NFL Playoff Schedule 2015-16: Postseason Dates, Wild-Card Predictions and More

Don't look now, but the NFL playoffs are right around the corner. After Sunday's Week 15 games, the league's postseason picture inched closer to becoming a completed field, as Monday night's game between the Detroit Lions and New Orleans Saints doesn't hold any playoff implications. 

Of the 12 playoff spots, six teams have clinched their spots. With two weeks left to go, there are divisional and wild-card spots up for grabs that are going to make the end of the season very exciting. 

Let's take a look at the current playoff picture: 

AFC
NFC
Conference Seed	Team	Division	Record
1	New England Patriots (z)	East	12-2
2	Cincinnati Bengals (x)	North	11-3
3	Denver Broncos	West	10-4
4	Houston Texans	South	7-7
5	Kansas City Chiefs	West	9-5
6	Pittsburgh Steelers	North	9-5
In The Hunt
	New York Jets	East	9-5
	Indianapolis Colts	South	6-8
	Jacksonville Jaguars	South	5-9
Conference Seed	Team	Division	Record
1	Carolina Panthers (z)	South	14-0
2	Arizona Cardinals (y)	West	12-2
3	Green Bay Packers (x)	North	10-4
4	Washington Redskins	East	7-7
5	Seattle Seahawks (x)	West	9-5
6	Minnesota Vikings	North	9-5
In The Hunt
	Atlanta Falcons	South	7-7
	Philadelphia Eagles	East	6-8
	New York Giants	East	6-8

Continue for the dates of each postseason game and predictions for what the matchups in the wild-card round will look like:

Wild-Card Round: Saturday, Jan. 9 and Sunday, Jan. 10

• Denver Broncos at Kansas City Chiefs
• Minnesota Vikings at Green Bay Packers
• Seattle Seahawks at Washington Redskins
• Pittsburgh Steelers at Houston Texans

Divisional Round: Saturday, Jan. 16 and Sunday, Jan. 17

• Highest Remaining AFC Seed at Cincinnati Bengals
• Lowest Remaining AFC Seed at New England Patriots
• Highest Remaining NFC Seed at Arizona Cardinals
• Lowest Remaining NFC Seed at Carolina Panthers

Conference Championship Round: Sunday, Jan. 24
Super Bowl 50: Sunday, Feb. 7

---

The top of each conference doesn't look like it will be changing in the final two weeks of the season. In the NFC, the Carolina Panthers have a pair of divisional matchups against the struggling Atlanta Falcons and Tampa Bay Buccaneers remaining in their quest to complete the first undefeated regular season since the 2007 New England Patriots.

It looks like they hurdled their toughest remaining test in Week 14, fending off the New York Giants on the road in a highly emotional affair that was headlined by the Josh Norman-Odell Beckham Jr. tilt.

Teams to start 14-0 have seen some success in the postseason too, as ESPN's Adam Schefter points out:

It looks like they'll be joined by the Arizona Cardinals for the first-round bye after they dismantled the Philadelphia Eagles 40-17 and clinched the NFC West Sunday night. The Cardinals, led by veteran quarterback Carson Palmer and wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald, have the league's best offense, averaging over 420 yards per game.

The NFC North could come down to the last game of the season with the division-leading Green Bay Packers being pursued by the Minnesota Vikings, who are one game back. They will play each other in Week 17, but not before the Packers play the Arizona Cardinals and the Vikings face the Giants, who seem to find new ways to lose every week. 

Even if the Packers lose to the red-hot Cardinals, it's hard to bet against Aaron Rodgers at home against the Vikings' Teddy Bridgewater in what will be the biggest game of his young career. The Packers will take the NFC North for the fifth consecutive season.

Either way, it looks like the two division rivals will play each other in the playoffs, something that excites 100.3 The Fan's Brandon Mileski:

Over to a division that nobody seems to want to win, the 7-7 Washington Redskins finally made their case as to why they'll win the NFC East, which was simply winning a game. Washington was the only team in the division to pick up a victory in Week 15. They've won three of their last four games and could lock up the division with contests against the rival Philadelphia Eagles and Dallas Cowboys remaining. 

But they're not out of the woods yet, as NFL Network's Rich Eisen points out:

With a .500 record, they will have the opportunity to host the Seattle Seahawks, who should take the top wild-card spot in the NFC after chasing the Cardinals all season following a slow start.

In the AFC, things are far from set outside of the top two seeds in the New England Patriots and Cincinnati Bengals.

Though there are three teams in the hunt that could end the season at 10-6, including the New York Jets, the teams that currently inhabit the four remaining playoff spots likely won't fall out. However, the order and hosts of first-round games could change. 

With the 10-4 Denver Broncos facing the No. 2 seed Bengals in Week 16, a loss could lose them the AFC West division. The second-place Kansas City Chiefs, who have won eight straight games, will finish the season against the 3-11 Cleveland Browns and 4-10 Baltimore Ravens.

If they win out, which it looks like they will, the Chiefs would win the division and host a playoff game. 

The 9-5 Pittsburgh Steelers, who are currently the lowest-seeded wild-card team, finish the season against the same teams as the Chiefs and could also leapfrog the Broncos. If that happens, the Broncos will have to go into Kansas City and play the Chiefs in one of the league's toughest venues, while the Steelers travel to whoever wins the AFC South, another division that sees a 7-7 team leading the division in the Houston Texans. 

Stats courtesy of NFL.com.