How to Watch the NFL Playoffs Online for Free Today, Including the Patriots vs. Chiefs Game

Two NFL playoff games today are all that's left to determine what teams will play in the 2019 Super Bowl, set for kickoff on Sunday, February 3. In the NFC championship playoffs today (Sunday, January 20), it's the Los Angeles Rams vs. New Orleans Saints. The AFC championship follows: New England Patriots vs. Kansas City Chiefs.

What teams are the favorites to win today and make it to the Super Bowl? For the first time in years with Tom Brady as quarterback, the Patriots are underdogs on Sunday. The betting odds indicate that the Chiefs, who had a 12-4 regular season record under likely league MVP Patrick Mahomes and are playing at home at Arrowhead Stadium, are 3-point favorites to beat the Patriots in the AFC championship game.

It's noteworthy that the Patriots and Chiefs played earlier this season in a monumental "Sunday Night Football" game, and the Patriots won 43-40. But that game was played at Gillette Stadium, home of the Patriots. It was also a regular season matchup (playoff games are different), and weather was not a factor like it could be today: Forecasters say the temperatures in Kansas City could range from 10 degrees Fahrenheit to well below 0 during Sunday's AFC championship game.

Meanwhile, the point spread in the Rams vs. Saints game is 3.5 points, and the Saints, playing in New Orleans at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome with future Hall of Famer Drew Brees at quarterback, are the favorites. The Rams and Saints both boasted 13-3 regular season records and have largely been considered as the two best NFC teams all year long.

Both Brees and Rams quarterback, Jared Goff, are known for leading high-powered offenses that are expected to put up plenty of points in Sunday's NFC championship game. The Saints-Rams over-under is 56.5 points, slightly higher than the Patriots-Chiefs over-under of 55.5 points.

The NFL playoff TV broadcasts — and the 2019 Super Bowl broadcast — are all being handled by free, over-the-air networks. In other words, you don't need cable to watch the NFL games today.

It's super easy to watch the NFC and AFC championship games for free on TV today. And it's also easy for fans to live stream the NFL playoffs for free on their phones, or even watch NFL playoff games online for free on other screens. Here are all the strategies you need to watch the NFL — online, or on TV, for free.

What Channel Is the Patriots vs. Chiefs Game On Today?

What time does the Saints vs. Rams game start today? How about the Chiefs vs. Patriots game? And what channels are broadcasting the NFL playoff games today?

Here's the NFL game schedule today, Sunday, January 20:

• Los Angeles Rams vs. New Orleans Saints, 3:05 p.m. ET on Fox
• New England Patriots vs. Kansas City Chiefs, 6:40 p.m. ET on CBS

If you're already looking ahead and are wondering when the 2019 Super Bowl is, here you go:

• Super Bowl 2019, TBD vs. TBD, 6:30 p.m. ET, Sunday, February 3, on CBS

It's very easy to watch NFL postseason games for free on TV. If you have satellite TV, cable, or another pay TV service, your package probably includes local broadcasts of major networks such as CBS and Fox, as well as NBC and ABC.

If you don't have cable and want to watch the NFL playoffs and the Super Bowl, it's well worth buying a digital antenna. A decent HDTV antenna costs as little as $25, and in most of the country, it will provide free local broadcasts of over-the-air networks once it's connected to your TV.

What TV channels can you watch with a digital antenna? The exact list varies based on where you live, the strength of your antenna, and where the antenna is positioned in your home. But in most of the country, an HDTV antenna will allow you to tune in local affiliates of ABC, CBS, Fox, NBC, and PBS — totally for free, in hi-def no less.

How to Live Stream the Rams vs. Saints and Patriots vs. Chiefs for Free

To live stream the NFL playoff games today on your phone, download the NFL App or Yahoo Sports mobile app. You can download either app for free, and they will provide free NFL game live streams on phones (and sometimes, tablets).

Either app will allow you to watch the Rams vs. Saints and Patriots vs. Chiefs today, as well as the Super Bowl, online for free on a smartphone. Unfortunately, you can't use the NFL App and Yahoo Sports app to live stream NFL games on smart TVs or laptops. They won't allow you to screencast NFL games to a TV either. The apps only let you live stream games on smaller screens — smartphones and sometimes tablets, too.

How to Watch the NFL Playoffs Online for Free Today: Patriots vs. Chiefs

What if you are, in fact, trying to watch the NFL playoffs online on a smart TV or laptop and you don't have a cable provider account that allows you to do that? In that case, it's worth looking into subscribing to a streaming TV service that includes local broadcast TV 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 CBS, NBC, ABC, and Fox in packages, alongside dozens of other traditional "pay TV" channels. These live streaming TV services generally start at $40 per month, but they are available for free to new subscribers for about a week during free-trial periods.

Another service, Sling TV, is even cheaper — starting at $25 per month after the free trial is over — but its broadcast network channels are limited to local Fox and NBC stations, and only in certain parts of the country.

If you're a fan hoping to watch the NFL playoff games online for free today, consider signing up for a free trial from one of these live streaming TV services. That would allow you to live stream today's NFL games for free, and then give you the rest of the week to check out the service before having to pay up.

If you ultimately decide not to become a paying subscriber, remember to cancel your streaming TV service before the free trial ends. If you miss the deadline, you'll be charged in full for the first month's service.