The NFL playoffs are now in full swing, as some teams move on toward their goal of reaching and winning the Super Bowl while others face an abrupt end to what was once a promising campaign. Wild Card Weekend had all of those emotions and more, with four games that saw decisive lead changes in the final three minutes of action.
On Saturday, Both the Rams and Bears escaped with narrow wins to advance to the NFC Divisional Round, where they will face off against each other. Sunday was highlighted by upset wins for Josh Allen and the Bills and 49ers before the Patriots dismantled the Chargers in prime time. On Monday night, the Texans closed out the weekend with another dominant display from their defense to beat the Steelers on the road.
Who came out of the weekend as the biggest winners and losers from the opening round? Let's dive into the list.
Winner: The cardiac Bears do it again
All season, the Bears have come up with different ways to win in the fourth quarter, each one crazier than the last. A lot of times, when teams are just scraping by in the regular season even against bad teams, it's a bad sign for their playoff hopes.
But not for these Bears. Chicago kept its come-from-behind act alive in the Wild Card Round, rebounding from a 21-3 first half deficit against the Green Bay Packers to get an improbable 31-27 win and advance. A lot of things had to go right for the Bears to come back and get the win, including some pretty poor Matt LaFleur clock management, but this is a team that continues to make all the big plays when it needs to.
There is no greater example of that coming out of this game than Caleb Williams. The former No. 1 overall pick was inconsistent in his playoff debut, but he stepped up and made some big throws when it mattered. None were bigger than his dime to Rome Odunze while moving to his left to keep the Bears alive with a 11-point fourth quarter deficit.
The highest-graded play by any QB this weekend:
Caleb Williams fourth down conversion 🧊pic.twitter.com/lniH0V76ZH
— PFF (@PFF) January 12, 2026
Williams and the Bears have been underdogs for much of the season, were in this game and will be again against the Rams in the next round. But they have proven that they are hard to put away, and that's a valuable skill this time of year.
Loser: The Eagles' freefall finally grounds them
The Eagles were a dominant force going into, and all the way through, the playoffs last season on their way to a Super Bowl ring. Things felt a lot different coming into the playoffs this year, as the Eagles have been struggling on offense for much of the year. That came to a head in the Wild Card Round against an undermanned 49ers team on Sunday, as the Eagles struggled to move the ball for much of the game despite the Niners missing a lot of their best defenders.
Jalen Hurts was out of sync, the running game led by Saquon Barkley was inconsistent, and AJ Brown hurt the offense with a pair of key drops. All of that, plus a defensive performance that was a little below the standard Vic Fangio's group had set over the back half of the season, has Philly going home early.
The changes have already started for Nick Sirianni and company, as Philadelphia announced it is making a change at offensive coordinator after a frustrating year for Kevin Patullo and his group. If the Eagles nail their next hire at that spot, like they did with Shane Steichen and Kellen Moore, there is plenty of talent on that side of the ball. However, if they don't, 2026 could be another disaster for this attack.
Winner: Texans' defense makes Super Bowl statement
The Texans have quietly been on fire over the back half of the season, finishing the regular season with a 12-5 record even after starting the season 0-3. They have been led by arguably the best defense in football, but haven't gotten a ton of attention as the Jaguars caught fire at the end of the year to win the AFC South.
On Monday night, Houston showed why it deserves some more buzz heading into the Divisional Round. Houston's defense, for lack of a better term, completely kicked the Steelers' tail up and down the field in Pittsburgh on its way to a 30-6 win.
After a decent first quarter, the Steelers could do absolutely nothing against this vaunted Houston unit. For the night, Aaron Rodgers finished with a 21.2% dropback success rate and a -0.76 EPA per dropback, both of which rank dead last among 283 playoff games with 20 or more attempts since 2013 according to Nate Tice of Yahoo Sports.
To put the cherry on top, the Texans picked up the slack for CJ Stroud and the offense with a pair of defensive touchdowns in the fourth quarter. Will Anderson Jr. stripped Rodgers on the first before Sheldon Rankins picked it up and scored, and Calen Bullock sealed the deal with a pick-six in the final minutes. Stroud and the offense have a lot of room to grow coming out of this one, but this defense proved that it is good enough to beat anybody.
Loser: Justin Herbert and the Chargers' offense… really?
The best quarterback matchup on paper coming into the weekend may have been Drake Maye against Justin Herbert, as the two AFC elites were set to go at it in Foxborough on Sunday night. Herbert has been one of the best quarterbacks in football for the last six years and Maye broke out as an MVP candidate in 2025.
Instead, what the fans got was a defensive battle. Maye had some untimely turnovers in his playoff debut, but he still was able to move the Patriots down the field on a semi-consistent basis. On the other side, Herbert had one of his worst games of the season in a dreadful 16-3 loss.
The Chargers' offense around Herbert has been a disaster all year; the offensive line is a mess after injuries to both star tackles, the running back room has been beat up, the receivers can't get consistent separation and offensive coordinator Greg Roman has failed to scheme up a creative offense to help his deficient personnel.
When Herbert is on, he is good enough to drag all of that to 11 wins. When he's not, like on Sunday, you get a 3-point dud on a national stage that will lead to another offseason full of questions.
Winner: Josh Allen puts on his Superman cape
The Bills are in a bit of an odd spot in these playoffs. They have been a mainstay in the AFC playoffs for years now, but none of the other stalwarts are here with them. Neither the Ravens nor the Chiefs are in the playoffs, leaving Josh Allen as the most experienced playoff signal-caller left in the AFC field.
That puts a lot of pressure on he and the Bills to get the job done, but they don't really have a roster that warrants that level of expectation. Buffalo will have to win three road games to get to the Super Bowl, and Allen's heroics will have to cover up for a severe lack of receiving talent and a defense that has a lot of holes.
On Sunday, that was enough to get a 27-24 win on the road over the red-hot Jacksonville Jaguars, who came into the game having won eight in a row to conquer the AFC South. Allen finished the day 28-for-35 with 273 yards and three total touchdowns, and he led a game-winning drive in the final minutes that included an incredible chunk throw to Brandin Cooks for a big gain.
If Allen, who came into the week banged up and was struggling again during the game, can continue that, this Buffalo team can beat anybody. If he has an off day, however, it could get ugly quick for Bills Mafia.
Loser: The Panthers' near-upset bid
The Panthers got Wild Card Weekend started off on Saturday with a game against the high-powered Los Angeles Rams, a game that many fans and pundits gave them no chance to win. After all, Carolina limped into the playoffs at 8-9 while the Rams came in as one of the Super Bowl favorites, so this was expected to be a rout.
The Rams started the day as a 10.5-point favorite, but they found themselves trailing in the final minutes before Matthew Stafford led them down the field for the game-winning touchdown to Colby Parkinson.
Carolina found a lot of success in the middle part of the game by blitzing Stafford, applying a ton of pressure to the potential MVP and keeping him out of a rhythm. However, defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero went away from the pressure-heavy scheme, dropping seven and eight into coverage on the final drive and getting carved up by Stafford.
Overall, this game feels like a but of a moral victory for the Panthers considering the expectations coming in. But given the way the game ended up going, it feels like a bit of a missed opportunity to get a signature win.
