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Find out which teams will be playing on Saturday, the full TV schedule for the final weekend of the regular season, and the best ways to watch or stream any of the games.
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Matt Elliott is an editor at CNET and focuses on laptops and streaming services. Matt has over 20 years of experience testing and reviewing laptops. He has worked for CNET in New York and San Francisco and now lives in New Hampshire. When he’s not writing on laptops, Matt enjoys gaming and watching sports. He loves playing tennis and hates how many streaming services he has to subscribe to in order to watch the different sports he wants to watch.
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Kevin Lynch is a writer and journalist born in London and based in Dublin. Author of Steve Jobs: A Biographical Portrait, Kevin is a regular writer for a number of technology sites and the former technology editor of the Daily Mirror. He was also editor-in-chief of GuinnessWorldRecords.com and a judge at the BAFTA British Academy Video Game Awards.
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The final week of the regular season begins with two games on Saturday, each with playoff implications. First, the Carolina Panthers and Tampa Bay Buccaneers are playing with the NFC South title on the line. For the Panthers, it’s simple: a win secures the division. The Bucs, meanwhile, need a win plus a Falcons loss. Next, the Seattle Seahawks and San Francisco 49ers face off for the NFC West crown and the NFC’s No. 1 seed.
On Sunday, some playoff positioning will be decided in the afternoon games before arriving at Sunday Night Football which will complete the 14-team playoff field. The Baltimore Ravens and Pittsburgh Steelers play the final regular season game of the 2025 NFL season, with the winner taking the AFC North title and the loser going home.
Both Saturday games will be nationally televised on ABC and ESPN, and Sunday night’s Ravens-Steelers game will be nationally televised on NBC and broadcast on Peacock. Keep reading to see every Week 18 game, the full weekend TV schedule, and the best ways to watch or stream any game, no matter where you live.
Brock Purdy and the San Francisco 49ers host the Seattle Seahawks on Saturday night to decide the NFC West title and the conference’s No. 1 seed.
Thearon W. Henderson/Getty ImagesHow to watch NFL Week 18 from anywhere using a VPN
If you are less interested in the Sunday afternoon games on CBS and Fox that are broadcast in your area or if your access is blocked due to an Internet location problem or poorly enforced ban restrictionsyou have another option for watching another game that doesn’t require subscribing to something like NFL Sunday Ticket or NFL Plus or searching the Internet for a sketchy website: you can use a Virtual Private Network. With a VPN, you can watch any Sunday game from anywhere.
With a VPN, you can virtually change your location on your phone, tablet or laptop to access the game. A VPN is also the best way to prevent your ISP from throttling your speed on game day by encrypting your traffic. Additionally, it’s a great idea when you’re traveling and need to connect to a public Wi-Fi network, where you’ll want to add an extra layer of privacy for your devices and connections.
So if your Internet Service Provider or cell phone carrier has assigned you an IP address that incorrectly shows your location in a blackout zone, a VPN can correct this problem by giving you an IP address in your correct, unobscured zone. Most VPNs, like our Editors’ Choice, ExpressVPNmake it really easy to do.
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Using a VPN to watch or stream sports is legal in all countries where VPNs are legal, including the United States and Canada, provided you have a legitimate subscription to the service you are streaming. You need to make sure your VPN is configured correctly to avoid leaks. Even when VPNs are legal, the streaming service can terminate the account of anyone it believes is circumventing properly enforced ban restrictions.
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ExpressVPN is currently our top VPN pick for people looking for a reliable and secure VPN, and it works on a variety of devices. Prices start at $3.49 per month on a two-year plan for the basic level of service.
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Plan your weekend football viewing
Week 18 begins with two nationally televised games on Saturday.
NFL Week 18 Saturday Schedule
| Away team | Home team | Time (all hours ET) | TV channel | Streaming service |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Carolina Panthers | Tampa Bay Buccaneers | 4:30 p.m. | ABC/ESPN | ESPN Unlimited |
| Seattle Seahawks | San Francisco 49ers | 8 p.m. | ABC/ESPN | ESPN Unlimited |
The Sunday slate begins with six games at 1 p.m. ET (10 a.m. PT), followed by seven games in the late window on CBS and Fox, before arriving at the Sunday night game on NBC and Peacock. Check out the 506 Sports coverage map to see which Sunday games are showing in your area.
NFL Week 18 Sunday Schedule
| Away team | Home team | Time (all hours ET) | TV channel | Streaming service |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Green Bay Packers | Minnesota Vikings | 1 p.m. | CBS | Paramount Plus |
| Cleveland Browns | Cincinnati Bengals | 1 p.m. | CBS | Paramount Plus |
| Indianapolis Colts | Houston Texans | 1 p.m. | CBS | Paramount Plus |
| New Orleans Saints | Atlanta Falcons | 1 p.m. | Fox | Fox One |
| Dallas Cowboys | New York Giants | 1 p.m. | Fox | Fox One |
| Tennessee Titans | Jacksonville Jaguars | 1 p.m. | Fox | Fox One |
| New York Jets | Buffalo Bills | 4:25 p.m. | CBS | Paramount Plus |
| Los Angeles Chargers | Denver Broncos | 4:25 p.m. | CBS | Paramount Plus |
| Kansas City Chiefs | Las Vegas Raiders | 4:25 p.m. | CBS | Paramount Plus |
| Washington Commanders | Philadelphia Eagles | 4:25 p.m. | CBS | Paramount Plus |
| Detroit Lions | Chicago Bear | 4:25 p.m. | Fox | Fox One |
| Arizona Cardinals | Los Angeles Rams | 4:25 p.m. | Fox | Fox One |
| Miami Dolphins | New England Patriots | 4:25 p.m. | Fox | Fox One |
| Baltimore Ravens | Pittsburgh Steelers | 8:20 p.m. | BNC | Peacock |
How to watch NFL Week 18 in the United States
If you don’t want to subscribe to a live TV streaming service, you can watch CBS games with Paramount Plus, Fox games with Fox One, and NBC games with Peacock. And you can stream both games Saturday with ESPN’s direct-to-consumer streaming service.
