NFL Playoff Schedule 2016: AFC, NFC Postseason Dates, TV Schedule for Each Round

Only a Week 17 slate and six days stand between now and the NFL playoffs, which begin Saturday with the wild-card round. 

The NFC’s six playoff teams are already determined, though seeding remains up for grabs, as does the NFC North, whose crown will go to the winner of Sunday night’s game between the Minnesota Vikings and Green Bay Packers. 

That winner will host a wild-card game next weekend as the No. 3 seed, while the loser will take either the fifth or sixth seed, depending on how the Seattle Seahawks fare in their regular season finale. They will assume the remaining wild-card spot. 

The other three NFC playoff teams are the Carolina Panthers, Arizona Cardinals and Washington Redskins.

Four AFC squads have clinched a playoff berth, and another four are vying for the remaining two spots.

The Houston Texans, entering Sunday 8-7, are in line to win the AFC South, though the 7-8 Indianapolis Colts are hanging on to a 0.03 percent chance of making the postseason, hoping for "10 different games to break right", per ESPN’s Football Power Index.

The New York Jets can clinch a wild card with a win Sunday, while the Pittsburgh Steelers are on the outside looking in at 9-6. They earn a wild-card spot if they beat the Cleveland Browns and the Jets lose to the Buffalo Bills. The AFC North is already claimed by the Cincinnati Bengals.

While TV times and scheduling won’t be official until Sunday night, here is a look at the projected playoff schedule.

Wild Card Round	Matchup	Time (ET)	TV
Divisional Round	Matchup	Time (ET)	TV
Conference Championship Round	Matchup	Time (ET)	TV
Super Bowl L	Matchup	Time (ET)	TV
Saturday, Jan. 9	TBD	4:35 p.m.	TBD
Saturday, Jan. 9	TBD	8:15 p.m.	TBD
Sunday, Jan. 10	TBD	1:05 p.m.	TBD
Sunday, Jan. 10	TBD	4:40 p.m.	TBD
Saturday, Jan. 16	TBD	4:35 p.m.	TBD
Saturday, Jan. 16	TBD	8:15 p.m.	TBD
Sunday, Jan. 17	TBD	1:05 p.m.	TBD
Sunday, Jan. 17	TBD	4:40 p.m.	TBD
Sunday, Jan. 24	AFC Championship Game	3:05 p.m.	CBS
Sunday, Jan. 24	NFC Championship Game	6:40 p.m.	Fox
Sunday, Feb. 7	AFC Champion vs. NFC Champion	6 p.m.	CBS

NFC Playoffs All but Set

Mike McCarn/Associated Press

It’s already assured the Packers, Vikings, Seahawks and Redskins will be in action on Wild Card Weekend, as the Panthers and Cardinals have clinched a first-round bye.

The NFL showed earlier this week just how varied the potential seedings could be heading into the final week of the regular season:

The Redskins' No. 4 is the only locked seed thus far. They'll host the No. 5 seed next weekend, which will either be the Packers, Vikings or Seahawks—none of whom they played in 2015.

The Panthers can secure home-field advantage throughout with a win Sunday vs. the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. But a Panthers loss and a Cardinals win over the Seahawks would concede Arizona the No. 1 seed.

In that scenario, both teams would be 14-2, but the Cardinals would hold the tiebreaker with a better NFC record.

The Packers could be as high as the No. 3 seed at 11-5 with a win Sunday vs. the Vikings or as low as the No. 5 at 10-6, as they hold a tiebreaker over the Seahawks for their Week 2 win over Seattle.

Seattle’s ceiling is the No. 5 seed and would need to beat Arizona and have the Vikings lose to secure that spot. Seattle trumped Minnesota 38-7 in Week 13.  

Dark Horses Loom in AFC Playoffs

Al Pereira/Getty Images

New England is favored to reach its seventh Super Bowl in the Tom Brady-Bill Belichik era, per Odds Shark, yet unlike earlier this season when the Patriots appeared invincible, they now see that the margin among AFC contenders has dwindled greatly.

When a high-powered team like the Steelers could realistically miss the playoffs, a Jets squad under a first-year staff upsets New England late in the year and the quietly lurking Chiefs rattle off nine straight and remain in contention for the AFC West, parity appears at the forefront.

The Bengals will hope to shake their reputation as a playoff one-and-done for four straight years, and they’ve looked convincing—even with backup quarterback AJ McCarron.

The Jets haven’t lost since Thanksgiving and could certainly build on last week’s upset over the Patriots, while the Chiefs embody a grit similar to a low-seeded March Madness team that nobody wants to play come tournament time.

And if the Steelers somehow sneak in, they’ve already proved that they can go into Cincy and win, as they did three weeks ago.

This year’s edition of the AFC playoffs seems as wide open as ever in recent memory.