The next NFL Wild Card Weekend is January 16-18, 2027, a week after the regular season ends on January 9-10, according to the NFL’s calendar of important dates. No Wild Card lines are posted yet, because the 12 teams that will play in it are not known until Week 18 is over.
The playoff calendar
- Week 18: January 9-10, 2027
- Wild Card Weekend: January 16-18, 2027
- Divisional playoffs: January 23-24, 2027
- AFC and NFC Championship Games: January 31, 2027
- Super Bowl LXI: February 14, 2027, SoFi Stadium, Inglewood, California
The Wild Card round is six games over three days. The last one ran Saturday to Monday: two games on the Saturday, three on the Sunday and one on the Monday night.
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How the last Wild Card Weekend finished
| Game (road team first) | Result | Closing line | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rams at Panthers, Jan. 10 | Rams 34, Panthers 31 | Rams -10 | 44.5, over (65) |
| Packers at Bears, Jan. 10 | Bears 31, Packers 27 | Packers -1.5 | 46.5, over (58) |
| Bills at Jaguars, Jan. 11 | Bills 27, Jaguars 24 | Jaguars -1.5 | 51.5, under (51) |
| 49ers at Eagles, Jan. 11 | 49ers 23, Eagles 19 | Eagles -5.5 | 44.5, under (42) |
| Chargers at Patriots, Jan. 11 | Patriots 16, Chargers 3 | Patriots -3.5 | 45.5, under (19) |
| Texans at Steelers, Jan. 12 | Texans 30, Steelers 6 | Texans -3 | 38.5, under (36) |
Closing lines are DraftKings’, as ESPN records them. Dates are Eastern time.
Favorites covered two of the six: the Patriots, by 9.5 points over the number, and the Texans, who won by 24 as 3-point road favorites. Three underdogs won outright, the Bears, the Bills and the 49ers. The Rams won but did not cover, beating Carolina by 3 as 10-point favorites. Four of the six games went under the total.
Six games is one weekend. It says what happened in January 2026 and nothing about how often favorites cover in the Wild Card round over time.
Betting Wild Card Weekend
The field is set when Week 18 ends, and lines open after that. Before then there are only futures: the Super Bowl, conference and division markets, which are prices on a team’s whole season rather than on one playoff game.
When the six games are set, each one is a single game like any other on the board: a spread, a total and a moneyline. A moneyline of -600 implies 85.7%, and +440 on the other side implies 18.5%. The two add up to 104.2% because the book’s margin is built in. A bet is worth making only when you rate the chance higher than the price does.
Our NFL predictions cover every game each week and will carry each Wild Card game when the field is set. The Super Bowl odds follow the title market until then, and the AFC Championship odds the round after the Divisional games. For parlays and player props on the playoffs, see best NFL parlays and best NFL player prop bets.
Team pages for last season’s six Wild Card winners, the Rams, Bears, Bills, 49ers, Patriots and Texans, are the place to follow them this season. For paid NFL picks, compare the best handicappers and read our sportsbook reviews first.