Current:Home > reviewsNFL schedule today: Everything to know about playoff games on Jan. 28 -Wealth Evolution Experts
NFL schedule today: Everything to know about playoff games on Jan. 28
View
Date:2025-04-15 09:39:39
Editor's note: Follow along for live updates and highlights from the AFC championship game.
Only four teams remain in the NFL postseason. Two of them will come away from this weekend as conference champions and earn trips to the Super Bowl.
First up, Patrick Mahomes and the defending champion Kansas City Chiefs will make their sixth consecutive appearance in the AFC championship game, this time on the road against Lamar Jackson and the Baltimore Ravens.
In the night cap, star running back Christian McCaffrey and the San Francisco 49ers make their third straight appearance in the NFC championship game, this time at home against the Detroit Lions.
The winners of each game Sunday will advance to Super Bowl 58 in Las Vegas on Feb. 11.
NFL STATS CENTRAL: The latest NFL scores, schedules, odds, stats and more.
Here’s what you need to know about the NFL conference championship games on Jan. 28:
How to watch Chiefs vs. Ravens game
The Chiefs and Ravens kickoff at 3 p.m. ET inside M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore on CBS and Paramount+. The game is also available to stream for free on Fubo.
How to watch Lions vs. 49ers game
The Lions visit the 49ers for a 6:30 p.m. ET kickoff at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California on FOX. The game is also available to stream for free on Fubo.
Kansas City Chiefs (11-6) vs. Baltimore Ravens (13-4)
The two youngest quarterbacks to win NFL MVPs take center stage in the AFC championship game.
Mahomes was the youngest NFL MVP at 23 in 2018, before Jackson won the award at 22 in 2019. As the MVP front-runner this season, Jackson could soon join Mahomes with two MVPs after Mahomes won his second last season.
More important, there’s a trip to the Super Bowl on the line.
Mahomes and the Chiefs are in familiar position, hoping to reach the Super Bowl for the fourth time in five years and a chance to extend their dynasty with a third championship.
You can’t count out Mahomes and head coach Andy Reid this time of year, although this is the worst Chiefs’ offense during their time together in Kansas City (they rank 15th in scoring offense this season, compared to top six in each of the previous six season).
Meanwhile, Jackson and Ravens coach John Harbaugh hope to lead the franchise back to the Super Bowl for the first time since 2012. Baltimore has won nine games this season against winning teams by at least 14 points – no other team in NFL history has accomplished that feat.
Detroit Lions (12-5) vs. San Francisco 49ers (12-5)
The 49ers are in the NFC championship game for the third consecutive season, and fourth time in the last five years. But they’ve only reached the Super Bowl once in that span, losing to Mahomes and the Chiefs at Super Bowl 54 in Miami to end the 2019 season.
So, the pressure is on for 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan, who was also the Atlanta Falcons offensive coordinator when Tom Brady and the New England Patriots stormed back from a 28-3 deficit to win Super Bowl 51 in February 2017.
The 49ers won the NFC West and earned the No. 1 seed in the postseason behind McCaffrey, who led the NFL with 2,023 scrimmage yards and was tied for the league-lead with 21 total touchdowns.
Meanwhile, Lions coach Dan Campbell has led Detroit’s resurgence from one of the NFL’s worst franchises to one of the league’s most competitive and endearing teams.
The Lions, one of four NFL franchises to never reach a Super Bowl, won their first playoff game and have reached the conference championship game for the first time since 1991.
Quarterback Jared Goff hopes to reach his second Super Bowl (lost to Patriots with Los Angeles Rams in 2016), leading Detroit’s top five offense with star receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown, running backs Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery, tight end Sam LaPorta, while star defensive end Aidan Hutchinson leads the defense.
Predictions for Sunday's NFL conference championship games
Here are the USA TODAY Sports staff’s predictions for Sunday's games:
Jarrett Bell: Ravens, 49ers
Chris Bumbaca: Ravens, Lions
Nate Davis: Ravens, 49ers
Safid Deen: Ravens, Lions
Tyler Dragon: Ravens, 49ers
Victoria Hernandez: Ravens, Lions
Jordan Mendoza: Ravens, Lions
Michael Middlehurst-Schwartz: Ravens, 49ers
Lorenzo Reyes: Ravens, 49ers
veryGood! (19)
Related
- Breaking debut in Olympics raises question: Are breakers artists or athletes?
- 15 Self-Care Products to Help Ease Seasonal Affective Disorder
- 'My body is changed forever.' Black women lead way for FDA chemical hair straightener ban
- No gun, no car, no living witnesses against man charged in Tupac Shakur killing, defense lawyer says
- 'No Good Deed': Who's the killer in the Netflix comedy? And will there be a Season 2?
- 'My benchmark ... is greatness': Raiders WR Davante Adams expresses frustration with role
- 5 Things podcast: Orthodox church in Gaza City bombed; Biden urges support for Israel
- Man fined $50K in Vermont for illegally importing carvings made of sperm whale teeth, walrus tusk
- Krispy Kreme offers a free dozen Grinch green doughnuts: When to get the deal
- EU discusses Bulgaria’s gas transit tax that has angered Hungary and Serbia
Ranking
- Selena Gomez's "Weird Uncles" Steve Martin and Martin Short React to Her Engagement
- Florida man convicted of stealing sports camp tuition funds from hundreds of families
- Amazon launches drone delivery program for prescription medications
- Northern Europe continues to brace for gale-force winds and floods
- From bitter rivals to Olympic teammates, how Lebron and Steph Curry became friends
- Georgia prison escapees still on the lam after fleeing Bibb County facility: What to know
- Pink Postpones Additional Concert Dates Amid Battle With Respiratory Infection
- Britney Spears' abortion comments spark talk about men's role in reproductive health care
Recommendation
RFK Jr. closer to getting on New Jersey ballot after judge rules he didn’t violate ‘sore loser’ law
High mortgage rates push home sales decline, tracking to hit Great Recession levels
Cleveland museum sues to stop seizure of statue believed to depict Marcus Aurelius
Natalee Holloway fought like hell moments before death, her mom says after Joran van der Sloot's murder confession
Megan Fox's ex Brian Austin Green tells Machine Gun Kelly to 'grow up'
Lions' Amon-Ra St. Brown pays off friendly wager he quips was made 'outside the facility'
Dutch king and queen are confronted by angry protesters on visit to a slavery museum in South Africa
With wildfires growing, California writes new rules on where to plant shrubs