NFL Playoffs 2017: TV Schedule, Bracket Predictions for AFC and NFC Games

We said goodbye to the NFL regular season some time ago, and we're nearly two weeks into the postseason. This obviously means that only a select few teams remain in the hunt for Super Bowl LI, and it means that every aspect of every game is now tremendously important.

One wrong play call, substitution or coverage adjustment can send a team home until September.

This, of course, is the kind of elimination football that we love. We have two more rounds of it remaining before the big game, and the next one kicks off on Saturday.

We're here today to take an in-depth look at the divisional round and beyond. We'll be looking at the entire postseason schedule and the latest odds, courtesy of OddsShark. We'll also make our predictions for Super Bowl participants and examine the latest storylines heading into Divisional Round Weekend.

NFL Postseason

Day, Time (ET)	Game	National TV	Line
Divisional Round
Conference Championships
Super Bowl LI
4:35 p.m. Saturday	Seattle at Atlanta	Fox	ATL -5
8:15 p.m. Saturday	Houston at New England	CBS	NE -15.5
1:05 p.m. Sunday	Pittsburgh at Kansas City	NBC	KC -1.5
4:40 p.m. Sunday	Green Bay at Dallas	Fox	DAL -4.5
3:05 p.m. Jan. 22	NFC vs. NFC	Fox	TBD
6:40 p.m. Jan. 22	AFC vs. AFC	CBS	TBD
6:30 p.m. Feb. 5	AFC vs. NFC	Fox	TBD

Predictions

Divisional Round

Atlanta Falcons defeat Seattle Seahawks

New England Patriots defeat Houston Texans

Kansas City Chiefs defeat Pittsburgh Steelers

Green Bay Packers defeat Dallas Cowboys

Championship Round

New England Patriots defeat Kansas City Chiefs

Green Bay Packers defeat Atlanta Falcons

Super Bowl LI: Patriots vs. Packers

Latest Buzz

Packers Looking to Contain Elliott

The Green Bay Packers have already played the Dallas Cowboys once this year—actually, all four games this weekend are regular-season rematches—and the last time didn't pan out so well for Green Bay.

Dallas went into Lambeau Field and blasted the Packers 30-16. The game was essentially the coming-out party for Dak Prescott and Ezekiel Elliott, as it proved the new-look Cowboys are a force to be reckoned with.

Elliott was especially impressive, rushing for 157 yards and 5.6 yards per carry. Not only did his hard running help control the game for Dallas, but it did psychological damage to a run defense that Pro Football Focus rated fifth overall for the season.

The Packers squad that is heading into Dallas this weekend is a completely different team, however. Aaron Rodgers and the rest of the offense are on fire, and Green Bay has ripped off seven wins in a row.

If the Packers want to make it eight wins in a row, they're going to need to figure out how to slow Elliott in the rematch. More defensive discipline might be a start.

"I'm not saying we have to do anything special, but we need to do our job," Packers linebacker Clay Matthews explained, per Ryan Wood of the Green Bay Press-Gazette. "If you look at the runs he hit on us the first time, it was guys just doing too much or kind of playing outside the scheme."

If the Packers allow Elliott to run wild, Dallas can take early control of this game. It isn't going to matter if Rodgers and Co. are playing well or not if they spend the majority of the contest on the sideline.

Blount Dealing with Illness

Containing a bruising rushing attack is going to be a challenge for the Packers. It might not be such a concern for the Houston Texans when they take on the New England Patriots, however.

Patriots running back LeGarrette Blount missed his second consecutive day of practice on Thursday with an illness.

With the Patriots and Texans playing on Saturday, there's at least a chance that Blount won't be able to suit up. This would represent a huge loss for the Patriots—and a big break for the Texans—as Blount essentially is New England's power-running game.

The Oregon product averaged a modest 3.9 yards per carry in the regular season, but he toted the ball 299 times. That workload yielded 1,161 yards and a whopping 18 touchdowns on the ground.

Having Blount on the field makes life a lot easier for quarterback Tom Brady and the rest of the Patriots offense, especially in short-yardage situations. He figures to have a significant impact on Saturday's game, too, if he's healthy enough to play.

Houston's defense led the NFL in yardage allowed in the regular season (301.3 per game). However, the team was susceptible to the run on occasion. The Texans are rated 19th in run defense by Pro Football Focus and allowed an average of 99.7 yards per game on the ground in the regular season.

An Unrestricted Wilson

If you watched the Seattle Seahawks closely during their win over the Detroit Lions, you probably noticed that the offense looked a bit different from how it did for much of the regular season. Part of this was due to the hard running of Thomas Rawls, who racked up 161 yards on the ground.

Part of the offensive change, though, was due to a more mobile and unrestricted Russell Wilson under center.

Last weekend's game marked the first time Wilson played without a knee brace since Week 3, when he suffered a sprained MCL. While Wilson did gradually regain some of his trademark mobility as the season progressed, he wasn't fully unencumbered until the postseason.

Wilson recently explained, per Brady Henderson of ESPN 710 Seattle:

"

It felt great. Obviously, as I've been saying to you guys, I've been practicing really for the past five or six weeks without it, so my legs have been feeling really good. Just wanted to be smart and get to the playoffs and have a chance to hopefully go try to win it all. My legs felt great and my legs feel good right now, feeling fast and all that.

"

A faster and more mobile Wilson could create problems for the Atlanta Falcons in this weekend's matchup for a couple of reasons. For one, it will help Wilson counter the Atlanta pass rush, which racked up 34 sacks in the regular season.

Second, a more mobile Wilson could do damage in the ground game, an area that isn't especially strong for the Falcons defense. Atlanta is rated just 27th in run defense by Pro Football Focus.

The Falcons still have some advantages in this game. They'll be playing at home, and their explosive offense—which led the NFL with 33.8 points per game in the regular season—will be going up against a defense that is missing Earl Thomas.

There's no denying, though, that the Falcons will be getting Wilson at his absolute best in return.