NFL playoff schedule 2022: Updated bracket & TV channels for AFC, NFC championship games

The championship round of the AFC and NFC playoffs will look a little different this year.

For the first time since 2010, both No. 1 seeds were eliminated, with the Titans losing to the Bengals and the Packers falling to the 49ers on Saturday, both on field goals. The next day, the No. 2 Buccaneers were eliminated on a Rams field goal despite making an improbable comeback from 27–3 down to tie the game. The only game of the weekend that didn’t end with a field goal was the thrilling overtime between the Chiefs and Bills that featured a combined 25 points in the final two minutes of regulation. It ended with the Chiefs scoring a touchdown on the opening OT drive.

Cincinnati will now head to Kansas City to decide the AFC representative in Super Bowl 56, while it will be a state battle with San Francisco taking on Los Angeles in the NFC title matchup.

Here’s everything you need to know about the AFC and NFC Championship Games.

2022 NFL playoff bracket

The complete NFL playoff pool for 2022:

AFC

2. Kansas City Chiefs vs. 4. Cincinnati Bengals

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1. Tennessee Titans vs. 4. Cincinnati Bengals

2. Kansas City Chiefs vs. 3. Buffalo Bills

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1. Tennessee Titans (goodbye)

2. Kansas City Chiefs vs. 7. Pittsburgh Steelers

3. Buffalo Bills vs. 6. New England Patriots

4. Cincinnati Bengals vs. 5. Las Vegas Raiders

NFC

4. Los Angeles Rams vs. 6. San Francisco 49ers

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1. Green Bay Packers vs. 6. San Francisco 49ers

2. Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs. 4. Los Angeles Rams

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1. Green Bay Packers (goodbye)

2. Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs. 7. Philadelphia Eagles

3. Dallas Cowboys vs. 6. San Francisco 49ers

4. Los Angeles Rams vs. 5. Arizona Cardinals

NFL playoff schedule

championship round

Sunday, January 30

AFC and NFC championship game matchups

AFC

• No. 2 Chiefs vs. No. 4 Bengals

Patrick Mahomes beat out Josh Allen and the Bills in the divisional round. Now, he’ll have to take on Joe Burrow and the Bengals to advance to the Super Bowl for the third straight year.

These teams met in Cincinnati on January 2, with the Bengals outscoring the Chiefs 17-3 in the second half to win 34-31 and clinch the AFC North title. Mahomes threw for 259 yards and two touchdowns while Burrow passed for 446 yards and four touchdowns. Rookie wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase had a record afternoon with 11 receptions for 266 yards and three touchdowns.

Not surprisingly, these offenses ranked among the best in passing in the NFL during the regular season. The Chiefs finished the 2021 campaign in fourth place with 4,791 passing yards, while the Bengals had the seventh most with 4,403. However, neither team was particularly good at defending the pass; the Chiefs allowed the sixth-most passing yards (4,273) and Cincinnati allowed the seventh-most (4,222). This has the potential to be a back-and-forth offensive matchup.

NFC

• No. 4 Rams vs. #6 49ers

The NFC West sent three of its four teams to the playoffs in the 2021 season, so it seems fitting that the conference would be represented by one of them in the Super Bowl.

The 49ers earned their ticket to the NFC championship — their second trip in three years — by beating the Packers 13-10 at snowy Lambeau Field on Saturday. The Rams will be in their second conference title game in four years after avoiding a complete collapse against the Buccaneers in a 30-27 win on Sunday. San Francisco has owned Los Angeles for the past several years, having won each of the last six matchups, including in the final week of the 2021 campaign to clinch its playoff berth.

While Matthew Stafford and the Rams finished the season with the eighth-most total yards (6,325) and tied for seventh-most points (460), they will have to deal with a red-hot defense that has stifled the Cowboys and Packers. in the first two rounds of the playoffs. San Francisco finished the season having allowed the third-fewest total yards (5,270) and tied for ninth-fewest points allowed (365).