NFL Playoff Bracket 2018: Divisional Schedule, Odds for Road to Super Bowl 52

The pretenders are gone. It's time for the heavyweights to take the field in the NFL playoffs.

After sitting out the first weekend of action, the top seeds return to stake their claim in the postseason. The Philadelphia Eagles, who appeared to be the best team in the league by a fairly significant margin through the first 14 weeks, have much to prove in the divisional playoffs as they host the sixth-seeded Atlanta Falcons.

The defending NFC champions came through with a fairly surprising 26-13 road win over the NFC West champion Los Angeles Rams on Saturday night.

The Atlanta defense stifled Jared Goff and the Los Angeles offense, and while the Rams had high hopes for the first playoff game in Los Angeles in 21 years, they struggled to produce. The last time the Rams played a home postseason game in the Los Angeles Coliseum was in January 1979, when they dropped a 28-0 decision to the Dallas Cowboys.

The Falcons had an up-and-down regular season, but they won their season finale at home against the Carolina Panthers to qualify for the playoffs and looked like a focused, dangerous team against the Rams.

They will go to Lincoln Financial Field Saturday at 4:35 p.m. ET, and the Falcons are 2.5-point road favorites over the Eagles, according to OddsShark.

The Eagles have not been the same team since second-year quarterback Carson Wentz suffered an ACL injury against the Rams in Week 14. Nick Foles took over at that point, and while he was able to lead the Eagles to a victory over the New York Giants in Week 15, the Eagles offense stalled against the Oakland Raiders in Week 16 and came to a standstill in a Week 17 shutout loss to the Dallas Cowboys.

The New England Patriots will host the Tennessee Titans Saturday night at 8:15 p.m. ET. The top-seeded Patriots are attempting to win their second straight Super Bowl and third in four years, and they will have home-field advantage throughout the AFC playoffs.

Steven Senne/Associated Press

The Patriots are 13.5-point favorites over the Titans. Tennessee earned its spot in the divisional playoffs with a come-from-behind 22-21 victory over the Kansas City Chiefs.

Marcus Mariota helped key the comeback victory with two TD passes against the Chiefs, one of which he caught himself. His pass near the goal line was batted back toward him, he caught the rebound and dove to the pylon for the Titans' first touchdown of the game.

Tom Brady will try to attack with tight end Rob Gronkowski along with wide receivers Danny Amendola and Brandin Cooks.

The Pittsburgh Steelers will host the Jacksonville Jaguars in the other AFC divisional playoff game at 1:05 p.m. Sunday. Jacksonville won the AFC South title this season and defeated the Buffalo Bills 10-3 in a Wild Card Game.

The Jaguars will almost certainly need more production than they were able to muster against the Bills because Pittsburgh has an explosive offense.

The Steelers will attack with quarterback Ben Roethlisberger and running back Le'Veon Bell, and they are hoping to have wideout Antonio Brown back in the lineup. Brown suffered a calf injury in Week 15, and he did not play in the final two regular-season games.

The Steelers are 7.5-point favorites over the Jaguars, even though Jacksonville defeated Pittsburgh 30-9 in a Week 5 trip to the Steel City.

The New Orleans Saints held on for a 31-26 victory over the Carolina Panthers in the final Wild Card Game, and that means the fourth-seeded Saints will play the second-seeded Minnesota Vikings on Sunday at 4:40 p.m. at U.S. Bank Stadium.

The Vikings finished the season with a 13-3 record as quarterback Case Keenum directed the 10th-ranked offense in the league and head coach Mike Zimmer's team had the top-ranked defense.

That unit will have to be at its best against Drew Brees, Mark Ingram, Alvin Kamara and the rest of the Saints offense. 

The host Vikings have been installed as 4.5-point favorites. 

Super Bowl Odds

(courtesy of OddsShark)

New England Patriots, +210
Minnesota Vikings, +375
Pittsburgh Steelers, +525
New Orleans Saints, +750
Philadelphia Eagles, +1200
Jacksonville Jaguars, +2200
Atlanta Falcons, +2500
Tennessee Titans, +7500