NFL Playoff Schedule 2017: Dates, TV Info and Latest Wild-Card Scenarios
After a Christmas weekend of NFL action, there is just one week left in the regular season before the playoff madness begins.
There are only two playoff spots remaining, both in the NFC, but the entire landscape of the postseason changed in the AFC on Saturday. Oakland Raiders quarterback Derek Carr's season ended prematurely due to a broken fibula suffered in a win over the Indianapolis Colts.
With Carr out, the door has been opened for the Kansas City Chiefs to grab the AFC West title and a first-round bye with a win against the San Diego Chargers, who became the first team to lose to the Cleveland Browns in 2016 on Saturday.
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Here is a look at what we know so far, teams that have locked down playoff spots and a look at wild-card scenarios heading into Week 17.
Playoff Teams
| Dallas Cowboys (12-2) | Clinched NFC East, No. 1 Seed, Home-Field Advantage |
| Atlanta Falcons (10-5) | Clinched NFC South |
| Seattle Seahawks (9-5-1) | Clinched NFC West |
| New York Giants (10-5) | Clinched Playoff Berth |
| New England Patriots (13-2) | Clinched AFC East, 1st-Round Bye |
| Pittsburgh Steelers (10-5) | Clinched AFC North |
| Houston Texans (9-6) | Clinched AFC South |
| Kansas City Chiefs (11-4) | Clinched Playoff Berth |
| Oakland Raiders (12-3) | Clinched Playoff Berth |
| Miami Dolphins (10-5) | Clinched Playoff Berth |
Playoff Schedule
| Saturday, Jan. 7 | TBD vs. TBD | TBD | TBD |
| Saturday, Jan. 7 | TBD vs. TBD | TBD | TBD |
| Sunday, Jan. 8 | TBD vs. TBD | TBD | TBD |
| Sunday, Jan. 8 | TBD vs. TBD | TBD | TBD |
| Saturday, Jan. 14 | TBD vs. TBD | TBD | TBD |
| Saturday, Jan. 14 | TBD vs. TBD | TBD | TBD |
| Sunday, Jan. 15 | TBD vs. TBD | TBD | TBD |
| Sunday, Jan. 15 | TBD vs. TBD | TBD | TBD |
| NFC Championship: Sunday, Jan. 22 | TBD vs. TBD | 3 p.m. | Fox |
| AFC Championship: Sunday, Jan. 22 | TBD vs. TBD | 6:30 p.m. | CBS |
| Sunday, Feb. 5 | AFC Champion vs. NFC Champion | 6:30 p.m. | FOX |
Playoff Scenarios
All Eyes on the NFC North
It's been a strange year in the NFC North, though the Green Bay Packers and Detroit Lions have at least kept things interesting.
The Packers fought off questions in November about being out of the race after a four-game losing streak dropped their record to 4-6. They have proceeded to win five straight, setting up a showdown for the division title at Detroit next week.
Coming into Week 16, Aaron Rodgers has been unbelievably great to bring the Packers back from the dead. ESPN Stats & Info highlighted Rodgers' recent brilliance on third down:
Rodgers may not be playing at his absolute peak when he won two MVP awards, but he's still thrown for 4,128 yards and leads the NFL with 36 touchdown passes to carry the Packers when they had no running game to speak of.
The Lions were supposed to struggle this season after Calvin Johnson retired. Instead, quarterback Matthew Stafford has been pulling a Houdini routine all year with an NFL single-season record eight game-winning drives in the fourth quarter and overtime so far.
The Packers beat the Lions in Week 3 at Lambeau earlier this season. One more win will secure a division title for Green Bay, but the Lions have gone 6-1 at home with their only loss coming in Week 2.
The last time the Packers played a winner-take-all road game in Week 17 for the NFC North title, Rodgers broke the hearts of Chicago Bears fans with a 48-yard touchdown pass to Randall Cobb with 38 seconds remaining to secure a 33-28 win in 2013.
The Lions are in a good position because they got to wait out all of the Week 16 madness over the weekend before their game on Monday night against the Dallas Cowboys. A victory Monday will secure the team a playoff spot, though next week will still determine the division champion.
