In the opening game on Sunday, the Buffalo Bills visit the AFC South champion Jacksonville Jaguars. The Jaguars flipped their record from 3-14 last season to 13-4 in head coach Liam Coen’s first year. Buffalo is in an unfamiliar position as it finished second in the AFC East and will be on the road in the wild-card round for the first time since Josh Allen’s second NFL season.
The AFC East has a new champion this year in New England, which won the division title for the first time since 2019 … which means Buffalo will need to win multiple road games to get over the hump and make it to the Super Bowl for the first time since the 1990s.
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Allen had another big year with 39 total touchdowns (25 passing, 14 rushing) and 3,668 yards through the air. Buffalo fell to Kansas City in a thriller last postseason and won’t have an easy road this year.
Jacksonville won its first AFC South title since 2022 this season, finishing with the second-most wins in the conference. The Jaguars won the second-most games in franchise history and earned the franchise’s first double-digit win campaign since they won 10 games in 2017 and made it to the AFC championship game. Coen may have unlocked something in Trevor Lawrence that could carry the Jaguars through the postseason.
Bills-Jaguars start time: 1 p.m. ET
Location: EverBank Stadium | Jacksonville, Fla.
TV channel, live stream: CBS
Follow along with Yahoo Sports for live updates, highlights and more as the Buffalo Bills travel to face the Jacksonville Jaguars in the wild-card round:
Live13 updates
Sun, January 11, 2026 at 10:18 AM PST
Ian Casselberry
Buffalo moved the ball rather well on its first possession, but a holding penalty on Tyrell Shavers and 5-yard flag on Jackson Hawes stunted their progress.
Sun, January 11, 2026 at 10:15 AM PST
Ian Casselberry
The Bills possessed the ball for 5:38 on their opening series, but only gained 32 yards. Josh Allen threw his first incompletion on third-and-7 from the Buffalo 38-yard line, looking for Dalton Kincaid.
Mitch Wishnowsky kicks a 40-yard punt and Jacksonville will take over at its 20-yard line.
Sun, January 11, 2026 at 10:12 AM PST
Ian Casselberry
Bills QB Josh Allen has completed his first four passes on the opening series, totaling 36 yards.
Khalil Shakir has two catches for 12 yards, while Tyrell Shavers has a 14-yard reception.
Sun, January 11, 2026 at 10:08 AM PST
Ian Casselberry
Jacksonville will punt to end its opening possession. Other than a 5-yard pass from Trevor Lawrence to Travis Etienne, the Jaguars had no positive yardage and did not get a first down.
A 58-yard punt from Logan Cooke puts the Bills on their 6-yard line for their first drive.
Sun, January 11, 2026 at 10:05 AM PST
Ian Casselberry
The Bills won the coin toss and deferred to the second half. Trevor Lawrence and the Jaguars will have the first chance to get on the board.
Sun, January 11, 2026 at 9:45 AM PST
Kate Magdziuk
It’s almost that time! The Buffalo Bills and Jacksonville Jaguars will kick off the third wild-card game of the week live from EverBank Stadium at 1 p.m. ET, airing live on CBS and streaming on Paramount+ and NFL+.
Sun, January 11, 2026 at 9:45 AM PST
Criss Partee
Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen had another outstanding season, and the team is back in the postseason for the eighth consecutive year. While the Bills have been very good with Allen under center, the 2024 league MVP’s overall postseason record is just 7-6.
On the road, it’s been really tough for Allen and the Bills as he’s 0-4 on the road in the playoffs. Three of those road losses have come against the Kansas City Chiefs. Twice in the AFC title game and once in the divisional round. The other road playoff loss was against the Houston Texans in the wild card round in 2020.
Allen has a chance to end this playoff road losing streak on Sunday against the Jaguars. With the Chiefs not making the postseason for the first time in over a decade, the Bills are expected by many to make a significant run despite being a wild card team.
Sun, January 11, 2026 at 9:30 AM PST
Kate Magdziuk
There’s some speculation that Bills head coach Sean McDermott could be on the hot seat if Buffalo fails to come up with a road wild-card win on Sunday against the Jaguars.
McDermott has a 98-50 regular-season record over nine seasons with the Bills and a 7-7 record in the playoffs. They’ve made the playoffs in all but one season, including four consecutive trips to the divisional round, but the team has yet to return to the Super Bowl since their 1993 trip.
Sun, January 11, 2026 at 9:15 AM PST
Kate Magdziuk
Sun, January 11, 2026 at 9:10 AM PST
Criss Partee
Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence arrives at EverBank Stadium for his third career playoff game. In two previous playoff games, Lawrence is 1-1 with 5 touchdowns, 5 interceptions, and 505 passing yards. He completed 60.5% of his passes in those two games and posted a 72.1 passer rating.
Sun, January 11, 2026 at 9:00 AM PST
Matt Russell
Looking to get a bet in on Bills-Jaguars today? Here’s one player prop to consider:
Brandin Cooks over 19.5 receiving yards
Let’s use a player prop symbolic of the Bills’ organizational failures.
That it got to the point that Brandin Cooks — a 32-year-old on his seventh team — had to be brought in for Josh Allen to rely on, and Cooks is being relied on, is an indictment on many levels. Before sitting out Week 18, Cooks played a season-high 51% of the offensive snaps, catching four passes on six targets for 101 yards in a trailing game-state against the Eagles. Two weeks after getting three targets in a similar scenario in New England.
If the Jags, a team capable and willing of running up the score, get enough of a lead where Allen has to throw, Cooks will be one of his primary targets in an effort to save the day yet again.
Read more on best bets to consider for today’s game.
Sun, January 11, 2026 at 8:42 AM PST
Criss Partee
Buffalo Bills running back Frank Gore Jr. was elevated from the practice squad ahead of Sunday’s playoff game against the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Running back Ty Johnson is also inactive for the game.
Sun, January 11, 2026 at 8:32 AM PST
Kate Magdziuk
With less than 90 minutes remaining until the Buffalo Bills and Jacksonville Jaguars kick off in the wild card, each team has announced its inactive for gameday.
Here’s a look:
Bills inactivesJaguars inactives