NFL Playoff Schedule 2016: AFC, NFC Bracket, TV Coverage and Super Bowl Picks

The NFL playoffs are set, with action getting underway Saturday, January 9, with two AFC Wild Card playoff games. On Sunday, January 10, it's the NFC's turn to reduce its number of Super Bowl-eligible teams from six to four.

Here's a look at the brackets and TV information for every round all the way up to the Super Bowl:

Wild Card Weekend

Saturday, Jan. 9

AFC: No. 5 Kansas City at No. 4 Houston, 4:35 p.m. ET (ABC/ESPN)

AFC: No. 6 Pittsburgh at No. 3 Cincinnati, 8:15 p.m. ET (CBS)

Sunday, Jan. 10

NFC: No. 6 Seattle at No. 3 Minnesota, 1:05 p.m. ET (NBC)

NFC: No. 5 Green Bay at No. 4 Washington, 4:40 p.m. ET (Fox)

Divisional Weekend

Saturday, Jan. 16

AFC: Kansas City/Houston/Cincinnati at No. 2 New England, 4:35 p.m. ET (CBS)

NFC: Minnesota/Green Bay/Washington at No. 2 Arizona, 8:15 p.m. ET (NBC)

Sunday, Jan. 17

NFC: Green Bay/Seattle/Washington at No. 1 Carolina, 1:05 p.m. ET (Fox)

AFC: Pittsburgh/Kansas City/Houston at No. 1 Denver, 4:40 p.m. ET (CBS)

Championship Weekend

Sunday, Jan. 24

AFC: AFC Championship, 3:05 p.m. ET (CBS)

NFC: NFC Championship, 6:40 p.m. ET (Fox)

Super Bowl 50

Sunday, Feb. 7

AFC Champion vs. NFC Champion at Levi's Stadium, 6:30 p.m. ET (CBS)

Super Bowl Picks

Ross D. Franklin/Associated Press

Some may consider this to be boring—unless, of course, you live in Seattle, Washington, or Boston, Massachusetts—but a Super Bowl 49 rematch is the most likely matchup for Levi's Stadium on February 7.

Yes, the Seattle Seahawks are technically the lowest-seeded team in the NFC, but you won't find anyone who believes they're the conference's worst team. Quarterback Russell Wilson has been playing better football than any other quarterback—Cam Newton included—over the last five weeks.

Uncredited/Associated Press

On Sunday, he led the Seahawks to a 36-6 victory over the Arizona Cardinals on the road. Wilson threw three more touchdowns in the victory, taking his season total to 34 with just eight interceptions.

He's thrown just one pick in his last seven games. There's no wonder Seattle is 6-1 in that stretch. In the Seahawks' initial wild-card matchup, they will face the Minnesota Vikings. This is the same team Seattle trounced 38-7 back on December 6.

The Vikings have been playing well this season under head coach Mike Zimmer, but the Seahawks are flying high, and they have the Vikes' number. The only team in the NFC capable of stopping Seattle is the top-seeded Carolina Panthers.

At 15-1, Carolina proved its mettle all season. That said, the trip to the Super Bowl will go to the team playing its best football at the moment of truth, and that will be the Seahawks. Worried about the Seahawks needing to win three road games to reach the big game?

Brian Nemhauser of HawkBlogger.com drops a relevant gem:

In the AFC, the New England Patriots did themselves a favor by getting the No. 2 seed and thereby avoiding the very dangerous Pittsburgh Steelers—unless Ben Roethlisberger and Co. can reach the conference championship.

ESPN First Take's Skip Bayless implies Patriots head coach Bill Belichick preferred the second seed over the first, but he sees the top-seeded Denver Broncos as the biggest threat to a Patriots repeat:

The Steelers are the one team in the AFC that no one wants to face. If the Pats don't make this prediction come true, it'll be because the Steelers knocked them off. New England should handle the Kansas City Chiefs, Houston Texans or Cincinnati Bengals without major issue in the divisional playoff round.

While each team has interesting pass-rushers to test the Pats' patchwork offensive line, none have the offense to stick it in the end zone enough times to beat New England. That's especially the case when you consider Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton is likely to miss the Bengals matchup with the Steelers, per NFL.com.

That makes it appear as though the Pats are all the more likely to play the Kansas City Chiefs in the divisional playoff round. The Texans have to win a game against a non-AFC South team, and they only did that four times this season.

In the AFC Championship Game, the Patriots would have their hands full if they have to face the Broncos or the Steelers. However, when everything is on the line, it's hard to bet against Bill Belichick and Tom Brady. This team is on a mission after having last year's title run tainted with the Deflategate conspiracy.

New England will reach another Super Bowl to again stick it to its haters.