8 p.m., Fox), Texans at Patriots (Sun 3 p.m., ESPN), Rams at Bears (Sun 6:30 p.m., NBC).
- Top seeds Denver and Seattle return from byes to host at Empower Field and Lumen Field, completing the eight-team bracket for the push to Super Bowl LX.
- Books posted opening numbers with Seattle favored by about a touchdown over San Francisco (−7 to −7.5), the Rams slight road favorites in Chicago (around −3.5 to −4), New England laying roughly a field goal to Houston (−3), and Denver–Buffalo near pick’em to Broncos −1 depending on the book.
- San Francisco enters the Seattle matchup without tight end George Kittle after a reported season-ending Achilles tear, facing a Seahawks defense that ranked No. 1 in scoring this year.
- Sportsbooks said the betting public beat many sharp positions on Wild Card underdogs, a rare outcome that followed a weekend with four late comeback wins.