Fighting for Life
Aside from the Lions and Packers, Washington and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are the other NFC teams with playoff hopes still alive.
Let's start with Washington since there are more scenarios for it to reach the postseason. Head coach Jay Gruden's team will keep a close eye on the Lions-Cowboys game and be in the odd position of rooting for their NFC East rivals.
Per Master Tesfatsion of the Washington Post, Washington will control its destiny in Week 17 against the New York Giants if the Cowboys beat the Lions.
There is still a chance for Washington to make the playoffs if the Lions beat the Cowboys, though that scenario requires Washington to defeat the Giants and the Lions to beat the Packers.
Despite the uncertainty facing the team at this moment, Washington is not trying to pass the buck to anyone else.
“As long as we take care of our business, that’s the most important thing,” safety Will Blackmon told Tesfatsion. “It’s the truth, though, because what if those teams did lose and we didn’t win? Then what? Obviously, you want situations to roll out. We can’t control how they play. We can just control what we can do.”
Washington did defeat the Giants 29-27 at MetLife Stadium in Week 3 with Kirk Cousins throwing for 296 yards and two touchdowns. As bad as its loss against the Carolina Panthers in Week 15 seemed at the time, the team has been given a reprieve heading into the season's final day.
The Buccaneers are basically hoping for one of the biggest Hail Marys to reach the postseason. They had control ripped from their hands with a loss in Week 16, with only a slim chance of hope left.
Per ESPN's Jeremy Mills, the Bucs' playoff odds are 60,000-1 right now with a complex path standing in their way.
Let's get the simple stuff out of the way. The Buccaneers need to defeat the Panthers, followed by the Lions beating the Packers and Washington losing to or tying the Giants. This would leave the Bucs and Packers with identical 9-7 records, while Washington would have only eight wins.
However, that's just the tip of the iceberg, with Mills offering the breakdown of what has to happen in the event those previous results take place:
"The Bucs would need two teams that they previously beat to win –- the Chiefs (against the Broncos on Sunday) and the 49ers (against the Seahawks in Week 17).
And they’d need four teams that the Packers beat to lose – the Lions (against the Cowboys on Monday), plus the Jaguars (against the Colts), Eagles (against the Cowboys) and Texans (against the Titans) in Week 17.
"
If ever there was a time for Jim Carrey in Dumb & Dumber to pop up and foolishly say "you're telling me there's a chance," this would be it.
Counting on the San Francisco 49ers to beat anyone outside of the Los Angeles Rams will only lead to disappointment, so combining that scenario with five other things needing to happen, the Buccaneers will look back on this season as a valuable learning experience without a playoff berth.
Sorting Out the AFC
Things are much less chaotic in the AFC because all the playoff teams have already been locked in. The New England Patriots know they have a first-round bye, but the Raiders can still earn the No. 1 seed with a win over the Denver Broncos and a Patriots loss against the Miami Dolphins.
As bad as the Broncos have been down the stretch with three straight losses, putting their defense against Matt McGloin, who hasn't started since his rookie year in 2013, is a recipe to at least end the year on a positive note.
Even though the Chiefs would prefer to win the AFC West and earn a first-round bye in the process, being the No. 5 seed wouldn't be the worst thing. It would give them a date against the Houston Texans, who virtually won the AFC South by default despite being outscored by 42 points.
The Chiefs dominated the Texans 30-0 in last year's AFC Wild Card Game and picked off Brian Hoyer four times.
The Miami Dolphins know they will either be the No. 5 or 6 seed, with the former scenario only happening if they defeat the Patriots and Chiefs lose to the Chargers.
Being the No. 6 seed would send the Dolphins to Heinz Field for a matchup against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
The Steelers have been rolling with six straight wins, but the Dolphins did handle them in a 30-15 win in Week 6 thanks to Jay Ajayi's 204 rushing yards.
The AFC drama really won't start until the playoffs begin and there's a better understanding of how far the Raiders might fall without Carr, but there is still a lot to be determined as far as seeding goes in Week 17.
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