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How to Watch the NFL Playoffs Online for Free, Including the Eagles vs. Bears Game Today

By: Brad Tuttle
Brad Tuttle, expert in Personal finance, shopping, consumer trends, and Senior Editor at Money
Brad Tuttle
Senior Editor | Joined January 2014
Brad Tuttle is a former senior editor at Money with over 10 years’ experience covering a vast number of personal finance topics, including careers, cars, travel, budgeting, investing, insurance, credit cards, consumer psychology, real estate, banking, and shopping and deals.
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Published: Jan 06, 2019 6 min read
Chicago Bears v Philadelphia Eagles
Chicago Bears quarterback Mitchell Trubisky faced the Philadelphia Eagles on November 26, 2017. The two teams square off again in the NFL playoffs on Sunday, January 6, 2019.
Mitchell Leff—Getty Images
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The second half of the NFL playoffs Wild Card weekend is set for Sunday, January 6, with two highly anticipated games: Chargers vs. Ravens and Eagles vs. Bears.

If you're a gambler, or merely like to keep track of the NFL betting lines, take note that the home team is the favorite in both playoff games today. The Baltimore Ravens, who won the AFC North Division with a 10-6 regular season record, are 2.5-point favorites to win at home against the 12-4 Los Angeles Chargers. Meanwhile, the Chicago Bears — who claimed the NFC North Division title with a 12-4 record — are 6-point favorites over the Philadelphia Eagles, who won the Super Bowl last year but barely made it into this year's playoffs with a 9-7 record.

The NFL playoff game TV broadcasts today are being handled by NBC and CBS, which are free for viewers in most of the country, even if they don't have cable. Fans can also live stream the NFL playoffs for free on certain mobile devices, or watch NFL games online today with a streaming TV service.

In other words, there are plenty of ways to watch the NFL playoffs — online or on TV — for free today. Here are all the details you need.

What Is the NFL Playoff Game Schedule Today?

What channels are broadcasting the Chargers vs. Ravens and Eagles vs. Bears? What time do the NFL playoff games start? Here's the Wild Card weekend NFL game schedule for today, Sunday, January 6:

• Los Angeles Chargers vs. Baltimore Ravens, 1:05 p.m. ET on CBS
• Philadelphia Eagles vs. Chicago Bears, 4:40 p.m. ET on NBC

If you have satellite TV, cable TV, or another pay TV service that includes affiliates of the major TV networks in your package, all you need to do is find your local CBS and NBC station to watch the NFL playoff games today. But in most of the country, you don't need cable to watch the Ravens vs. Chargers and Bears vs. Eagles for free.

All you need is a digital antenna, which costs around $25 and allows you to tune in local broadcasts of free, over-the-air networks, including ABC, CBS, Fox, NBC, and PBS. The broadcasts are totally free and come in hi-def, though the exact list of channels you get will vary based on what HDTV antenna you have, where you live, and where the antenna is positioned inside (or perhaps outside) your home.

How to Live Stream the NFL Playoffs for Free

If you don't have a TV, or want to watch the NFL playoffs online on your phone for whatever reason, download the latest version of either the NFL App or Yahoo Sports mobile app. Both are free to download, and they will let you live stream today's NFL playoff games for free on a phone (and in some cases, tablets as well). In fact, you can use either app to live stream all 2019 NFL playoff games, as well as the Super Bowl on Sunday, February 3.

Unfortunately, you can't use these apps to watch NFL games online on a smart TV or laptop. The NFL App and Yahoo Sports app provide free NFL game live streams only on smaller screens, and they cannot be used for screencasting games to larger screens.

How to Watch the NFL Playoffs Online for Free Today

If either of the options doesn't work for you and you want to watch the NFL playoffs today online on a smart TV or another larger screen, check out a streaming TV service that includes local broadcast channels in its packages.

In most of the country, the streaming TV services Fubo TV, Hulu Live, DirecTV Now, PlayStation Vue, and YouTube TV include local broadcasts of channels like CBS, NBC, ABC, and Fox in packages, alongside dozens of other "pay TV" channels. These live streaming TV services also give free trials that last about a week to new subscribers.

So, to watch the NFL playoff games online for free today, you could sign up for a free trial of streaming TV subscription. Afterwards, you'd have the rest of the week to check out the service some more before deciding if you want to become a paying subscriber.

The streaming TV services cited above start at about $40 per month, after the free trial ends. If you don't want to pay up, remember to cancel before the free-trial period is over. You'll be charged in full for the first month if you don't cancel in time.