NFL Live Stream: How to Watch the 2023 NFL Playoffs Online Without Cable
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It’s finally time to crown conference champions and decide our Super Bowl LVII matchup at this year’s Championship Sunday.
This year’s final four isn’t much of a surprise, with only top-seeded teams in each conference. First up this Sunday is the NFC Championship, which sees the second-seeded 49ers taking on the top-seeded Eagles. After that, in the AFC Championship, it’s the Bengals vs. the Chiefs, with Cincinnati hoping for redemption after last year’s Super Bowl loss.
No matter who you’re hoping to see in the Super Bowl, you’ll need to dial in your streaming services to catch the final 2023 NFL playoff games online. Below are all the best ways to watch the NFL live online this year, plus a couple of hacks that let you livestream NFL games for free.
How to Watch NFL Playoffs Online: Streaming Guide
Broadcasts of the 2023 NFL playoffs are spread out across Fox, NBC, and CBS, with the latter two also showing games on their streaming platforms (Peacock and Paramount+, respectively). This means if you’re looking to watch the NFL playoffs online, you’ll need a live TV streaming service to catch every game.
Below are some of the best streaming services to use for the NFL playoffs — all of which let you watch football games live online using your streaming devices, smart TV, phone, laptop, or tablet.
1. Stream NFL Playoff Games on fuboTV
Your best bet to watch NFL playoff games online is fuboTV. A subscription to fuboTV starts at $69.99 a month after a seven-day free trial and includes all the major networks showing playoff games in 2023. Your fuboTV deal also includes NBCSN and FOX Sports for post-game analysis.
In addition to sports, a subscription to fuboTV gets you more than 200 other channels (including AMC, Bravo, E!, and Showtime) plus 1000 hours of Cloud DVR to record any games or shows you want to re-watch.
We like fuboTV for other sports too, with access to the NHL Network, NBA TV, MLB Network, and Golf Channel (you can also use fuboTV to watch Australian Open tennis games online). Start your seven-day free trial here.
2. Stream NFL Playoff Games on DirecTV Stream
Another great live TV streaming service with local Fox, NBC, and CBS access is DirecTV Stream, which is essentially the satellite provider’s package turned into a streaming service. You get a total of up to 140 live TV channels, as well as unlimited cloud DVR for recording games and shows. DirecTV Stream starts with a five-day free trial and costs $69.99 a month after that.
3. Stream NFL Playoff Games on Hulu + Live TV
You already know Hulu as the home of shows like The Handmaid’s Tale, Nine Perfect Strangers, and Only Murders in the Building, but their Hulu + Live TV service also gets you NFL playoff live streams on CBS and Fox. Better yet, a Hulu + Live TV membership includes Disney+ and ESPN+ for free. Considering all the content you get, Hulu + Live TV is very well-priced at $69.99 per month.
4. Stream NFL Playoff Games on Paramount+
Paramount+ shows local CBS broadcasts to Premium subscribers, which means you can use the streaming service to watch NFL playoff games being shown on CBS. Paramount+ is also much more affordable than any live TV streaming service at $9.99 per month or $99 a year, and, right now, Paramount+ is running a special deal that gets you a 30-day free trial with code PLAYOFFS.
How to Watch NFL Playoff Games Online for Free
Want to watch NFL playoff games for free online? You’re in luck. Thanks to the free trials from fuboTV, DirecTV Stream, and Paramount+ you can access free NFL playoff live streams online. Sign up for fuboTV’s seven-day free trial here or DirecTV Stream’s five-day free trial here, and get Paramount+’s seven-day free trial here to watch any CBS-broadcasted NFL playoff games.
How to Watch Out-of-Market NFL Games Online
Even with the best live TV streaming services, NFL viewers can still face local blackouts and region-locked game broadcasts. Luckily, you can easily get around these restrictions with a virtual private network (VPN) like ExpressVPN. It essentially “tricks” your laptop or phone (and thereby your streaming service) into thinking it’s in another region, letting you live stream out-of-market NFL games online.
ExpressVPN, which works with most major streaming services, costs $12.95 a month and comes with a 30-day money-back guarantee if you’re unsatisfied with the service.
When Are the NFL Playoffs? Game Schedule, Start Times
The NFL playoffs started with Super Wild Card Weekend on Jan. 14, and end with Championship Sunday on Jan. 29. After that is a hiatus before Super Bowl LVII on Feb. 12.
Here’s a full schedule for the 2023 NFL playoffs, complete with TV channels for each game (times in ET):
Championship Sunday: Jan. 29
NFC Championship — FOX, FOX Deportes @ 3 p.m.
AFC Championship — CBS, Paramount+ @ 6:30 p.m.
Super Bowl LVII: Sunday, February 12 @ 6:30 p.m. on Fox
