The top seed in the AFC, the Denver Broncos, will face off against the Buffalo Bills this weekend. The results of this weekend's four matchups will determine who will play in the conference championships next week.

Denver

The Denver Broncos, holding the top seed in the AFC, are set to play the Buffalo Bills in an important playoff game broadcast on CBS. Analysts note Denver's highly ranked defense but point out the team's relative inexperience compared to Buffalo, led by quarterback Josh Allen, who has significant playoff experience. 

In addition to the Broncos-Bills game, other matchups this weekend include the Bears versus the Rams, with weather conditions expected to play a role. Predictions suggest the Rams and Houston Texans could meet in the Super Bowl, with defense seen as a critical factor for both teams.

Previewing Denver Broncos-Buffalo Bills matchup in NFL playoffs

Just eight teams remain on the road to Super Bowl 60. That means we'll be keeping an eye on four different matchups Saturday and Sunday, including one you can catch on CBS between the top seed in the AFC, the Denver Broncos, and Buffalo Bills. The results of this weekend will determine who will play in the conference championships next week. For more, let's bring in Tyler Dragon. He is an NFL reporter for USA Today. Tyler, thanks for being here. So let's start with Saturday's game first between the Bills and the Broncos. What do you think will be key in this matchup? Yeah, it's going to be defense. The Denver's defense, they have one of the best units in all of football. And yes, they're the number one seed, but they're relatively inexperienced. They're not used to this position. And they're going up against a Bills team and Josh Allen, who's been in the divisional round, who's been in the AFC championship game. And a lot of people are picking the Bills, actually, because of Josh Allen. He's going to be the best player on the field in that experience. However, the Bills are a little bit beat up at the wide receiver position. So that's an area to watch. But Denver, their defensive unit, if they can get after Josh Allen and that offensive side of the football, if Bo Nicks can take care of the football and distribute it without any turnovers, they should be in good shape. But it's going to be a really good game. In the AFC, you have the Bears and Rams lining up after the Bears had that incredible comeback in the second half last weekend against the Packers. Can the Bears keep it going? Well, that's the million dollar question. It's going to be very cold in Chicago. And I'm from LA. I know LA people and LA athletes do not like the cold weather. And Matthew Stafford and those guys going up Chicago, it's going to be zero degrees come kickoff time. That's what it's going to feel like. The Brams have the better team all around. But playing in that weather, it kind of makes it kind of an even game. In Chicago, they've been the comeback kids of late. Last week, they had a huge comeback win against the Green Bay Packers. And they're going to be motivated because a lot of people aren't picking them either against LA Rams team, who even myself have them in the Super Bowl. So it's going to be tough for Chicago. I believe the Rams are going to win, but they got the home field advantage. OK, so you think Rams are going all the way. Who are they going to be playing against and putting you on the spot? Feel like it's going to be the Houston Texans. Defense still wins championships. I know offense is sexy, but the Houston Texans have the best defense in all of football. Danil Hunter, Will Anderson Jr., they have the two best edge rushers still left in the playoffs. And then the CJ Stroud can just protect the football, distribute the ball downfield, and not create a lot of turnovers. He had three turnovers last week. If he can just be a game manager and let that defense do a lot of the work, the Houston Texans are going to represent the AFC in the Super Bowl. Tyler Dragon, thank you. Thanks for having me on, Lindsay.

The United States on Thursday said Iran halted 800 executions of protesters under pressure from President Donald Trump, after Gulf allies appeared to pull him back from military action over Tehran's deadly crackdown on demonstrations.

Tehran

U.S. claims Iran halts executions of protesters amid crackdown

Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado met with President Donald Trump on Thursday at the White House. She presented Trump with her Nobel Peace Prize medal, which was seen as a peace offering to win his support.

Washington

Venezuela Strikes

Venezuelan opposition leader presents Trump with her Nobel Peace Prize

A U.S. Senate delegation is meeting with Danish officials on Friday to defuse the standoff between President Donald Trump and Denmark over Greenland. Denmark sent soldiers to Greenland and they will be joined by military units from various NATO allies.

Nuuk

NATO troops head to Greenland amid Trump's threats

NASA says it could be just weeks away from launching astronauts on a flight around the moon for the first time in more than half a century. Final preparations are underway at Kennedy Space Center in Florida, where the Artemis II moon rocket is expected to roll out to the launch pad on Saturday.

Cape Canaveral

Final preparations for Artemis II launch underway

A South Korean court on Friday (January 16) sentenced former President Yoon Suk Yeol to five years in prison on charges that included obstructing attempts by authorities to arrest him following his failed bid to impose martial law in December 2024.

Seoul

Five years' jail for South Korea's Yoon in first martial law penalty

US President Donald Trump is threatening to use military force against Americans after clashes between protestors and law enforcement in Minneapolis. The city has been on edge since the fatal shooting of a protester, Renee Good, by an ICE officer.

Minneapolis

Trump threatens to use military against Minneapolis protests

The U.S. and Taiwan clinched a trade deal that cuts tariffs on many of the semiconductor powerhouse's exports, directs new investments in the U.S. technology industry and risks infuriating China.

U.S., Taiwan strike deal on tech tariffs risking China's ire

The United Nations Security Council has held an emergency meeting to discuss the deadly anti-establishment protests in Iran at the request of the United States. President Donald Trump has refused to rule out military action on Iran over the killing of protesters. Tehran has vowed to retaliate if that happens.

Iran, U.S. clash at UN over protests as calls grow for restraint

Tensions are soaring in Minneapolis as protesters face off against federal agents. As Matt Gutman reports, it comes after a Venezuelan migrant was shot by an ICE agent after allegedly trying to flee federal officers.

