NFL Playoff Picture 2015: Odds and Scenarios for Sunday's Wild Card Games

Two more games remain in Wild Card Weekend, so the divisional round is beginning to take shape.

In Saturday's first game the Carolina Panthers defense smothered the Cardinals, holding Arizona to 78 yards of offense in a 27-16 win. In the second game of the day, the Baltimore Ravens went on the road and beat their division rivals, the Pittsburgh Steelers 30-17.

The Cincinnati Bengals and Indianapolis Colts play for the second time this year to wrap up the AFC portion of the Wild Card Round, and the Detroit Lions and Dallas Cowboys will conclude Sunday's action.

Below is a schedule for the two games, followed by how each result will affect the next round.

Note: You can view an updated playoff bracket on NFL.com.

Playoff Schedule

Time (ET)	Away	Home	TV Info	Live Stream	Spread
1:05 p.m.	Cincinnati Bengals	Indianapolis Colts	CBS	CBSSports.com	IND -4
4:40 p.m.	Detroit Lions	Dallas Cowboys	Fox	Fox Sports GO	DAL -7.5

Scenarios

In the AFC, the Ravens' win over the Steelers removed most of the drama surrounding the potential matchups in the divisional round.

No matter what happens between the Colts and Bengals, the Ravens will travel to New England to face the top-seeded Patriots. With Baltimore playing like it did on Saturday night, the Pats could have their hands full.

Most concerning for New England is Joe Flacco's postseason hot streak:

Bleacher Report's Mike Freeman thinks Flacco is building a reputation as one of the game's best QBs in the playoffs:

"

No, he is not the best quarterback in football. But damn, he's terrific, far better than many think. The biggest thing with Flacco is that, particularly in the postseason, he's a winner. That is a simple construct, to just say he's a winner in the playoffs, but that's what he is. That's the best way to say it.

Remember, we are only two years removed from when the Ravens beat both the Broncos and the Patriots on the road to advance to the Super Bowl. This is almost old hat for Flacco and the Ravens. He always does stuff like this.

"

The Steelers were a bit undermanned without Le'Veon Bell, but there's no question the Ravens put the rest of the conference on notice.

In the other half of the bracket, the Denver Broncos will meet either the Bengals or Colts. Denver already owns one win against Indianapolis this year and would have to like its chances against Andy Dalton in the postseason should Cincy prevail.

Not only has Dalton lost in all three of his playoff appearances, he has also posted the lowest QBR among the 22 QBs to have appeared in the playoffs since 2011, per ESPN's Trey Wingo:

The Bengals won't have A.J. Green against the Colts, either. They announced on Saturday that the Pro Bowl wide receiver is officially out:

While Dalton's performance will be highly scrutinized, Andrew Luck will also look to silence some critics. The Colts quarterback has thrown the most postseason interceptions of any QB since 2012, per ESPN Stats & Info:

"I don't think just getting to the playoffs has ever been good enough in this building," Luck said, per the Associated Press, via NBCSports.com.

When the Colts and Bengals played earlier in the year, Indianapolis walked away with a 27-0 win. Dalton completed fewer than 50 percent of his passes, and the Cincinnati offense gained a total of 135 yards. Luck, meanwhile, threw for 344 yards and two touchdowns.

The Colts are unlikely to shut out the Bengals a second time, especially with the emergence of Jeremy Hill, but Indianapolis should advance to the next round, setting up another matchup between Luck and Peyton Manning.

Over in the NFC, the scenarios for the next round remain a bit open.

Everything depends on the result of the Lions-Cowboys Wild Card matchup. The Cowboys would play the Green Bay Packers with a win, leaving the Panthers to take on the Seattle Seahawks. On the other hand, the Lions would get the Seahawks should they win, and the Panthers would travel to Green Bay.

Nobody will want to play Carolina, especially with the defense playing like it is. Ryan Lindley was a complete mess, throwing for 82 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions. Arizona could also only muster 27 yards on the ground as a team.

Plenty of fans have had fun at the expense of the NFC South and its champion Panthers. Nobody's laughing anymore.

Looking ahead to Sunday, both Dallas and Detroit are looking to exorcise some playoff demons. The Cowboys have one postseason win since 1996, while the Lions haven't been victorious since George H.W. Bush was president.

For Matthew Stafford, this is also about proving he can go on the road and beat a tough opponent:

Stafford's one of those quarterbacks who has all of the tools to succeed but, for a variety of reasons, things haven't come together for him. This year is a chance for both he and the Lions to shed the collective label of being underachievers.

Detroit will be buoyed by the presence of Ndamukong Suh, who had his one-game suspension overturned on appeal, per ESPN's Adam Schefter:

ESPN Stats & Info provided numerical evidence as Suh's importance to the Lions defense:

The Cowboys are one of the hottest teams in the league, though, winning their last four games by an average of 21.5 points. Tony Romo's also playing some of the most efficient football of his career, torching opposing secondaries without the crippling turnovers.

Between that and the Lions' struggles on the road, it's hard looking past Dallas.

Note: Wild Card Round spread info is courtesy of Odds Shark.