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NFL Wild Card Weekend Sets a Wide-Open Stage: Allen’s Chance, Hurts’ Home Streak, 49ers’ Road Test

Expert predictions vary widely across a bracket reshaped by late seeding shifts, injuries and cross‑country travel.

Overview

  • The Wild Card Round runs from Saturday through Monday with six games and 14 teams vying to advance.
  • Buffalo visits Jacksonville on Sunday, and with Patrick Mahomes, Lamar Jackson and Joe Burrow out of the field, Josh Allen enters with a rare opening after accounting for 39 touchdowns this season.
  • Philadelphia hosts San Francisco on Sunday, putting Jalen Hurts’ 5-0 home playoff record on the line against a 49ers team that slid to the No. 6 seed and now heads east.
  • The 49ers are managing injuries after their Week 18 loss, with Brock Purdy emphasizing urgency and the team adding linebacker Kyzir White ahead of the trip to Lincoln Financial Field.
  • Saturday features Packers at Bears in the rivalry’s 213th meeting with Jordan Love returning from injury, and multiple outlets’ picks are split across all six games.