NFL Playoff Picture 2017: Odds and Scenarios for Sunday's Wild Card Games

The NFL playoffs featured two boring and forgettable wild-card matchups Saturday.

Houston beat Oakland 27-14 in a contest that featured fewer than 500 total yards of offense and an 18-of-45 passing performance from Raiders third-string quarterback Connor Cook, who was gutsy but had no chance against the Houston defense.

Seattle beat Detroit 26-6 in a game where the Lions never passed the Seahawks' 33-yard line.

Otherwise, Seahawks wideout Paul Richardson made a ridiculous catch, fellow wide receiver Doug Baldwin literally (and hilariously) stole a touchdown from teammate Jermaine Kearse, and Thomas Rawls rushed for 161 yards against a Swiss cheese Lions run defense that lacked discipline all game.

That's all you need to know. Hopefully, Sunday's games are a bit more exciting.

Here is the latest NFL playoff picture, with odds for Sunday's games and divisional round scenarios based on who wins. 

We'll also offer a few predictions in the midst of our scenario breakdowns.

NFL Playoff Picture

A slight update to the bracket you see below: Seattle is guaranteed to face the Atlanta Falcons in the divisional round by virtue of beating the Detroit Lions. Everything else is up in the air at the moment.

Wild Card Lines

Matchup	Odds
Miami Dolphins at Pittsburgh Steelers	Pittsburgh (-12.5, O/U 46)
New York Giants at Green Bay Packers	Green Bay (-5.5, O/U 44.5)

Source: OddsShark

Miami at Pittsburgh

Scenario 1: Pittsburgh Beats Miami

If this happens, the Steelers will go to Kansas City and play the Chiefs Sunday, Jan. 15 at 1:05 p.m. ET, which means the Houston Texans would then play New England on Saturday, Jan. 14 at 8:15 p.m. ET.

The line in Pittsburgh has jumped to an astronomical 12.5 points. Sportsbooks opened the betting at seven-and-a-half points in favor of Pittsburgh to start, and that number quickly jumped to 10.

The line moved to 11 Friday before jumping to 12.5 late Saturday night, perhaps reacting to the news that Dolphins cornerback Byron Maxwell, who helped slow Steelers wide receiver Antonio Brown to four catches and 39 yards in a 30-15 Dolphins win over Pittsburgh in October, is doubtful with an ankle sprain.

If Maxwell can't go, his absence will prove to be the death knell in Miami's chances. Per Pro Football Focus, no other cornerback on Miami's roster finished in the top 50 overall this season. That bodes well for Brown and the Steelers to have a big offensive showing.

Scenario 2: Miami Beats Pittsburgh

If the Dolphins pull off the upset, the Fins will go to New England and play the Patriots Saturday, Jan. 14 at 8:15 p.m. ET, which means Houston would then go to Kansas City Sunday, Jan. 15 at 1:05 p.m. ET.

This should be said: Miami isn't going to give up to anyone. And it beat the Steelers handily three months ago, 30-15. That was not a fluke.

The problem is that the Steelers, in particular quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, are a much better home team. Big Ben sported 20 touchdowns to five interceptions this season versus nine TDs to eight interceptions on the road. And the Steelers are scorching hot right now, winning their last seven games.

Miami is pretty hot too, taking nine of its last 11, but it's hard to see the Fins beating Pittsburgh when they have significant personnel concerns.

Of note, Dolphins center Mike Pouncey, one of the best at his position in the league, played in Miami's win over the Steelers. He was on the field for the entirety of running back Jay Ajayi's three-game stretch midseason when he rushed for 519 yards and four touchdowns.

He's on injured reserve now and will not play Sunday.

On the other side, Steelers linebacker Ryan Shazier missed the game in October. He'll be playing Sunday.

Expect the Dolphins to fight to the finish and find some success through the air late to try to claw back in the game, but ultimately the favorite should hold serve and head to Kansas City next weekend.

New York at Green Bay

The scenario here is easy: The winner of this game goes to Dallas and plays the Cowboys Sunday, Jan. 15 at 4:40 p.m. ET.

This is a rematch of a Week 5 Sunday Night Football contest in which Green Bay beat the Giants 23-16. Although the game was decided by only seven points, it didn't feel that close, as the G-Men scored a meaningless touchdown with less than three minutes left in the game.

The spotlight is going to shine bright on two people (Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers and Giants wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr.) and one unit (the Giants secondary), but there are plenty of matchups and potential X-factor players to discuss otherwise.

For the Giants, it's the running back duo of Paul Perkins and Rashad Jennings as well as wide receiver Victor Cruz.

The G-Men would love to run early and often Sunday to keep the ball out of Rodgers' hands and to quiet the Lambeau Field crowd. The Giants ran for 154 rushing yards against Washington last Sunday (with 102 from Perkins), which is perhaps a sign that their struggling run game is starting to turn around.

As far as Cruz, the Packers should key in on Beckham all night, giving other Giants receivers the chance to make plays.

Cruz has that shot for sure. He picked up a whopping 13 targets against Philadelphia in Week 16, catching eight passes for 84 yards. Perhaps that will help give him confidence going into the matchup in Green Bay.

For the Packers, the X-factor is Jared Cook, who has struggled all season but has a plus matchup against New York, which time and again has allowed tight ends to catch passes up the middle, down the sideline and in the end zone this year.

It'll be a close game that can go either way. Give me the Packers to win a close one (20-17) and head to Dallas.