NFL Divisional Round 2026: US Daily Letter Sports Desk
What to Know from Saturday’s Playoff Action
Saturday’s NFL Divisional Round delivered everything playoff football promises: overtime drama, devastating blowouts, and one gut-wrenching injury that could reshape the conference championship. Here’s what happened.
Denver Broncos 33, Buffalo Bills 30 (OT): Turnover Chaos Ends Allen’s Season
The AFC’s top-seeded Broncos survived a wild overtime thriller against Buffalo, but the victory came at a devastating cost—quarterback Bo Nix suffered a season-ending ankle injury and will miss the AFC Championship game.
How It Happened:
This game was defined by one stat that should never appear in a playoff victory: Josh Allen committed four turnovers. The Bills quarterback, who had gone through his previous six playoff games without a single turnover, threw two interceptions and lost two fumbles. Buffalo’s fifth turnover came from running back James Cook.
Despite the giveaways, Buffalo never punted. Not once in 11 drives. They put up 449 total yards, converted 10-of-15 third downs, and scored on six possessions. In most games, those numbers win you a playoff matchup. But not when you hand the ball over five times.
The Broncos built a 23-10 lead thanks to Buffalo’s miscues, but Allen—being Allen—fought back. He threw touchdown passes to Keon Coleman and Dalton Kincaid in the second half, giving Buffalo a 24-23 lead early in the fourth quarter. The lead changed hands three more times before former Broncos kicker Matt Prater nailed a 50-yard field goal with five seconds left to send it to overtime tied at 30.
The Overtime Drama:
Denver received the opening kickoff but went three-and-out, punting Buffalo back to their own 8-yard line. Allen then made the fatal mistake—throwing deep for Brandin Cooks when a field goal would have won the game. Broncos cornerback Ja’Quan McMillian leaped with Cooks and came down with the interception at the Denver 20.
The Bills then shot themselves in the foot with two pass interference penalties on Denver’s final drive, gifting the Broncos 47 yards and setting up Wil Lutz’s game-winning 24-yard field goal.
The Bo Nix Injury:
About 90 minutes after the game, Broncos head coach Sean Payton delivered devastating news: Bo Nix broke his ankle on the fourth-to-last play of overtime when he was tackled by Bills safety Cole Bishop. Nix finished 26-of-46 for 279 yards with three touchdowns and an interception, adding 29 rushing yards. He’ll undergo surgery Tuesday in Birmingham.
Backup Jarrett Stidham will start next Sunday’s AFC Championship game at Mile High against either New England or Houston—teams Denver would have heavily favored against with Nix healthy.
What It Means:
For Buffalo, it’s the fourth divisional-round exit in five years. Despite putting up winning numbers everywhere except the turnover column, they’re going home. Josh Allen was in tears during his postgame press conference.
For Denver, they’re hosting their first AFC Championship game in a decade—since the “No Fly Zone” defense helped them win Super Bowl 50. But instead of riding the momentum of their second-year quarterback’s breakout season, they’re turning to a backup who hasn’t started a meaningful game in years.
Seattle Seahawks 41, San Francisco 49ers 6: Total Domination
If the Broncos-Bills game was a thriller, the Seahawks-49ers matchup was a slaughter.
How It Started:
Rashid Shaheed returned the opening kickoff 95 yards for a touchdown. That’s the sixth kickoff return touchdown to open a playoff game in NFL history. The 49ers never recovered.
By the end of the first quarter, Seattle led 17-0. At halftime, it was 24-6. The game was so out of hand that both teams pulled their starters with more than half the fourth quarter remaining. Seattle’s Sam Darnold, Kenneth Walker III, and Jaxon Smith-Njigba gave way to backups Drew Lock and company. San Francisco replaced Brock Purdy with Mac Jones.
The Final Score:
Seahawks 41, 49ers 6—the largest playoff win in Seattle’s history (tied with their Super Bowl 48 destruction of Denver) and the heaviest defeat of Kyle Shanahan’s coaching career.
What Went Wrong for San Francisco:
Everything. On their opening offensive series, facing 4th-and-1 at Seattle’s 40-yard line, Shanahan called a stretch run to Kyle Juszczyk with a pitch option. It lost yardage and killed the drive—arguably the worst play call of Shanahan’s playoff career.
Christian McCaffrey suffered a shoulder stinger just before halftime after taking heavy hits on back-to-back plays. He didn’t return for the second half, leaving the offense even more compromised.
The defense, already playing without Fred Warner (ankle surgery) and other key starters, couldn’t stop Kenneth Walker III, who rushed for 110 yards and three touchdowns. Seattle forced three turnovers—two on Brock Purdy—while the 49ers offense managed just two Eddy Piñeiro field goals.
Seahawks’ Dominance:
Sam Darnold, questionable entering the game with an oblique injury, didn’t need to do much. He went 12-of-17 for 124 yards and a touchdown before being pulled. Seattle’s defense sacked Purdy twice, forced a fumble, and made San Francisco’s offense look completely dysfunctional.
Rashid Shaheed’s opening kickoff return set the tone. Jason Myers added a 31-yard field goal. Darnold hit Jaxon Smith-Njigba for a 4-yard touchdown. Walker scored three times on the ground. By the time the starters came out, the game had been over for more than a quarter.
What It Means:
Seattle will host the NFC Championship game next Sunday at 6:30 PM ET on FOX. They’ll face the winner of today’s Rams-Bears matchup (currently underway). The Seahawks are now one win away from Super Bowl LX, which will be played at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara—San Francisco’s home field.
For the 49ers, a remarkable season ends in humiliation. They reached the divisional round despite missing Nick Bosa, Fred Warner (for most of the year), Brock Purdy (six games), and George Kittle (six games) at various points. Mac Jones went 5-3 as a fill-in starter, which proved critical in getting them to the playoffs. But injuries finally caught up, and the Seahawks exposed every weakness.
What’s Next
Today (Sunday, January 18):
∙ 3:00 PM ET: Houston Texans at New England Patriots (ESPN/ABC)
∙ 6:30 PM ET: Los Angeles Rams at Chicago Bears (NBC/Peacock)
AFC Championship (Sunday, January 25, 3:00 PM ET on CBS):
∙ Patriots/Texans winner at Denver Broncos
∙ Denver will be without Bo Nix, starting Jarrett Stidham instead
NFC Championship (Sunday, January 25, 6:30 PM ET on FOX):
∙ Rams/Bears winner at Seattle Seahawks
∙ Seattle looking dominant after 41-6 destruction of San Francisco
Super Bowl LX (Sunday, February 8, 6:30 PM ET on NBC):
∙ Levi’s Stadium, Santa Clara, California
∙ Halftime Show: Bad Bunny
The Takeaway
Saturday gave us the full spectrum of playoff football. Denver survived chaos and turnovers but lost their quarterback. Seattle looked like a Super Bowl favorite, demolishing a depleted but scrappy 49ers team that ran out of miracles.
The biggest story heading into Championship Sunday: Can Jarrett Stidham lead the Broncos to the Super Bowl? Or will Denver’s magical season end one game short because of a fourth-quarter overtime injury to the quarterback who got them there?
We’ll find out next weekend.
—US Daily Letter Sports Desk