NFL Playoff Standings 2016: Top Bracket Seeds, Wild-Card Matchups and Scenarios

With 17 weeks of regular-season football officially in the rearview, it's finally playoff time in the NFL—and that means there's plenty to break down before wild-card action gets underway next weekend. 

The Houston Texans clinched the AFC South with a win over the Jacksonville Jaguars and the Pittsburgh Steelers secured a wild-card berth with a win over the Cleveland Browns and the New York Jets' loss to the Buffalo Bills. To end the night and the regular season, the Minnesota Vikings clinched the NFC North with a win over the Green Bay Packers

There was also some moving and shaking atop the AFC playoff picture, which is now finalized. 

Updated Playoff Picture

Wild-Card Schedule and Seeding Breakdown

Away	Home	TV, Time & Day
No. 6 Pittsburgh Steelers	No. 3 Cincinnati Bengals	Saturday, 8:15 p.m. ET, CBS
No. 5 Kansas City Chiefs	No. 4 Houston Texans	Saturday, 4:35 p.m. ET, ABC
No. 6 Seattle Seahawks	No. 3 Minnesota Vikings	Sunday, 1:05 p.m. ET, NBC
No. 5 Green Bay Packers	No. 4 Washington Redskins	Sunday, 4:40 p.m. ET, FOX

The six seeds on the NFC side of the bracket have been known for a week now, so there aren't any real surprises there. 

The Carolina Panthers and Arizona Cardinals occupy the top two seeds, and the Panthers now own home-field advantage throughout the playoffs after they squashed the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Cardinals slipped up terribly against the Seattle Seahawks, as NFL.com's Chris Wesseling observed: 

Elsewhere, the Washington Redskins have been locked into the No. 4 seed since capturing an NFC East title with a Saturday win in Week 16 over the Philadelphia Eagles. And thanks to the Seahawks' win, the Redskins will host the Green Bay Packers in wild-card action as they seek to capture their first postseason win since 2005. 

And as the Washington Post's Rick Snider explained, this year's Washington team conjures up images of a unit that nearly qualified for the NFC Championship Game: 

"

The last three times the Redskins were in the playoffs, they saw long end-of-the-season winning streaks end abruptly. But this year’s squad is more reminiscent of the 1999 team that counter-punched its way to an NFC East title. In 1999, Washington lost four of seven games before it won its final two to finish 10-6 and win a mediocre division that had no other team with a winning record.

"

The other wild-card showdown will pit the Vikings at home against the Seahawks. 

In the AFC, the New England Patriots will receive an exemption from participating in the Wild Card Round, but won't be treated to the luxury of home-field advantage throughout the playoffs after coming out flat in a 20-10 loss to the Miami Dolphins. 

As a result of the Patriots' loss, the Broncos assumed ownership of the AFC's No. 1 seed with a 27-20 win over the San Diego Chargers. 

Remaining wild-card action will see the Kansas City Chiefs square off against the Houston Texans, a matchup that was confirmed only after the Broncos defeated the Chargers. Had the Broncos lost, the Chiefs would have captured an AFC West title by virtue of their win against the Oakland Raiders. 

"Everybody’s extremely happy that we’re in the playoffs," Chiefs wide receiver Jeremy Maclin said, per ESPN.com's Adam Teicher. "That’s obviously a goal of ours that we set to begin the season. Obviously, we have our sights set a little higher than that. It’s the first step of what we want to achieve."

And after the Steelers captured the AFC's final wild-card spot, a showdown with the Cincinnati Bengals awaits next weekend, when Super Bowl hopefuls will embark on a quest to try to hoist the Vince Lombardi Trophy in Santa Clara, California, on Feb. 7. 

Sunday didn't play out entirely as expected—particularly on the AFC side of the bracket—but if the playoffs can follow Week 17's lead and produce boatloads of thrilling action, the postseason will be a sight to behold.