2025-26 NFL Playoffs Betting Online
Recent adjustments to the schedule and playoff format gave NFL fans more of what they wanted and it’s been highly successful. The league expanded the playoff field for the 2020 season adding one wild card team in each conference necessitating the elimination of one bye. Now, only the top seed in each conference receives a pass into the divisional round with Wild Card Weekend consisting of six games. The following season an additional game was added to the schedule with teams now playing 17 games to increase betting opportunities across the entire league.
Coming off their second straight Super Bowl victory the Kansas City chiefs entered last season as the favorite to win again. They posted the best record in the AFC earning the first round bye and tied Detroit for the most wins with 15. However, history was not on their side as their quest to become the first team in NFL history to win three consecutive Super Bowls was thwarted by Philadelphia. It was the second time in three years the teams met in the Super Bowl. Kansas City won two years earlier, 38-35, with the Eagles getting their revenge to conclude the 2024 season, 40-22. A rematch between the teams is a popular pick at sportsbooks ahead of the 2025 campaign.
NFL Betting Lines
For the first time in more than a decade every team that qualified for last postseason won at least 10 games during the regular season. The Eagles didn’t have the best record, but they weren’t far behind. They closed the season with 14 victories, one behind both KC and Detroit. In his first year with the club Saquon Barkley became the ninth player in NFL history to rush for more than 2,000 yards in a season as was named the league’s Offensive Player of the Year.
The top seeds in the AFC all advanced in the playoffs with the Chiefs beating Buffalo, 32-29, in the AFC Championship. It was the fourth time in five seasons KC eliminated the Bills sending the Chiefs to their third straight Super Bowl and fifth in six seasons. As the No. 2 seed in the AFC the Bills beat Denver, 31-7, in a wild card game and edged No. 3 Baltimore, 27-25, in the divisional round. Houston beat the Chargers in the wild card round setting up a divisional round meeting with KC.
The only lower seed to win a wild card game was No. 6 Washington, which edged No. 3 Tampa Bay in the NFC. The surprising Commanders, who ended the regular season at 12-5, then blitzed top-seeded Detroit, 45-31, in the divisional round setting up a NFC East confrontation in the conference title game. Despite winning the NFC West the Los Angeles Rams didn’t play a true home playoff game. Their wild card matchup with Minnesota was moved to Glendale, Arizona due to the wildfires that ravaged the LA area. The Rams won 27-9 but fell the following week to Philadelphia in blizzard-like conditions.
The season 2024 season concluded on Sunday, February 9, 2025 with Philadelphia’s 40-22 win over Kansas City in Super Bowl LIX. Accounting for three touchdowns and nearly 300 total yards, Jalen Hurts was named MVP joining Hall of Famers Len Dawson, Bob Griese, and John Elway as the only QBs to lose their first Super Bowl start and then win one as a starter later in their careers.
2025-26 NFL Playoff Schedule (ET)
Wild Card Round (6 Games)
Saturday January 10, 2026 – Monday, January 12, 2026
Divisional Round (4 Games)
Saturday, January 17, 2026 – Sunday, January 18, 2026
Conference Championships (2 Games)
Sunday, January 25, 2026
Super Bowl LX
Sunday, February 8, 2026 - Levi’s Stadium, Santa Clara, CA
The power of the NFL continues to be verified by the increased TV ratings, increased streaming in the regular and postseason, and increased revenue for the teams. Where it all ends has many fans concerned, but it's safe to assume more costs are being passed on to fans. Predictions of NFL TV games becoming oversaturated have been made dating back to the 1970s, yet the public seems to have an insatiable appetite for NFL football.
NFL commissioner Roger Goodell gave the media and fans a peak into the future with his dream of the Super Bowl being played on Presidents Day weekend (mid-February) to take advantage of a three-day holiday weekend in the United States, thus allowing fans to recover from their Super Bowl revelry on the Monday after the game. With that is the eventual potential to eventually charge fans pay-per-view rates for playoff and Super Bowl games. Taking boxing off of regular TV and on pay-per-view has done much to damage the popularity of the sport with casual fans. Thus, if the NFL does cross that Rubicon, it will be fascinating to see if the public will respond. One thing we do know is that it is not a good idea to bet against the NFL.
NFL Teams
Access live betting lines and NFL Betting Lines from your mobile device at BookMaker Sportsbook! You can wager on sporting events as they unfold on television with BookMaker’s live betting platform.