Tensions flare in Minneapolis after second shooting by ICE agent

Ali Shaath, the Palestinian former government official chosen to administer Gaza under a U.S.-backed deal, has an ambitious plan that includes pushing war debris into the Mediterranean Sea and rebuilding destroyed infrastructure within three years.

Tel Aviv-Yafo

U.S. backs Palestinian civil engineer to administer Gaza

The U.S. has announced the launch of the second phase of President
Donald Trump's peace plan in the Gaza Strip, which will involve moving from a ceasefire to demilitarization.

Jerusalem

Middle East Conflict

Gaza deal's second phase to begin

CBS News met with fighters from an armed and outlawed Iranian opposition group in the mountains of northern Iraq who said the protests in Iran have given them hope. They believe the regime can be toppled "if the people who are demonstrating on the street get international help."

Iranian opposition group says protests give hope to topple regime

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Wednesday a "state of emergency" will be declared in the energy sector, after relentless Russian strikes on heat and electricity supplies during freezing winter temperatures.

Kyiv

Ukraine Invasion

Ukraine: Zelensky declares energy emergency after Russian strikes

Military personnel from several NATO countries including Germany, France, Sweden and Norway headed to Greenland on Thursday as Denmark and its allies prepared ⁠for exercises to try to assure US President Donald Trump over its security as he pushes to acquire the island.

Several European countries and NATO allies send troops to Greenland

Elon Musk's artificial intelligence company xAI said late on Wednesday it imposed restrictions on all users of its Grok AI chatbot that limit image editing after the service produced sexualized images that sparked concerns among global regulators.

California

Musk's xAI curbs Grok image editing after concerns

Protests in the U.S. city of Minneapolis as another person's been shot by an immigration officer.

Protest erupts in Minneapolis after ICE agent shoots man during raid

The United States has completed its first sale of Venezuelan oil, generating around $500 million, a US official said Wednesday, the first major energy transaction since Washington’s dramatic intervention in Venezuela earlier this month.

United States completes first sale of Venezuelan oil

Denmark says fundamental disagreements remain with the US over the future of Greenland. President Donald Trump has said he wants to take over the territory 'one way or another', arguing anything short of full American control is unacceptable.

Greenland, Denmark say Trump set on ‘conquering’ territory after meet

Republicans in the Senate killed a resolution on Wednesday that would have put limits on President Trump's ability to take action in Venezuela. Vice President JD Vance had to step in to break the 50-50 tie.

Senate Republicans kill war powers effort to limit Trump on Venezuela

U.S. Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio hosted foreign ministers from Greenland and Denmark as President Donald Trump continues to insist on a U.S. takeover of Greenland.

Vance and Rubio meet with officials from Greenland and Denmark

At least 30 people were killed when a construction crane collapsed onto a moving train in northeastern Thailand, at the site of a planned high-speed rail project intended to eventually link China with much of Southeast Asia.

Sikhio District

At least 30 people killed in Thailand train derailment

Tehran has warned neighbors hosting U.S. troops that it would hit American bases if Washington strikes, a senior Iranian official told Reuters, as Iran seeks to deter Donald Trump's threats to intervene on behalf of protesters.

Iran warns neighbors it could hit U.S. bases if Washington strikes

As Prime Minister Mark Carney heads to China to ease trade tensions, President Donald Trump reiterated that the U.S. doesn’t need Canadian goods or the CUSMA. Carney was also urged by Ontario’s premier to not back down on tariffs for Chinese EVs.

Ottawa

Trump says he doesn’t need Canadian goods or the CUSMA

United States President Donald Trump says he has cancelled all meetings with Iranian officials and has told protesters to “take over your institutions” amid Tehran’s crackdown.

Trump cancels Iran meetings, urges protesters to take on institutions

Around 2,000 people including security personnel have been killed in protests in Iran, an Iranian official said, the first time authorities have acknowledged the high death toll from an intense crackdown on two weeks of nationwide unrest.

Iran official says 2,000 killed in nationwide unrest

Former President Bill Clinton is refusing to appear before the House Oversight Committee to testify as part of its investigation into Jeffrey Epstein. CBS News congressional correspondent Nikole Killion has more.

Bill Clinton skips Epstein deposition on Capitol Hill

Former Corsican nationalist leader Alain Orsoni, who also served as the president of soccer club AC Ajaccio, was shot dead in Corsica on January 11 during his mother’s funeral. He was 71. Alain Orsoni was one of the leaders of the Corsican National Liberation Front (FLNC) in the 1980s. He later founded and led the Movement for Self-Determination (MPA).

Vero

Ex-Corsican nationalist leader Alain Orsoni killed at mother's funeral

Far-right leader Marine Le Pen, who needs to have a graft conviction overturned to seize her best chance at the French presidency, risks seeing her life's work upended if she loses her appeal. It comes after a French court last year barred her from running for office for five years over a European Parliament fake-jobs scam involving her and other officials from her National Rally party.

Paris

Marine Le Pen's appeal in EU fund embezzlement case opens in Paris

British regulators are investigating X for lewd AI images generated by Grok, the AI arm of Elon Musk's social platform. Michael Goodyear, an associate professor at New York Law School, joins CBS News with more.

London

UK investigating Musk's X over Grok's AI-generated images

As U.S. President Donald Trump weighs a response to Iran's deadly crackdown on nationwide protests, Iranian leaders say they are still keeping communications open with the Americans. But on January 12, large pro-government rallies took place across Iran, and the U.S. was clearly framed as the enemy and instigator of the protests.

Breakdown