2016–17 NFL Playoffs
From Iwe
| 2016–17 NFL playoffs | ||
| Dates | January 7–February 5, 2017 | |
| Teams | 12 | |
| Defending champions | Denver Broncos (did not qualify) | |
| Matches played | 11 | |
| ← 2015–16 | 2017–18 → | |
The National Football League playoffs for the 2016 NFL season will begin on Saturday, January 7, 2017. The postseason tournament will conclude on Sunday, February 5, 2017, with Super Bowl LI at NRG Stadium in Houston, Texas.
Contents |
Participants
- Further information: National Football League playoffs § Current playoff system
Within each conference, the four division winners and the two wild card teams (the top two non-division winners with the best overall regular season records) qualified for the playoffs. The four division winners are seeded 1 through 4 based on their overall won-lost-tied record, and the wild card teams are seeded 5 and 6. The NFL does not use a fixed bracket playoff system, and there are no restrictions regarding teams from the same division matching up in any round. In the first round, dubbed the wild-card playoffs or wild-card weekend, the third-seeded division winner hosts the sixth seed wild card, and the fourth seed hosts the fifth. The 1 and 2 seeds from each conference then receive a [[Bye (Sports)|bye in the first round. In the second round, the divisional playoffs, the number 1 seed hosts the worst surviving seed from the first round (seed 4, 5 or 6), while the number 2 seed will play the other team (seed 3, 4 or 5). The two surviving teams from each conference's divisional playoff games then meet in the respective AFC and NFC Conference Championship games, hosted by the higher seed. Although the Super Bowl, the fourth and final round of the playoffs, is played at a neutral site, the designated home team is based on an annual rotation by conference.
| Playoff seeds | |||||
| Seed | AFC | NFC | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | New England Patriots (East winner) | Dallas Cowboys (East winner) | |||
| 2 | Kansas City Chiefs (West winner) | Atlanta Falcons (South winner) | |||
| 3 | Pittsburgh Steelers (North winner) | Seattle Seahawks (West winner) | |||
| 4 | Houston Texans (South winner) | Green Bay Packers (North winner) | |||
| 5 | Oakland Raiders (wild card) | New York Giants (wild card) | |||
| 6 | Miami Dolphins (wild card) | Detroit Lions (wild card) | |||
| For details on the NFL playoff format, see National Football League playoffs#Current playoff system | |||||
Bracket
.
| Jan 8 – Heinz Field | Jan 15 – Arrowhead Stadium | |||||||||||||||||
| 6 | Miami | 12 | ||||||||||||||||
| 3 | Pittsburgh | 18 | ||||||||||||||||
| 3 | Pittsburgh | 30 | Jan 22 – Gillette Stadium | |||||||||||||||
| 2 | Kansas City | 16 | ||||||||||||||||
| See Re-seeding below | ||||||||||||||||||
| AFC | ||||||||||||||||||
| Jan 7 – NRG Stadium | 3 | Pittsburgh | ||||||||||||||||
| Jan 14 – Gillette Stadium | ||||||||||||||||||
| 1 | New England | |||||||||||||||||
| 5 | Oakland | 14 | AFC Championship | |||||||||||||||
| 4 | Houston | 16 | ||||||||||||||||
| 4 | Houston | 27 | Feb 5 – NRG Stadium | |||||||||||||||
| 1 | New England | 34 | ||||||||||||||||
| Wild Card Playoffs | ||||||||||||||||||
| Divisional Playoffs | ||||||||||||||||||
| Jan 7 – CenturyLink Field | ||||||||||||||||||
| Jan 15 – AT&T Stadium | ||||||||||||||||||
| 6 | Detroit | 6 | Super Bowl LI | |||||||||||||||
| 4 | Green Bay | 34 | ||||||||||||||||
| 3 | Seattle | 26 | Jan 22 – Georgia Dome | |||||||||||||||
| 1 | Dallas | 31 | ||||||||||||||||
| See Re-seeding below | ||||||||||||||||||
| NFC | ||||||||||||||||||
| Jan 8 – Lambeau Field | 4 | Green Bay | ||||||||||||||||
| Jan 14 – Georgia Dome | ||||||||||||||||||
| 2 | Atlanta | |||||||||||||||||
| 5 | NY Giants | 13 | NFC Championship | |||||||||||||||
| 3 | Seattle | 20 | ||||||||||||||||
| 4 | Green Bay | 38 | ||||||||||||||||
| 2 | Atlanta | 36 | ||||||||||||||||
- Re-seeding: Home field is determined by seeding number, not position on the bracket. The NFL does not use a fixed bracket system. The outcome of the games between the sixth and third seeds in each conference determine where the Wild Card winners will play in the next round. When a third seed wins, they next travel to the second seed. When the sixth seed wins, they travel to the first seed. The winner between the fifth and fourth seeds will play the remaining second round host team in that conference.
- Conference Championship home field goes to the higher seed remaining.
- * Indicates overtime victory
Television coverage
All playoffs games will be televised nationally on network television.
ABC and ESPN simulcast one wild card game, while Fox will broadcast the rest of the NFC Playoff games. Coverage of the AFC Wild Card and Divisional playoff games will be split between NBC and CBS. CBS will have exclusive coverage of the AFC Championship Game. Fox will have exclusive coverage of the NFC Championship Game and Super Bowl LI.
NFL Playoff schedule
| Away team | Score | Home team | Date | Kickoff (EST) | TV |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wild Card Playoffs | |||||
| Oakland Raiders | 14–27 | Houston Texans | January 7, 2017 | 4:35 p.m. | ABC/ESPN |
| Detroit Lions | 6–26 | Seattle Seahawks | January 7, 2017 | 8:15 p.m. | NBC |
| Miami Dolphins | 12–30 | Pittsburgh Steelers | January 8, 2017 | 1:05 p.m. | CBS |
| New York Giants | 13–38 | Green Bay Packers | January 8, 2017 | 4:40 p.m. | Fox |
| Divisional Playoffs | |||||
| Seattle Seahawks | 20–36 | Atlanta Falcons | January 14, 2017 | 4:35 p.m. | Fox |
| Houston Texans | 16–34 | New England Patriots | January 14, 2017 | 8:15 p.m. | CBS |
| Green Bay Packers | 34–31 | Dallas Cowboys | January 15, 2017 | 4:40 p.m. | Fox |
| Pittsburgh Steelers | 18–16 | Kansas City Chiefs | January 15, 2017 | 8:20 p.m. | NBC |
| Conference Championships | |||||
| Green Bay Packers | Atlanta Falcons | January 22, 2017 | 3:05 p.m. | Fox | |
| Pittsburgh Steelers | New England Patriots | January 22, 2017 | 6:40 p.m. | CBS | |
| Super Bowl LI NRG Stadium, Houston, Texas | |||||
| AFC Champion | NFC Champion | February 5, 2017 | 6:30 p.m. | Fox | |
