NFL Playoff Bracket 2017: Wild-Card Picture and Divisional-Round Scenarios

It's not unusual to see one of the teams playing on Wild Card Weekend to emerge and represent its conference and possibly win the Super Bowl.

The Baltimore Ravens won the Super Bowl as the fourth seed following the 2012 season, the New York Giants won the title following the 2011 season as the fourth seed and the Green Bay Packers won the title as the sixth seed after the 2010 season.

The Pittsburgh Steelers are the No. 3 seed in the AFC playoffs, and they appear to be a dangerous team. They have a powerful group of superstars at the skilled positions in Ben Roethlisberger, Le'Veon Bell and Antonio Brown, and any team that beats them is going to have to be at the top of its game.

Game	Date	Time (ET)	TV
Oakland at Houston	Jan. 7	4:35 p.m.	ESPN/ABC
Detroit at Seattle	Jan. 7	8:15 p.m.	NBC
Miami at Pittsburgh	Jan. 8	1:05 p.m.	CBS
N.Y. Giants at Green Bay	Jan. 8	4:40 p.m.	Fox

The Steelers open up the playoffs with a home game Sunday afternoon against the Miami Dolphins. These two teams met in Week 6 at Miami, and the Dolphins came away with a 30-15 victory. However, the Steelers are a much hotter team at this point, having won seven games in a row to end the regular season.

The other AFC Wild Card Game will feature the fifth-seeded Oakland Raiders going to Houston to take on the Texans. Houston won the AFC South and is the No. 4 seed in the playoffs.

Both the Raiders and Texans have quarterback issues. The Raiders lost star quarterback Derek Carr in Week 16 to a broken fibula, and backup Matt McGloin had to leave the Raiders' Week 17 game at Denver due to a shoulder injury. Rookie Connor Cook took over and finished the 24-6 defeat.

Conference	Game	Date	Time (ET)	TV
NFC	No. 3, 4 or 5 seed at Atlanta	Jan. 14	4:35 p.m.	Fox
AFC	No. 4, 5 or 6 seed at New England	Jan. 14	8:15 p.m.	CBS
AFC	No. 3, 4 or 5 at Kansas City	Jan. 15	1:05 p.m.	NBC
NFC	No. 4, 5 or 6 at Dallas	Jan. 15	4:40 p.m.	Fox

Oakland head coach Jack Del Rio is unsure of McGloin's status for the Wild Card Game. 

"We'll see how healthy McGloin is and make the decision from there," Del Rio told the media after the game (h/t Jimmy Durkin of the Mercury News). "Obviously he has more experience in our system, but I thought Connor did a nice job with the opportunities that he had."

Cook completed 14 of 21 passes for 150 yards with one touchdown and one interception. He also fumbled twice.

Had the Raiders won the game, they would have been the AFC West champions and would have been the No. 2 seed in the AFC playoffs. That defeat opened things up for the Kansas City Chiefs, who defeated the San Diego Chargers and won the division and the second seed in the conference.

The NFC Wild Card Weekend will feature two NFC North teams. The Detroit Lions finished as the sixth seed when they lost to the Green Bay Packers 31-24 Sunday night. They will play the third-seeded Seattle Seahawks Saturday night.

The Packers earned the NFC North title with their win, and that gave them the No. 4 seed. They will host the New York Giants, the fifth seed overall.

The Giants defeated the Washington Redskins 19-10 in their regular-season finale, and that defeat knocked the Redskins out of the playoffs. If Washington had won that game, it would have earned the sixth spot as long as the Green Bay-Detroit game did not end up in a tie.

The New England Patriots and Kansas City Chiefs will have byes next weekend as the top two AFC seeds. The Dallas Cowboys and Atlanta Falcons will also have next weekend off as the top two NFC seeds.

Dallas had clinched the No. 1 spot in Week 16, and the Falcons cemented their position when they defeated the New Orleans Saints Sunday.

The top-seeded Patriots will play the lowest remaining AFC seed in the divisional playoffs Saturday, January 14, at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts. The Chiefs will host their divisional playoff game at Arrowhead Stadium on January 15.

The Cowboys will host the lowest surviving NFC seed January 15, while the Falcons will host their divisional playoff game the day before.