Bama in the NFL: Playoff Edition – Wild Card Weekend Outlook

The playoff matchups for the 2025 - 2026 NFL season have been set. The first games kickoff on Saturday January 10th. Playing in these matchups are some of the leagues best players, some even hailing from the University of Alabama. With that lets break down those Bama alumni playing in the 2025 - 2026 NFL Playoffs.

Rams at Panthers -   Sat. Jan 10, (3:30 p.m. ct):

 Bryce Young (Panthers) - After a much better season this year, and one where the playoffs seemed to be out of reach at the beginning, the Panthers find themselves as NFC South champions in the end. Young is making his playoff debut against one of the top teams in the league in the Rams. The Rams have one of the best pass rushes in the league which factors in to be the prime matchup for Young to hurdle. Young has played well throughout the season and should be able to keep it competitive as the Panthers found themselves the victors against this same Rams team at home a month ago.

Packers at Bears - Sat. Jan. 10, (7:00 p.m. ct.): 

Josh Jacobs (Packers) - Jacobs stated this week that he is feeling his best since his knee injury in week 11. With that this matchup should be one of the great divisional rivalry matchups of the weekend. Jacobs factors to be one of the main playmakers on this offense, should they be able to get him going early in the game. He is having another great season as a feature back, so watch for his usage to be leaned on in this playoff run.

49ers at Eagles Sun. Jan 11, (3:30 p.m. ct.):

Jalen Hurts (Eagles) - Hurst and the Eagles offense have been quite up and down all season. Will this be the moment in the season where they click on all cylinders like last years run? We shall see. The Niners have one of the better defenses in the league and with Warner's looming return, it might be a tougher feat than expected. Hurts should be able to extend plays as usual with his legs, and if they can't get Barkley going, he might have to do more of that than what he is used too.

DeVonta Smith (Eagles) - A reliable jab to the right hook that is A.J. Brown. Smitty is the reliable mid range chain mover and red-zone target for this offense. He has also been more consistent on a game-to-game basis for Hurts. He has a favorable matchup against a young secondary. This should be another great game between to recent powerhouse organizations.

That does it for the Wild Card weekend outlook. Check back Tuesday for the recap.