Patriots, 49ers, Bills, Bears and
Rams advance to NFL's divisional round
[January 12, 2026]
By ROB MAADDI
Brock Purdy, Christian McCaffrey and the 49ers eliminated the
defending Super Bowl champion Eagles, the Patriots dominated the
Chargers and Josh Allen willed the Bills past the Jaguars.
San Francisco, New England and Buffalo joined the Chicago Bears and
Los Angeles Rams in advancing to the divisional round of the NFL
playoffs with victories in the wild-card round.
The No. 6 seed 49ers (13-5) will face the top-seeded Seahawks (14-3)
next Saturday. The No. 6 seed Bills (13-5) will visit the No. 1 seed
Broncos (14-3), also on Saturday.
On Sunday, the No. 2 seed Bears (12-6) will host the No. 5 seed Rams
(13-5), and the No. 2 seed Patriots (15-3) will be home against the
winner of Monday night’s game between the Texans and Steelers.
Purdy tossed a 4-yard TD pass to McCaffrey with 2:54 remaining to
lift the 49ers to a 23-19 comeback win at Philadelphia on Sunday.
McCaffrey also caught a 29-yard TD pass from wide receiver Jauan
Jennings.
The Patriots sacked Justin Herbert six times and held Los Angeles to
just 207 yards in a 16-3 win on Sunday night.
Allen led Buffalo to a 27-24 comeback victory in Jacksonville in
Sunday's first game. Allen scored on a 1-yard run late in the fourth
quarter and Cole Bishop intercepted Trevor Lawrence's pass to secure
Buffalo's first playoff win on the road since the 1992 AFC
championship game at Miami.
On Saturday, the playoffs kicked off with two wacky games.
The Bears trailed the Green Bay Packers 21-3 at halftime and 27-16
with just under seven minutes left in the fourth quarter before
Caleb Williams threw a pair of touchdown passes. His 25-yard TD toss
to D.J. Moore put Chicago ahead 31-27 with 1:43 remaining. Then
Jordan Love's desperation heave into the end zone from the Bears 28
was knocked down as time expired to secure Chicago's first playoff
win since the 2010 season.
Williams finished with 361 yards passing, two TDs and two
interceptions for the Bears.
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New England Patriots defensive end Milton Williams (97), linebacker
Christian Elliss (53) and linebacker Robert Spillane (14) celebrate
Williams' sack of Los Angeles Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert
(10) in the second half of an NFL wild-card playoff football game in
Foxborough, Mass., Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
In the opener on wild-card weekend, Matthew
Stafford threw a 19-yard touchdown pass to Colby Parkinson in the
final minute and Los Angeles rallied to beat the Carolina Panthers
34-31 in a game that was much closer than expected.
The Rams were double-digit favorites on BetMGM Sportsbook against
the Panthers (8-10). The Rams jumped to a 14-0 lead, but couldn’t
take advantage of first-half turnovers and allowed Carolina to get
within 17-14 at halftime.
Stafford, who earned All-Pro honors for the first time in his
17-year career on Saturday, threw for 304 yards, three TDs and had
one pick. Puka Nacua, who was a unanimous All-Pro selection, had 10
catches for 111 yards and one TD and also had a 5-yard TD run.
The Rams are back in the divisional round for the second straight
season. Last year, they were 13 yards away from eliminating
Philadelphia before a sack and an incomplete pass ended their season
with a 28-22 loss.
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