A look at the most frequent NFL playoff matchups

With the Divisional Round getting underway next weekend, here’s a look at the matchups fans have seen the most of in NFL playoff history.

The field for the NFL’s Divisional Round is officially set, with the league’s eight remaining teams slated to face off this coming weekend for a bid in the Conference Championship games.

The schedule for the upcoming weekend was set in stone after the Houston Texans’ 30-6 drubbing over the Pittsburgh Steelers on Monday night, with a seemingly wide open field left in this year’s postseason.

While this postseason certainly feels different with the absence of Patrick Mahomes, Joe Burrow and Lamar Jackson, it also hasn’t been short at all on riveting rivalry games.

Fans were treated to four instant classics during Wild Card weekend, including a rivalry duel for the ages between the Green Bay Packers and Chicago Bears, with the Bears appearing to flip the script in what has been an extremely lopsided rivalry in recent years.

Those dramatic storylines will only continue this coming weekend, with NFC West arch rivals in the Seattle Seahawks and San Francisco 49ers set to square off against each other on Saturday night.

While all four upcoming Divisional Round matchups have some previous playoff history with them, none of them are among the most frequent playoff matchups the league has seen throughout its history.

In a coincidental constant across all four playoff games this upcoming weekend, each team will be facing its opponent in the playoffs for the third time in franchise history.

For the Buffalo Bills and Denver Broncos, this year provides a rematch of last year’s AFC Wild Card game, a blowout in favor of Buffalo. The two teams also faced off in the 1991 AFC Championship Game, which the Bills also won.

The 49ers and Seahawks, two bitter rivals from the NFC West, will also have their third playoff meeting in team history, with the two teams splitting the first matchups. It was Seattle who famously triumphed over Michael Crabtree and the 49ers in the 2013 NFC Championship Game, while San Francisco exacted their revenge in the 2022 NFC Wild Card Game.

Meanwhile, the Texans will look to build off of their blowout win in Pittsburgh with their first-ever playoff win over the New England Patriots, having previously lost to them twice in the Tom Brady era. Houston previously played the Patriots in the Divisional Round in 2012 and 2016, losing by multiple scores on both occasions.

The Chicago Bears will also have their third playoff meeting with their opponent, the Los Angeles Rams, although it’s been quite some time. The Bears last played the Rams en route to their lone Super Bowl title in 1985, shutting them out in that year’s NFC Championship Game. The previous meeting came in 1950, which saw the Rams take down the Bears in the NFL semifinal game, coming well before the Super Bowl era.

The early elimination of the Packers and complete absence of the Dallas Cowboys ruled out many of the most common playoff matchups for this year, with both teams having built significant rivalries with other clubs based on prior playoff meetings.

In NFL playoff history, only one matchup has occurred 10 times – involving the fierce rivalry between the 49ers and Packers, a matchup with plenty of relatively recent history. San Francisco holds a 6-4 lead in playoff games, including wins in the NFC Divisional Round in 2021 and 2023.

Including playoff games in the rivalry’s overall history, Green Bay currently holds a 39-34-1 lead across their 74 meetings. Despite holding four playoff wins over the 49ers, San Francisco has won the last five playoff meetings against the Packers.

Though the San Francisco-Green Bay matchup is the only rivalry with 10 postseason meetings, there are 15 playoff matchups that have occurred at least six times in NFL history – none of which are still possible in this year’s playoffs.

Here is a look back on the 15 most common playoff matchups in NFL history, alongside the current postseason record in the rivalry and the year of their most recent meeting:

10 meetings

• San Francisco 49ers vs. Green Bay Packers: San Francisco leads 6-4, last meeting in 2023 NFC Divisional Round

9 meetings

• Los Angeles Rams vs. Dallas Cowboys: Los Angeles leads 5-4, last meeting in 2018 NFC Divisional Round
• Dallas Cowboys vs. San Francisco 49ers: Dallas leads 5-4, last meeting in 2022 NFC Divisional Round
• Green Bay Packers vs. Dallas Cowboys: Green Bay leads 5-4, last meeting in 2023 NFC Wild Card Round

8 meetings

• Chicago Bears vs. New York Giants: Chicago leads 5-3, last meeting in 1990 NFC Divisional Round
• Denver Broncos vs. Pittsburgh Steelers: Denver leads 5-3, last meeting in 2015 AFC Divisional Round
• Green Bay Packers vs. New York Giants: Green Bay leads 5-3, last meeting in 2016 NFC Wild Card Round
• Minnesota Vikings vs. Los Angeles Rams: Minnesota leads 5-3, last meeting in 2024 NFC Wild Card Round
• San Francisco 49ers vs. New York Giants: Series tied 4-4, last meeting in 2011 NFC Championship Game

7 meetings

• Kansas City Chiefs vs. Buffalo Bills: Kansas City leads 5-2, last meeting in 2024 AFC Championship Game
• Dallas Cowboys vs. Minnesota Vikings: Dallas leads 4-3, last meeting in 2009 NFC Divisional Round
• Washington Commanders vs. Chicago Bears: Washington leads 4-3, last meeting in 1987 NFC Divisional Round

6 meetings

• San Francisco 49ers vs. Minnesota Vikings: San Francisco leads 5-1, last meeting in 2019 NFC Divisional Round
• Pittsburgh Steelers vs. Las Vegas Raiders: Series tied 3-3, last meeting in 1983 AFC Divisional Round
• Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs. Philadelphia Eagles: Tampa Bay leads 4-2, last meeting in 2023 NFC Wild Card Round
• Denver Broncos vs. New England Patriots: Denver leads 4-2, last meeting in 2025 AFC Championship Game