ESPN DTC is available in two versions. The ESPN Unlimited plan costs $30 per month (or $300 per year) and lets you stream all ESPN linear networks: ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPNews, ESPN Deportes, SEC Network, and ACC Network. You also have access to programming on ESPN on ABC, ESPN Plus, ESPN3, SECN Plus and ACCNX. You’ll need the Unlimited plan to watch Panthers-Bucs and Seahawks-Niners on Saturday.
(There’s also a $12-a-month ESPN Select plan that’s like a rebranding of ESPN Plus. It gives you access to thousands of live games, including small college conferences, whose games you can’t watch anywhere else, but not the NFL.)
Football fans can stream Serving CBS’ Sunday afternoon football program every week of the season on Paramount Plus with its Essentials tier at $8 per month. You can check for yourself if your area is streaming live CBS here.
Read our Paramount Plus review.
Fox’s new direct-to-consumer streaming service costs $20 per month or $200 per year and allows NFL fans to watch their local Sunday afternoon games on Fox. You’ll also have access to Fox’s full TV portfolio, including sports-related channels like Fox Sports, B1G, FS1, FS2, and local Fox stations.
With Peacock’s $11 per month Premium plan, you can watch the Ravens-Steelers game on Sunday night. Read our Peacock review.
Best Live TV Streaming Services for NFL Fans
Although subscribing to Paramount Plus, Fox One and Peacock is cheaper than a live TV streaming service, the advantage of the latter is the ability to quickly switch between CBS and Fox on Sunday afternoons when two games are broadcast at the same time. Shutting down one streaming service and starting another is much slower and boring, to the point where it’s not worth switching to the other game during an ad break from the one you’re watching.
The good news for football fans is that CBS and Fox are available on most live TV streaming services, as well as NBC, ABC, ESPN and NFL Network for SNF, MNF and international NFL games.
DirecTV’s MySports package costs $70 per month and includes ABC, CBS, Fox, NBC and NFL Network, which are the main channels you need to watch NFL games on Thursday, Sunday and Monday of each week of the season. You cannot get the RedZone add-on with the MySports plan; you’ll need to subscribe to the full plan for $85 per month, then add RedZone for another $15 per month.
You can use DirecTV’s channel finder tool to see what local channels are available where you live. Read our DirecTV review.
YouTube TV has all the channels you need to watch the NFL and costs $83 per month, and you can add RedZone for another $11 per month. Enter your zip code on the YouTube TV homepage to see which local networks are available in your area.
Fubo’s main plan costs $85 per month and includes ABC, CBS, Fox, NBC and NFL Network. You can also add RedZone for an additional $11 per month.
Fubo has a new skinny package that includes most of the channels you need for the NFL. This new Fubo Sports plan costs $56 per month ($46 for the first month) and includes all of the channels above except NBC for Sunday Night Football. It also includes access to ESPN’s new streaming app. It’s worth noting that the plan is only available in select regions at the moment, with a gradual rollout across the country.
Click here to see which local channels you get in your area with Fubo. Read our Fubo review.
All of the above live TV streaming services allow you to cancel at any time. They require a strong internet connection. Looking for more information? Check out our guide to live TV streaming services.
Quick Tips for Streaming the NFL with a VPN
- With four variables in play: your ISP, your browser, your video streaming provider, and your VPN – experience and success may vary.
- If you don’t see your desired location as the default option for ExpressVPN, try using the “Find city or country” option.
- If you’re having trouble accessing the game after enabling your VPN and setting it to the correct viewing area, there are two quick solutions you can try. First, log in to your streaming service subscription account and make sure the address registered for the account is in the correct viewing area. Otherwise, you may need to change the physical address registered with your account. Second, some smart TVs, like Roku, don’t have VPN apps that you can install directly on the device itself. Instead, you’ll need to install the VPN on your router or mobile hotspot you’re using (like your phone) so that any device connected to its Wi-Fi network now appears in the correct display location.
- All the VPN providers we recommend offer helpful instructions on their main site for quickly installing the VPN on your router. In some cases with Smart TV services, after installing a cable network’s sports app, you will be asked to verify a numeric code or click on a link sent to the email address registered for your Smart TV. This is where having a VPN on your router can also help, as both devices will appear to be in the correct location.
- And remember that browsers can often give away location despite using a VPN, so be sure to use a privacy-focused browser to connect to your services. We normally recommend Brave.
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