NFL Playoffs 2014-15: Dates, Schedule and Matchup Predictions for AFC and NFC

Postseason football will soon permeate television screens across the world.

Sunday marks the final week of a wild NFL season. Never a league lacking in drama, three matchups will directly determine division champions, while the final AFC seed remains wide open. So much for resting up before the playoffs begin.

Since sports fans are an impatient bunch, most of us are already peering past Week 17 to determine which teams will face each other once the tournament kicks into gear. With few convoluted scenarios this year, a vivid imagination isn't required to conjure up possible wild-card weekend showdowns, and two possible meetings represent rematches from earlier in the season.

For those who just can't wait, let's try to play psychic and trek ahead to the playoffs. 

NFL Playoff Picture

NFL.com and CBS Sports offer detailed looks at all possible playoff scenarios. 

Playoff Schedule

Date	Round	Time (ET)	TV
Saturday, Jan. 3	Wild Card	TBD	TBD
Saturday, Jan. 3	Wild Card	TBD	TBD
Sunday, Jan. 4	Wild Card	TBD	TBD
Sunday, Jan. 4	Wild Card	TBD	TBD
Saturday, Jan. 10	Divisional	TBD	TBD
Saturday, Jan. 10	Divisional	TBD	TBD
Sunday, Jan. 11	Divisional	TBD	TBD
Sunday, Jan. 11	Divisional	TBD	TBD
Sunday, Jan. 18	NFC Championship	3 p.m.	FOX
Sunday, Jan. 18	AFC Championship	6:30 p.m.	CBS
Sunday, Feb. 1	Super Bowl	6:30 p.m.	NBC

Possible Playoff Matchups

Cincinnati Bengals at Indianapolis Colts

Kirk Irwin/Getty Images

The Indianapolis Colts will host the AFC's leading wild-card club as the No. 4 seed. This is known. Outside of the New England Patriots locked into the conference's top spot, the Colts are the only team buckled into precise playoff positioning.

Andrew Luck and Co. will host the loser of Sunday night's season finale between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Cincinnati Bengals, the winner of which seizes the AFC North. Pittsburgh lands the No. 3 seed with the win, while Cincinnati could vault into a first-round bye with a win and Denver Broncos loss to the Oakland Raiders.

Without even knowing the other games on the first-round docket, Cincinnati and Indianapolis would present the week's toughest matchup to pick. Their last encounter couldn't have been more lopsided, but the Bengals are impossible to peg.

When they played on Oct. 19, Indianapolis gained 506 total yards to Cincinnati's 135 during a 27-0 stomping. Considering they surrendered 639 yards and 51 points to the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 8, it's safe to assume which outcome the Colts are secretly rooting for on Sunday night.

Yet, an embarrassing 42-7 loss to the Cowboys poked some holes into the Colts' Super Bowl chances. While Luck threw just 109 yards with two picks, Tony Romo suffered just two incompletions.

"Yeah, it was a dismal start," Luck said after the game, per an Associated Press report, via ESPN.com. "It was bad. A lot of bad. Not much good, if any."

For anyone who needs more proof, USA Today's Adi Joseph details Luck's dismal day at the office.

Unless the Baltimore Ravens or Houston Texans sneak into the final spot, their shutout over the Bengals will mark the Colts' only victory over a playoff opponent. As brutal as the Bengals look at times, they also proved capable of brilliance when running down Denver's throat and picking off Peyton Manning four times in Week 16.

Both squads have the talent to catch fire at the right time and make a run. They both also wield shaky defenses with one-dimensional offenses—the Colts can't run, and the Bengals can't be counted on to win through the air.

Arizona Cardinals at Atlanta Falcons

The Arizona Cardinals, who started the season 9-1, may very well end up losing a road playoff matchup to a seven-win franchise.

One part of that scenario is certain: An NFC South squad with seven victories will host a postseason game next weekend. Either the Atlanta Falcons or Carolina Panthers will stand out from a conference in which every other playoff participant possesses 11 wins before the final weekend.

If it's any consolation, Reuben Fischer-Baum of FiveThiryEight.com confirmed that this grouping is only the second-worst division ever behind the 2008 NFC West.

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Time to get in our NFC South shots. Going into Week 16, the teams in the NFC South had 9.5 wins against non-division opponents in 38 chances this season (counting Carolina’s tie against Cincinnati as half a win).

That .250 winning percentage matched the 2008 NFC West, which ended the season with just 10 non-division wins. Last week, Tampa Bay did its part by getting smoked by the Green Bay Packers, but a fourth-quarter Carolina comeback against Cleveland pushed the division to 10.5 wins, giving the NFC South a .263 winning percentage.

This means that the 2008 NFC West remains the worst division in sports history. 

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Swallowing this injustice would be a lot easier if the NFC South champion was immediately booted out by a clearly superior club. Unfortunately, the winner is well positioned to get the battered and overachieving Cardinals, a team the Falcons defeated in the Georgia Dome last month.

Going back six years, the 7-9 Seattle Seahawks stunned the New Orleans Saints, creating diverging narratives of each team's home and away prowess. The Cardinals are just 4-3 on the road, and Matt Ryan cleans up at home.

Inside the Georgie Dome, the surging quarterback has averaged 324.8 passing yards per game while completing 68.4 percent of his passes this season. The prolific passer creates a nightmare matchup for Arizona's No. 30 passing defense, which surrendered 361 yards against him during Week 13's meeting.

Meanwhile, regression hit Arizona hard in a 35-6 beatdown by Seattle. The loss cost the Cardinals first place in the NFC West while reminding those staring too closely at records that the Seahawks are superior by a few miles. 

Even at 11-4, the Cardinals have outscored opponents by 14 points all season. Despite their scorching start with Carson Palmer leading the offense, they're a prime one-and-done candidate.

For this Atlanta-Arizona rematch to occur, the Falcons must beat the Panthers at home with the Seahawks taking care of the St. Louis Rams. Both sound pretty doable.