When people think of brackets they think of the NCAA Tournament, but like any tournament, the NFL playoffs are a bracket as well. We'll break down the bracket for both conferences as the playoff games unfold.
NFC
The Packers-Giants game was supposed to be the best game of the weekend and it turned out to be the biggest blowout of the entire four-game wild card slate, with Aaron Rodgers blasting Eli Manning and Co., 38-13. The win sends New York home -- with plenty of boat controversy! -- and gives us delightful rematches in all four games of the divisional rounds.
Perhaps the best rematch is the Packers-Cowboys game, which will go down on Sunday, Jan. 15, at 4:40 p.m. ET at AT&T Stadium in Arlington. Dallas won 30-16 the first time the two teams played, with the Cowboys mauling the Green Bay defense. That aspect might not change, but this is certainly a different game.
Rodgers is playing some of his best football right now and everyone wants to see what happens when Cowboys rookies Dak Prescott and Ezekiel Elliott step on the field for the first time in the playoffs. The Cowboys are four-point favorites in this game to open.
You really don't want to play against the Seahawks in Seattle. They're now undefeated at home in the playoffs under Pete Carroll, having gone 10-0 since 2005 when hosting a postseason game. Carroll is also 21-3-1 in prime time, which is terrifying. Seattle rolled the Lions, in a game that was full of some controversy, beating Detroit 26-6.
Fortunately the Falcons don't have to. The Seahawks will now travel to Atlanta to play the Falcons in a game that will be a fascinating NFC divisional-round matchup. Seattle just showed they can run, with Thomas Rawls exploding for a Seahawks postseason record 161 rushing yards. We know they can play defense, particularly in the secondary. And the Falcons' strength is the passing game and their weakness is probably stopping the run. It's interesting. That game will take place on Saturday, Jan. 14, at 4:35 p.m. ET (on Fox).
AFC
For the third straight game in the wild-card round, we got to see a home team absolutely demolish a visiting underdog. And the Steelers' 30-12 manhandling of the Dolphins was easily the biggest blowout yet.
Ben Roethlisberger and Antonio Brown got the party started early with a pair of long touchdown passes (Ben opened up 7-for-7 for 162 yards and two scores) and the Pittsburgh defense spent the afternoon punishing Miami.
The reward for the Steelers is a trip to Arrowhead to face off against the Chiefs, a team they last saw during Week 4 when Pittsburgh annihilated Kansas City 43-14 en route to looking like the best team in the AFC. That game will take place on Sunday, Jan. 15, at 1:05 p.m. ET (on NBC).
Week 4 certainly lingers, but neither team is necessarily the same and both teams are certainly better. The Steelers offense looked like it was clicking on all cylinders against the Dolphins, and Le'Veon Bell isn't fresh off a suspension. But the Chiefs are substantially better too -- Tyreek Hill has emerged as one of the best playmakers in the league. He and Travis Kelce give the Chiefs added dimensions on offense.
Still, the Chiefs are underdogs early on, with the Steelers opening as 1.5-point favorites according to Sportsbook.ag.
On the other side of the bracket, the Patriots are in an incredible spot. The Texans are also headed for a rematch -- the two teams met in September when New England, sans Tom Brady, blanked the Texans 27-0. The rematch would be on Saturday, Jan. 14, at 8:15 p.m. ET on CBS. (You can stream it via CBS All Access.)
That game featured Jacoby Brissett at quarterback and with Brady under center this week, New England opens as a whopping 16-point favorite.
