| Advertisement |
MIAMI, Jan. 9 (UPI) -- The Seattle Seahawks will face the San Francisco 49ers and the Jacksonville Jaguars will host the Los Angeles Chargers on Saturday, launching the 2023 NFL postseason. "We are going to be playing a lot of really good teams over the next four games," 49ers defensive end Nick Bosa told reporters Sunday.
Advertisement
"We have to definitely lock in. ... It's hard to keep the same grind for 17 games, but when the playoffs come around, it's a whole new energy."
Levi's Stadium will serve as host for the wild card weekend opener, with the 49ers and Seahawks kicking off at 4:30 p.m. EST in Santa Clara, Calif. That NFC matchup will air on Fox.
The Jaguars will host the Chargers in a first-round AFC matchup at 8:15 p.m. at TIAA Bank Field in Jacksonville, Fla. That game will air on NBC.
The 14-team playoff field was finalized Sunday, the final day of the 2022-23 regular season. The Kansas City Chiefs earned the top seed in the AFC and will get a first-round bye. The Philadelphia Eagles also will get the first weekend off after claiming the top seed in the NFC.
Super Bowl LVII will be Feb. 12 at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Ariz.
The No. 2 49ers are 10-point favorites to beat the No. 7 Seahawks and advance to the divisional round. The No. 5 Chargers are just slight favorites to beat the No. 4 Jaguars on the road.
"To give ourselves a shot at the playoffs and be above .500 with a young team, when pretty much everyone wrote us off, speaks volumes," Seahawks quarterback Geno Smith said Sunday.
Three more games will take place Sunday. The No. 2 Buffalo Bills will host the No. 7 Miami Dolphins in the first game of the day at Highmark Stadium in Orchard Park, N.Y. That game between AFC East division rivals will kick off at 1 p.m. and air on CBS. The Bills are 11-point favorites.
The No. 3 Minnesota Vikings will host the No. 6 New York Giants at 4:30 p.m. at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis. The Vikings are 3-point favorites to win that NFC matchup, which will air on Fox.
The No. 3 Cincinnati Bengals will start their request to return to the Super Bowl with a first-round matchup with the No. 6 Baltimore Ravens, an AFC North division rival. That nightcap matchup will kick off at 8:15 p.m. at Paycor Stadium and Cincinnati and air on NBC.
The Bengals are 6 1/2-point favorites.
Tom Brady and the No. 4 Tampa Bay Buccaneers will host the No. 5 Dallas Cowboys in the final game of wild card weekend. That NFC matchup will kick off at 8:15 p.m. Monday at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Fla. The Buccaneers-Cowboys matchup will air on ESPN, ABC and ESPN2, as part of a Manningcast.
The Cowboys are 3-point favorites to advance to the divisional round.
Each conference's respective top seed will join the three winners from opening weekend in the divisional round. The two winners from that round will then meet in respective conference title games to determine the Super Bowl LVII matchup.
NFL MVP front-runner Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs are favorites to win the Super Bowl. The Bills, Eagles, 49ers and Bengals are among the other Top 5 favorites to claim the Vince Lombardi Trophy.
The Seahawks and Dolphins are the biggest long-shots to advance to Super Bowl LVII.
