NFL Playoff Schedule 2017: Divisional Bracket Overview, Championship Predictions

The New England Patriots should be preparing for the AFC Championship Game against the Pittsburgh Steelers or Kansas City Chiefs.

Well, there's the matter of a divisional playoff game Saturday night against the Houston Texans, but that appears to be little more than a walkthrough.

Handicappers have established the Patriots as 16-point favorites over the Texans, according to OddsShark. The biggest reason for that is the Patriots go into battle at home with head coach Bill Belichick and quarterback Tom Brady running the show, and the Texans will counter with Bill O'Brien and disappointing Brock Osweiler.

The Patriots rolled to a 14-2 record this season and dominated the AFC East, while the Texans struggled to win the AFC South with a 9-7 record. The Texans won their wild-card matchup with the Oakland Raiders, but their opponents went into battle with a rookie third-string quarterback who was making his first start.

That was the same situation the Texans faced in September when they went to Foxborough to take on the Patriots in the third game of the season. In that matchup, Jacoby Brissett was under center for the Pats and New England's playbook was quite limited. Still, the Patriots pulled away to a 27-0 victory.

It seems that overconfidence could be the biggest issue for the Patriots. If they could handle the Texans so easily with their No. 3 quarterback in the lineup, how will they do with Brady running the show?

Game	Date	Time (ET)	Pointspread	Predicted winner
Seattle at Atlanta	Jan. 14	4:35 p.m.	Atlanta (-6)	Atlanta
Houston at New England	Jan. 14	8:15 p.m.	New England (-16)	New England
Green Bay at Dallas	Jan. 15	4:40 p.m.	Dallas (-4.5)	Dallas*
Pittsburgh at Kansas City	Jan. 15	8:20 p.m.	Kansas City (-1.5)	Pittsburgh
*-Wins, but fails to cover

Conference	Visitor	Home	Predicted Winner
AFC	Pittsburgh	New England	New England
NFC	Atlanta	Dallas	Dallas

Belichick excels at all aspects of coaching, and he walks with Vince Lombardi among the game's all-time greats. The thing he does best is keeping his team focused, and he will not let his players take anything for granted.

The Texans have a strong defense led by Jadeveon Clowney, Whitney Mercilus and Brian Cushing. Houston finished with the No. 1 ranked defense in the league, and they should be capable of slowing the New England offense down.

But that does not mean stopping them. The Pats have LeGarrette Blount running the ball, and he gained 1,161 yards and pounded the ball into the end zone 18 times. Wideout Julian Edelman and tight end Martellus Bennett are a consistent receiving duo for Brady, while former Arizona Cardinal Michael Floyd could be an X-factor because of his ability to make game-changing plays with his power and run-after-the-catch ability.

New England's defense allowed fewer points than any team in the league and ranked eighth in yards allowed. That unit already shut out the Texans, and it would be a surprise if they gave up two touchdowns in this game.

The Patriots also have a huge special teams advantage in this game. While New England had a couple of breakdowns this year, they are still quite strong in that area while Houston was once again at the bottom of the league, according to Football Outsiders' rankings.

The Texans would need a turnover advantage of at least plus-three to stay in this game, and we don't see it happening. The Patriots should win with ease and cover the immense point spread.

Jeffrey Phelps/Associated Press

Green Bay at Dallas

The Green Bay Packers can feel fairly satisfied with their seven-game winning streak that has allowed them to move on to the divisional playoffs.

They were playing poorly after their record dropped to 4-6 following an embarrassing loss to the Washington Redskins in Week 11. While quarterback Aaron Rodgers appeared to be coming into form, the defense was abominable.

At that point, Rodgers stepped it up dramatically and the Green Bay defense turned things around. They won the NFC North and secured a convincing wild-card win over the New York Giants. 

Now the Packers have one of their most difficult assignments, as they travel to AT&T Stadium to take on the resurgent Dallas Cowboys. While Rodgers is on his game, as he has not thrown an interception since Week 10 against the Tennessee Titans and has thrown 22 touchdown passes since then, he won't have brilliant Jordy Nelson (broken ribs) in this game (h/t ESPN.com).

The Packers have a couple of big-time receivers in Randall Cobb and Davante Adams, but trying to beat the Cowboys without Nelson will be difficult.

The Cowboys are keyed by rookie stars Dak Prescott and Ezekiel Elliott, and they should be able to pick up where they left off in the regular season. While the Packers defense has improved during their winning streak, they seem quite unlikely to shut down the Cowboys with a unit that ranked 22nd in yards allowed.

The Cowboys are 5-point favorites and we see the Packers keeping the game fairly close. But when the game is on the line, the Cowboys will make the decisive plays and advance to the NFC Championship Game.

Don Wright/Associated Press

Pittsburgh at Kansas City

Miserable winter weather has forced the NFL to move this game from Sunday afternoon to Sunday prime time, and while the ice storms may be over by the time the game starts, the conditions will still be difficult for all concerned (h/t Weather.com).

The Steelers may have the most explosive offensive team in the postseason, so it seems likely that weather issues will impact them more than the homestanding Chiefs.

The Steelers handled the Chiefs 43-14 in a Week 4 game at Pittsburgh, and the Steelers are playing much better now as they come into this game with an eight-game winning streak.

The formidable combination of quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, running back Le'Veon Bell and wideout Antonio Brown are capable of dominating, but the Chiefs will be competitive.

They are hoping to have pass-rusher Justin Houston (knee) back in the lineup, and he will be supported by cornerback Marcus Peters (26 passes defensed and six interceptions) and safety Eric Berry (13 passes defensed, four interceptions and two were returned for touchdowns).

Kansas City quarterback Alex Smith reads defenses well and excels at throwing short- and medium-range passes. This game should be much closer than the earlier meeting between these two teams, but look for Roethlisberger to make the key play to Brown when the game is on the line.

The Steelers will come up with the upset as 1.5-point underdogs and advance to the AFC title game.