NFL Playoff Bracket 2019: AFC, NFC Divisional Picture, Schedule and Scenarios

The Indianapolis Colts are on a roll, having won 10 of their last 11 games, including last week's NFL wild-card victory over the Houston Texans.

The Colts displayed three of the weapons needed to have success in the postseason in that 21-7 road win. Their offensive line gave quarterback Andrew Luck brilliant protection, and it opened holes for Marlon Mack in the running game.

The defense also kept the favored Texans from establishing any traction. That may have been the most impressive factor, since Houston had quarterback Deshaun Watson and wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins—a duo as dangerous as any in the NFL.

The Colts may be the No. 6 seed in the AFC playoffs, but they are dangerous. The top-seeded Kansas City Chiefs have to know that is the case.

The Chiefs were one of the best teams in football throughout the season, but they lost two of their final three games and played their best football in the earlier part of their schedule.

Clearly, the Chiefs can light up the scoreboard with quarterback Patrick Mahomes (50 TD passes, 5,097 yards), explosive wideout Tyreek Hill (1,479 yards, 12 TDs) and tight end Travis Kelce (1,336 yards, 10 TDs), but can they stop Luck and the Indianapolis offense?

The Chiefs had the 31st-ranked defense in the NFL this season, and their inability to stop opposing offenses is a huge problem.

It can clearly be argued that the Colts are the better all-around team, despite the seeding difference between the two teams.

The point spread in this game is a curious one. In many cases, the rested No. 1 seed is often favored by more than a touchdown in its first playoff game. In this case, the homestanding Chiefs are 5.5-point favorites, per OddsShark, and that's indicative of the issues facing this team.

In addition to their problems on defense, the Chiefs have lost 11 of their last 12 playoff games and their last six home postseason games. The pressure will clearly be on the home team, as the Colts have already exceeded expectations.

Divisional-Round Schedule

All times ET

Saturday, January 12

No. 6 Indianapolis Colts at No. 1 Kansas City Chiefs, (-5.5), 4:35 p.m., NBC 

No. 4 Dallas Cowboys at No. 2 Los Angeles Rams, (-7), 8:15 p.m., Fox 

Sunday, January 13

No. 5 Los Angeles Chargers at No. 2 New England Patriots, (-4), 1:05 p.m., CBS 

No. 6 Philadelphia Eagles at No. 1 New Orleans Saints, (-8), 4:40 p.m., Fox

Point spread information courtesy of OddsShark.

In addition to the broadcast networks, all playoff games can be viewed on FuboTV.

Dallas at Los Angeles Rams

The Cowboys were impressive in holding off the Seattle Seahawks in the wild-card game, and they should be in a good position to give the Rams a high-scoring fight in the divisional playoffs.

The Cowboys have Ezekiel Elliott at the top of his game, and the Rams are going to have to figure out a way to slow down the Dallas running back after he ran for 137 yards in the win over Seattle.

The Rams allowed an NFL-worst 5.1 yards per rushing attempt, and Elliott should have an excellent chance to run for 150 yards or more.

If the Cowboys get their running game unleashed, that will make things easier for Dak Prescott (242.8 passing yards per game, 22 TDs), and he will have an opportunity to trigger the Dallas passing.

Jared Goff (293.0 passing yards per game, 32 TDs) and head coach Sean McVay are quite capable of putting on a huge offensive show, as this team's signature game was a 54-51 victory over the Chiefs in a Week 11 Monday night game.

Todd Gurley will attempt to match Elliott, but he missed the final two games of the regular season with a knee injury and was limited in practice Tuesday. Backup C.J. Anderson is a competent running back (299 yards, 7.0 yards per carry), but a productive Gurley is a better alternative.

The Cowboys appear to be in excellent shape for a game against the NFC's No. 2 seed.

Los Angeles Chargers at New England

The Chargers did not lose a game outside of Los Angeles this season.

They were 7-1 on the road during the regular season, and that loss away from home came at the hands of the cross-town Rams. They built on that impressive mark by holding off the Baltimore Ravens 23-17 in the wild-card game.

The Chargers had the same 12-4 record that the Chiefs had during the regular season, and the only reason the Chiefs won the division crown and the conference's top seed is that they had a better divisional record (5-1 vs. 4-2) than Los Angeles.

After a game against the top-ranked Baltimore defense, the Chargers have to take on Bill Belichick, Tom Brady and the Patriots on their home turf. This is almost always a losing proposition in the divisional playoffs, but the Chargers have a formidable team.

Philip Rivers (32 TD passes, 68.3 completion percentage) has three game-changing receivers in Keenan Allen, Mike Williams and Tyrell Williams. The Chargers also have a couple of defensive stalwarts in Melvin Ingram (7.0 sacks) and Joey Bosa (5.5 sacks), who can cause big problems for New England.

The Patriots are not as explosive as they have been, and neither Brady (29-11 TD-interception ratio) nor tight end Rob Gronkowski (47 receptions for 682 yards and three TDs) have been at their best this season. T

he loss of wideout Josh Gordon clearly hurts, and the Patriots are clearly vulnerable in this game even though they are favored by four points.

Philadelphia at New Orleans

The Eagles have responded well late in the season, winning their last three regular-season games and beating the Chicago Bears in the wild-card game thanks to a double-doink failure of a game-winning FG attempt by Chicago's Cody Parkey.

Nick Foles and the Eagles certainly had luck on their side in their 16-15 victory over the Bears, but they are also the defending Super Bowl champions. They may have struggled during the majority of the regular season, but they are coming close to top form in the postseason.

Tight end Zach Ertz (116 receptions) and wideouts Alshon Jeffery (65 catches) and Nelson Agholor (64 catches) give Foles a solid trio of pass catchers, and Golden Tate is the X-factor because he can make the big catch when it matters most. Tate caught the game-winning TD pass in the win at Chicago.

However, the Saints were a 13-3 team during the regular season, and they pounded the Eagles 48-7 during the regular season.

While the Eagles are a better team than they were in Week 11, it does not seem likely they have made enough progress to beat Drew Brees (74.4 completion percentage, 32 TDs), Alvin Kamara (18 TDs) and Michael Thomas (125 receptions, 1,409 yards, 9 TDs).

The Saints are eight-point home favorites, and it seems likely they will survive this divisional playoff game and host the NFC Championship game a week from Sunday (January 20).