Breaking down the NFL’s first five Wild Card Weekend games

The GIST: But wait, there’s even more high-stakes playoff football on deck: It’s also NFL Wild Card Weekend, giving us five straight days of touchdowns, tackles, and tension. We’ll preview Monday’s tilt between the Houston Texans and Pittsburgh Steelers in our next newsletter. Until then, here’s a two-minute drill on this weekend’s five games. That NFL bracket won’t pick itself, after all.

🐏 LA Rams vs. 🐈‍⬛ Carolina Panthers — Tomorrow at 4:30 p.m. ET: MVP candidate QB Matthew Stafford headlines a star-studded Rams roster that’s dressing for revenge after a 31–28 upset loss to signal caller Bryce Young and these very same Panthers in Week 13.

🧀 Green Bay Packers vs. 🐻 Chicago Bears — Tomorrow at 8 p.m. ET: These bitter NFC North rivals split a pair of games in the last four weeks, and both were decided by just one score. The only way to distinguish between these evenly matched foes? Cheeseheads and cheese graters.

🦬 Buffalo Bills vs. 🐆 Jacksonville Jaguars — Sunday at 1 p.m. ET: Bills QB Josh Allen’s path to his first career Super Bowl appearance has never been clearer, but the Jags are the hottest team in football, sporting an eight-game win streak. And that’s on doing the heavy lifting.

🔴 San Francisco 49ers vs. 🦅 Philadelphia Eagles — Sunday at 4:30 p.m. ET: The injury-riddled Niners are as tough as nails, but their defense is especially banged up — cause for concern if Eagles running back Saquon Barkley can replicate last season’s playoff production.

⚡ LA Chargers vs. 💙 New England Patriots — Sunday at 8 p.m. ET: The Chargers’ top-five defense will be New England’s toughest test of the season to date, but that might not matter for a Patriots offense that’s absolutely thriving with MVP hopeful QB Drake Maye under center.