NFL Playoff Bracket 2017: Picture, Scenarios for AFC, NFC Divisional Round

The New England Patriots earned their ideal postseason scenario when they defeated the Miami Dolphins on the final day of the regular season and clinched home-field advantage throughout the AFC playoffs.

When they did that, they were assured of playing all their postseason games at Gillette Stadium until they get to the Super Bowl in Houston. That was not the case a year ago when they dropped their final two regular-season games and were forced to play the AFC title game in Denver. 

They lost that game and the Broncos went on to become Super Bowl 50 champions. Head coach Bill Belichick was not going to let that mistake happen again, and now they have the ideal scenario. All they have to do is win at home, and they will have a chance to win the franchise's fifth Super Bowl.

The Patriots may get tested in the AFC Championship Game by the Kansas City Chiefs or Pittsburgh Steelers, but they should not have an issue in the divisional playoffs Saturday night against the Houston Texans.

Houston has never won a road game at New England, and the Patriots have the advantages of rest, a powerful offense and a major special teams edge, according to Football Outsiders' advanced rankings.

Belichick is concerned about Houston's effective defense, and he is particularly impressed with inside linebackers Benardrick McKinney and Brian Cushing.

"Those two guys are as good as any combination of inside [linebackers]—I mean individually they're as good as we've played against—but they're as good as any combination of inside linebackers that we see or that we've seen in awhile," Belichick told Nora Princiotti of the Boston Globe. "They do everything well."

Conference	Matchup (with seeding information)	Date	Time (ET)	TV
NFC	Seattle (3) at Atlanta (2)	Jan. 14	4:35 p.m.	Fox
AFC	Houston (4) at New England (1)	Jan. 14	8:15 p.m.	CBS
AFC	Pittsburgh (3) at Kansas City (2)	Jan. 15	1:05 p.m.	NBC
NFC	Green Bay (4) at Dallas (1)	Jan. 15	4:40 p.m.	Fox

The Chiefs and Steelers are certainly concentrating all their efforts on beating each other Sunday afternoon, but both teams will be rooting for the Texans to somehow come up with the upset. If that were to happen, the winner of the matchup between Pittsburgh and Kansas City would have home-field advantage in the AFC title game.

The Chiefs have that edge against the Steelers, but the visitors will almost certainly roll into Arrowhead Stadium with full confidence. The Steelers have won eight games in a row as they prepare for the Chiefs, and they dominated Kansas City when the two teams met in Week 4.

Pittsburgh came away with a 43-14 win at Heinz Field, and the Steelers are clearly playing their best football of the season right now.

The combination of Ben Roethlisberger, Le'Veon Bell and Antonio Brown gives the Steelers an advantage that few other teams can match.

Roethlisberger met the media on Sunday wearing a walking boot on his right foot, but he said via email (h/t Ron Cook of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette) that his foot was fine and the boot was merely precautionary.

The Chiefs are a much more conservative team, but the presence of explosive rookie Tyreek Hill gives them a big-play threat as a receiver, runner or in the return game.

If Kansas City is going to win, cornerback Marcus Peters and safety Eric Berry are going to have to play superior games to keep the Steelers receivers from asserting themselves

The Atlanta Falcons have been on a roll, winning seven of their last nine games behind the second-ranked offense in the game. 

Matt Ryan has been a solid quarterback throughout his career, but he has raised his level of play this season, as he has completed 69.9 percent of his passes for 4,944 yards and 38 touchdowns.

Mike McCarn/Associated Press

While the Falcons can dominate through the air, they have a powerful one-two punch at running back with Devonta Freeman and Tevin Coleman. The backfield duo has combined for 1,599 yards and 19 touchdowns on the ground.

Add in wideout Julio Jones and complementary receiver Mohamed Sanu, and the Falcons have a formidable offense.

The Seattle Seahawks will try to slow Atlanta down, and the Seattle defense has been the backbone of this team for years. In the past, it has been able to win the battle against dangerous offensive teams, and the team has the personnel with Michael Bennett, Bobby Wagner and Richard Sherman to make a stand.

It is going to be up to the Falcons to stand up to their experienced opponents and win the battle.

If the Dallas Cowboys beat the Green Bay Packers Sunday afternoon, the winner of the Seattle-Atlanta game will be on the road for the NFC Championship Game on January 22. However, if the streaking Packers come up with the road upset Sunday, the Seattle-Atlanta winner will have home-field advantage in the conference title game.

Quarterback Aaron Rodgers is certainly on a roll for the Packers, who won their last six regular-season games before beating the New York Giants 38-13 in their wild-card meeting.

Rodgers threw four TD passes against the Giants, and he has as a 22-0 TD-to-interception ratio over his last eight games. 

The Packers could be short-handed against the Cowboys after wideout Jordy Nelson took a heavy shot to his side against New York, and NFL Network's Ian Rapoport reported that he suffered fractured ribs. Even if Nelson is able to play, he will have a difficult time competing at a high level.

The Cowboys were the most consistent team in the NFC this season, and the play of rookies Dak Prescott and Ezekiel Elliott has been spectacular.

However, as well as both teams have played, it's one thing to dominate in the regular season—it's quite another to do it in the playoffs.