{"id":262747,"date":"2026-01-14T09:00:05","date_gmt":"2026-01-14T14:00:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/?p=262747"},"modified":"2026-01-14T11:31:46","modified_gmt":"2026-01-14T16:31:46","slug":"nfl-playoffs-wild-card-round-recaps-for-the-afc-teams","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2026\/01\/14\/nfl-playoffs-wild-card-round-recaps-for-the-afc-teams\/","title":{"rendered":"NFL Playoffs Wild Card Round Recaps for the AFC Teams"},"content":{"rendered":"

The NFL Playoffs officially got underway this past weekend, and the Wild Card round absolutely delivered! The first four games came down to the final minutes in an absolutely thrilling fashion, while the final two games gave us unfortunate blowouts. With that being said, we have much to look forward to in the Divisional Round, but let\u2019s wrap up Wild Card Weekend first in the AFC.<\/span><\/p>\n

2026 NFL Playoffs – AFC Wild Card Round Recap<\/h2>\n

Buffalo Bills<\/span><\/h3>\n
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Photo Credit: Corey Perrine\/Florida Times-Union<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Bills<\/a> beat out the Jaguars on the road 27-24 in an old-fashioned, earn-everything playoff game. Josh Allen battled through three separate injuries to score three total touchdowns, while the defense came up with two picks, including one to seal the victory, to move on to the divisional round.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Jacksonville Jaguars<\/span><\/h3>\n
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Photo Credit: Corey Perrine\/Florida Times-Union<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Jags<\/a> bottled up James Cook, but could not contain Josh Allen enough as they were edged out late in the fourth quarter. Trevor Lawrence played well, but his two interceptions were the difference in the game. Jacksonville ended its season with a 13-4 record with plenty to look forward to next season.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

New England Patriots<\/span><\/h3>\n
\"\"
Photo Credit: Eric Canha-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

It was not pretty, but the job got done as the Patriots<\/a> defeated the Chargers 16-3 to get the chance to play at home at least one more time. The defense sacked Justin Herbert six times, forced two fumbles, and recovered one in the rock fight victory.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Los Angeles Chargers<\/span><\/h3>\n
\"AFC
Photo Credit: David Butler II-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Chargers<\/a> could get nothing going offensively as they mustered just three points on the road. Los Angeles finishes the season with an 11-6 record as they look to get healthy this offseason.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Houston Texans<\/span><\/h3>\n
\"\"
Photo Credit: Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Texans<\/a> scored 23 fourth-quarter points to put away the Steelers 30-6 in Pittsburgh. Despite C.J. Stroud\u2019s five fumbles and one interception, he threw for 250 yards and a touchdown as the defense sacked Aaron Rodgers four times, forced two turnovers, and scored two touchdowns to move on to the next round.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Pittsburgh Steelers<\/span><\/h3>\n
\"\"
Photo Credit: Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Another Steelers<\/a>\u2019 season ends in disappointment in the playoffs and a 10-7 record. Pittsburgh scored six measly points, which raises questions about Mike Tomlin<\/a>, Aaron Rodgers, the offensive roster construction, and playcalling.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

For more great football analysis, check out DrRoto.com<\/a>!<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The NFL Playoffs officially got underway this past weekend, and the Wild Card round absolutely delivered! The first four games came down to the final minutes in an absolutely thrilling fashion, while the final two games gave us unfortunate blowouts. With that being said, we have much to look forward to in the Divisional Round, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5637,"featured_media":262753,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[970],"class_list":["post-262747","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nfl-news","tag-nfl-playoffs"],"modified_by":"Michael Kovacs, ADMIN","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/262747","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5637"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=262747"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/262747\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":262760,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/262747\/revisions\/262760"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/262753"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=262747"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=262747"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=262747"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}