NFL Playoff Schedule 2017: Bracket Dates, Picture and Wild Card Predictions

Folks in the NFL's New York City offices have to be salivating at the possibility of a New England Patriots-Dallas Cowboys Super Bowl matchup, which would probably set television rating records unless all the Patriots and Cowboys haters band together and boycott the game.

In all seriousness, it's a little hard to not see the Patriots and Cowboys meeting in Super Bowl LI, with the Patriots sporting an 11-1 record since Tom Brady's return from suspension and the Cowboys going 13-1 against any team not named the Giants.

However, at least seven playoff participants are capable of knocking one of them off, with a few of them playing this weekend.

Here's a look at the playoff picture, dates for the next two rounds and Wild Card predictions.

Playoff Pictures

AFC Playoff Picture

Seed	Team	Record	Clinched
1	New England Patriots	14-2	AFC East; Home-Field Advantage
2	Kansas City Chiefs	12-4	AFC West; First-Round Bye
3	Pittsburgh Steelers	11-5	AFC North
4	Houston Texans	9-7	AFC South
5	Oakland Raiders	12-4	Wild-Card Berth
6	Miami Dolphins	10-6	Wild-Card Berth

 

NFC Playoff Picture

Seed	Team	Record	Clinched
1	Dallas Cowboys	13-3	NFC East; Home-Field Advantage
2	Atlanta Falcons	11-5	NFC South; First-Round Bye
3	Seattle Seahawks	10-5-1	NFC West
4	Green Bay Packers	10-6	NFC North
5	New York Giants	11-5	Wild-Card Berth
6	Detroit Lions	9-7	Wild-Card Berth

Source: NFL.com.

Bracket Dates

A look at the times, channels and dates, per NBC's Sunday Night Football Twitter account:

 

 

Wild Card Predictions

Let's take a stab at predicting how each Wild Card matchup will go next weekend.

               

No. 6 Miami at No. 3 Pittsburgh

The Steelers will come out and run the ball down Miami's throat time and again. The Dolphins may have Ndamukong Suh, but the Fins still have one of the worst rushing defenses in football, allowing 4.9 yards per carry.

Pittsburgh running back Le'Veon Bell will get his touches and yards, but if Miami decides to stack the box, then Ben Roethlisberger will drop back and find Antonio Brown down the field. Miami doesn't have a cornerback who can slow down Brown. Byron Maxwell gives the Dolphins their best chance, but he's missed the last few games with an ankle injury and hasn't even started running full speed yet, according to Jason Lieser of the Palm Beach Post.

On the flip side, quarterback Matt Moore has been playing well in Ryan Tannehill's stead. According to Omar Kelly of the Sun Sentinel, Moore has a 105.6 passer rating and is completing 63 percent of throws in four games this year.

While those statistics (and his performance) have been undoubtedly impressive, playing against the Jets in the regular season (where Moore did much of his damage) is a different animal than playing a postseason game at Pittsburgh.

Expect the Steelers to take a comfortable lead going into the half and never look back.

Prediction: Steelers 27, Dolphins 13

                

No. 5 Oakland at No. 4 Houston

Folks may talk extensively about who is playing at quarterback (and who isn't) in this matchup, but the bottom line is the game will be decided by (a) the rushing attacks, (b) the defenses' abilities to create turnovers and (c) special teams.

Houston running back Lamar Miller should be back for the Wild Card Round, per Deepi Sidhu of Texans Radio. That gives the Texans a big boost against a Raiders rush defense that ranks in the bottom half of the league (21st, per Football Outsiders DVOA).

Meanwhile, the Raiders will turn to a three-headed running attack of Latavius Murray, Jalen Richard and DeAndre Washington. Oakland has found success on the ground this year, running for 4.5 yards per carry.

Ultimately, expect both teams to find some success on the ground and little success in the air. Furthermore, Oakland is first in the NFL in turnover differential (plus-18) compared to Houston at 25th (minus-seven), and its special teams unit ranks 13th in per Football Outsiders DVOA (compared to an anemic 31st for Houston).

On paper, give the edge to the Raiders, but a gut feeling prevails in this situation: Oakland simply can't recover from losing their on- and off-field leader in MVP candidate and Pro Bowl quarterback Derek Carr. Take the Texans in a close, ugly one.

Prediction: Texans 16, Raiders 13

                             

No. 6 Detroit at No. 3 Seattle

Going to the Football Outsiders well one final time, Detroit ranks dead-last in defense in the entire NFL. The Lions have not beaten a team that will participate in the postseason this year, and they only beat one team by double digits, the 7-9 New Orleans Saints.

Furthermore, the Lions have allowed the worst pass-completion percentage in the league. That's not a good mix against a Seattle Seahawks team that is going to need to move through the air to win due to an anemic running attack.

Detroit is also 3-5 on the road this year. Meanwhile, the Seattle Seahawks' home-field advantage is infamous, and they've won nine straight playoff contests in CenturyLink Field dating back to 2005.

Seattle has more warts this season than it's had in any of the previous four years of the Pete Carroll-Russell Wilson-Legion of Boom era. The running game can't get going, Earl Thomas is out until next season, and the offensive line is struggling.

Still, Russell Wilson, Richard Sherman and friends are too strong at home to succumb to an overachieving Lions team whose shown plenty of guts this season but won't have enough to pull off the upset.

Prediction: Seahawks 23, Lions 10

                                                

No. 5 New York Giants at No. 4 Green Bay

This matchup is undoubtedly the crown jewel of Wild Card Weekend. You have the setting of historic Lambeau Field. You have Aaron Rodgers going against one of, if not the best, secondaries in football. You have Odell Beckham making his playoff debut, and you have history, with all the great Giants-Packers postseason games of years past.

This game will also be a classic. Both teams are scalding hot going into the playoffs, with Green Bay winning its last six games and the Giants taking nine of their last 11.

Once again, it's hard not to look at the home-away differential as a deciding factor in this game. Green Bay has been fantastic at home this year, sporting a 6-2 record, while the Giants sported a so-so 4-4 mark. Going to the cold of Lambeau is never easy, especially in cold weather—the high is expected to be 17 degrees on Sunday. But Eli Manning is used to the cold, having beaten the Packers in Green Bay twice in the postseason within the past nine seasons.

Both teams have great mojo right now, and it's a shame that one will be out before the divisional round. Give the edge to the Packers at home.

Prediction: Packers 20, Giants 17 (OT)