NFL Playoff Schedule 2017: Wild Card Matchups, Bracket Dates and Start Times

After scratching and clawing for four months to reach the NFL playoffs, teams now know that one loss will be enough to end their season.

The Wild Card Round will begin Saturday and conclude on Sunday, with 12 Super Bowl contenders falling to just eight by the end of the weekend. The New England Patriots, Kansas City Chiefs, Dallas Cowboys and Atlanta Falcons are safe with a first-round bye, but eight other teams will have to fight hard to survive.

Here is what fans should look forward to in the upcoming week.

Date	Matchup	Time (ET)	TV
Jan. 7	No. 5 Oakland Raiders at No. 4 Houston Texans	4:35 p.m.	ESPN
Jan. 7	No. 6 Detroit Lions at No. 3 Seattle Seahawks	8:15 p.m.	NBC
Jan. 8	No. 6 Miami Dolphins at No. 3 Pittsburgh Steelers	1:05 p.m.	CBS
Jan. 8	No. 5 New York Giants at No. 4 Green Bay Packers	4:40 p.m.	Fox

You can view the latest bracket at NFL.com.

Wild Card Matchups

Miami Dolphins at Pittsburgh Steelers

It's a relative surprise to see either of these teams in the postseason after terrible stretches earlier in the year.

The Pittsburgh Steelers had four losses in a row in the middle of the season and trailed the Baltimore Ravens in the division. They turned things around in a hurry, rattling off seven-straight wins and are suddenly one of the hottest teams in the NFL.

"We ready ourselves for the playoffs now, and we do so with great excitement," head coach Mike Tomlin said after the Week 17 win over the Cleveland Browns, per the team's Twitter account.

Meanwhile, the Miami Dolphins were at one point considered one of the worst teams in the NFL after a 1-4 start and the only win coming against the Cleveland Browns. They turned things around against these Steelers, which was the first of six straight victories.

The Dolphins finished with nine wins in the final 11 games and enter the postseason with a lot of confidence.

Of course, the big question mark is whether Matt Moore is up to the task of leading his team to a playoff win. The backup quarterback has filled in for the injured Ryan Tannehill and has played well, but an aggressive Steelers defense could cause problems.

If the Dolphins want to advance, Moore and Jay Ajayi will need to figure out how to match Ben Roethlisberger and Le'Veon Bell in production.

Oakland Raiders at Houston Texans

Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images

It's normal for teams to have question marks at quarterback, but it doesn't happen quite like this in a playoff game.

While the Oakland Raiders were flying high with Derek Carr at the helm, the MVP-candidate went down with a broken leg, leaving the team with Matt McGloin and Connor Cook under center. This led to disastrous results in a 24-6 loss to the Denver Broncos, which was enough to miss out on the AFC West title.

On the other hand, Bleacher Report's Maurice Moton noted the quarterback play wasn't the only problem in Week 17:

The team did win 12 games this year, but confidence might be lacking heading into the playoffs.

Then again, the Houston Texans aren't in much better shape at quarterback with high-priced free-agent addition Brock Osweiler struggling throughout the season. Tom Savage took over the starting job, although he left Sunday's game with a concussion, the team announced.

They have gotten by this season thanks to their strong defense, but it might not be enough against a quality opponent like this one.

New York Giants at Green Bay Packers

Rob Carr/Getty Images

Although the New York Giants didn't have anything to play for in Week 17, they still played to their potential and earned a 19-10 win over the Washington Redskins, knocking their division rival out in the process.

They also sent a message to the rest of the NFL that this defense is for real.

Only the New England Patriots allowed fewer points than the Giants this season, which gave up just 17.8 points per game.

While Eli Manning is inconsistent at times, he has proved himself in the playoffs with two Super Bowl titles, making this one of the most dangerous teams in the league.

This creates a challenge for the Green Bay Packers, although nothing seems to be stopping them at the moment. They closed the season with six wins in a row, knocking off three other playoff teams in the process.

After facing plenty of criticism in the middle of the year, Aaron Rodgers is playing as well as ever with 15 touchdowns and zero interceptions during the winning streak. The offense is also averaging 30.8 points per game in this span.

There are question marks about the defense, but Rodgers and his weapons against this impressive Giants defense could make this the most exciting battle of the weekend.

Detroit Lions at Seattle Seahawks

Otto Greule Jr/Getty Images

The Redskins loss allowed the Lions to make the playoffs as a wild card, but losing to the Packers Sunday night will make the road ahead quite a difficult one. Instead of hosting a game, Detroit now has to go on the road to face the Seattle Seahawks.

Seattle hasn't quite looked like its dominant self this season with inconsistent play on both sides of the ball. The defense allowed over 30 points in two of the last four games while Russell Wilson is in the midst of arguably his worst season. His 11 interceptions are the worst in his five-year career and injuries have led to a new low in rushing yards.

With that said, there are few tougher locations to win a road game in all of sports than CenturyLink Field.

While the Seahawks were a disappointing 3-4-1 on the road, they went 7-1 at home in 2016. This was the fourth time in the last five years they won at least seven home games, showing incredible consistency with the 12th man at their back.

Wilson is 4-0 in his postseason career at CenturyLink Field, which makes beating this team a difficult task for the Lions.

Still, Detroit has overcome long odds throughout the season. Matthew Stafford leads the NFL with eight fourth-quarter comebacks, proving the team simply doesn't give up.

Even with a three-game slide heading into the postseason, this will be a formidable opponent.

Follow Rob Goldberg on Twitter.