The Green Bay Packers will take their Super Bowl dreams into Soldier Field and battle the rival Chicago Bears in the only intra-division matchup of the NFL’s wild-card weekend.
The Bears (11-6) landed the No. 2 seed in the NFC from Sunday’s Week 18 results, while the Packers (9-7-1) were locked into the seventh and final seed in the conference before the weekend began.
The Packers and Bears have played since 1921 but will meet in the playoffs for only the third time. Chicago defeated Green Bay in the 1941 NFL postseason, and the Packers prevailed in the 2010 NFC Championship Game en route to their Super Bowl XLV victory with Aaron Rodgers at the helm.
All dates and times for the wild-card round will be announced by the league later Sunday.
The eliminated Detroit Lions beat Chicago on a late field goal Sunday evening, but the Bears’ only competition for the No. 2 seed, the Philadelphia Eagles, also ended on a losing note against the Washington Commanders.
The third-seeded Eagles (11-6) draw the sixth-seeded San Francisco 49ers (12-5) and the NFC South champion Carolina Panthers (8-9) will welcome the Los Angeles Rams (12-5) in the 4-5 game. The Seattle Seahawks (14-3) locked up the conference’s No. 1 seed by beating San Francisco on Saturday night.
The AFC playoff picture grew clearer when the Denver Broncos secured the top seed and first-round bye with a win over the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday.
Both Denver and New England finished 14-3 after the Patriots’ season-ending win over Miami, but the Broncos hold the tiebreaker over the Patriots thanks to a better record over common opponents.
The No. 2 seed Patriots will host the No. 7 Chargers (11-6). The Jacksonville Jaguars (13-4) locked up the AFC South and will host the sixth-seeded Buffalo Bills (12-5).
And Sunday night’s Ravens-Steelers game in Pittsburgh will determine the last of the league’s 14 playoff berths by virtue of the AFC North title. The Steelers advance with a win or a tie, while Baltimore must win to leapfrog its rivals.
The reward will be a home game against the red-hot Houston Texans, who won their ninth in a row Sunday over Indianapolis to finish 12-5 and claim the fifth seed in the AFC bracket.
