NFL Playoff Schedule 2016: TV Info, Bracket Predictions and More for Postseason

The NFL's Wild Card Weekend lived up to its name, featuring plenty of zany developments and, for the first time in NFL history, wins by all four road teams, as Darren Rovell of ESPN.com noted: 

The playoff bracket for the divisional round is now set, with the second-seeded New England Patriots and fifth-seeded Kansas City Chiefs kicking things off Saturday, Jan. 16.

The TV schedule for all of the divisional-round matchups is included in the bracket below. Take a look, and then we'll break down picks for each game and take an in-depth look at one AFC and one NFC matchup:

This weekend's lineup features a neat pattern: The four teams facing off Saturday are all No. 2 or No. 5 seeds, and the four teams facing off the following day are either No. 1 or No. 6 seeds. 

Date	Away	Home	Prediction
Jan. 16	No. 5 Kansas City Chiefs	No. 2 New England Patriots	Patriots, 31-21
Jan. 16	No. 5 Green Bay Packers	No. 2 Arizona Cardinals	Cardinals, 28-20
Jan. 17	No. 6 Seattle Seahawks	No. 1 Carolina Panthers	Panthers, 31-28
Jan. 17	No. 6 Pittsburgh Steelers	No. 1 Denver Broncos	Broncos, 17-14

Featured AFC Game Preview

No. 5 Kansas City Chiefs at No. 2 New England Patriots: Saturday, Jan. 16, 4:35 p.m. ET (CBS)

The Patriots that take the field against the Chiefs on Saturday will not resemble the team that fell to the Miami Dolphins in the final week of the regular season, and there are three key reasons why: wide receiver Julian Edelman, linebacker Dont'a Hightower and offensive tackle Sebastian Vollmer. 

Those heavyweights, who have been battling foot, knee and ankle injuries, respectively, all practiced for the Patriots on Monday, per CBS Boston.

For the offense, getting Edelman and Vollmer back will fortify quarterback Tom Brady against a Chiefs defense that had 47 regular-season sacks and will be determined to knock Brady down as much as possible.

Vollmer's role in protecting Brady is obvious, but Edelman's presence on the field for the first time since he suffered a broken foot in Week 10 will give the quarterback a reliable quick-strike target who will enable him to get out of sticky situations.

Even though the Patriots will be coming in at full strength, don't rule Kansas City out of this one. As Ben Volin of the Boston Globe pointed out, the Chiefs are a nightmare opponent for New England: 

There's a good chance this matchup represents the changing of the NFL guard, a time when the Patriots aren't the favorites to win the AFC title and rising young talent could win the day. 

After all, Kansas City is feeling lethal coming off a 30-0 drubbing of the Houston Texans in the Wild Card Round, with its stout defense forcing five turnovers in the process.

The Chiefs feature some of the best special teams play in the league, both in terms of returns—such as Knile Davis' 106-yard score against Houston—and preventing opponents from scoring in this phase of the game.

And when these two teams last met, Kansas City walked away as the winner of a 41-14 blowout in September 2014.

This matchup could make for the best television of the entire divisional round, so don't miss it. 

Featured NFC Game Preview 

No. 5 Green Bay Packers at No. 2 Arizona Cardinals: Saturday, Jan. 16, 8:15 p.m. ET (NBC)

The Green Bay Packers looked like a different team—like the Packers of old, prior to their puzzling tailspin this season—as they handily defeated Washington, 35-18, in the Wild Card Round. 

The win set up a juicy rematch against the Arizona Cardinals, who embarrassed Green Bay, 38-8, in Week 16 of the regular season.

What went right for Green Bay against Washington, and how can the Packers recreate that success against Arizona? Well, to start, there's one factor that the Packers can't control: the strength of their opponents' secondary.

Washington's secondary couldn't press and play the kind of coverage that has given Green Bay's receivers trouble this season, which allowed the Packers passing game to flourish for the first time in weeks.

And while Washington does boast a strong pass rush on paper, it didn't do much to Aaron Rodgers, finally allowing the quarterback to drop back, set his feet and find the throw he wanted to make rather than scrambling incessantly and holding the ball too long.

The Cardinals defense, however, will undoubtedly give the Packers a tougher test. When these two teams last met, Arizona sacked Rodgers eight times and shut down Green Bay's pass-catchers. 

As Evan Silva of Rotoworld pointed out, the Packers don't match up well with this Arizona team: 

And while the Packers defense has been strong this season, especially against Washington, the Cardinals offense is perhaps the league's most dynamic. The emergence of running back David Johnson means more openings for quarterback Carson Palmer, who can excel in the short game and air it out. 

While it's encouraging that the Packers got things together over Wild Card Weekend, it won't be enough to get the job done against the Cardinals.