NFL Playoff Schedule: Pittsburgh Steelers Vs. Denver Broncos; Kansas City Chiefs Vs. New England Patriots

NFL playoff schedule updates have come following the AFC wild card games. The 2016 NFL playoff schedule now includes the Pittsburgh Steelers vs. Denver Broncos and Kansas City Chiefs vs. New England Patriots in the divisional round. A report from NFL.com reveals the updated AFC playoff brackets with the games set to take place on January 16 and 17.

The NFC playoff brackets won’t begin until Sunday, January 10, with the two wild card games taking place. The two games are the Seattle Seahawks vs. Minnesota Vikings and the Green Bay Packers vs. Washington Redskins. The Seahawks vs. Vikings game takes place at 1:05 p.m. ET on NBC, followed by the Packers vs. Redskins at 4:40 p.m. ET on FOX. The winners will move on to face the Carolina Panthers and Arizona Cardinals in the divisional round of the NFC Playoffs.

In the first game of the 2016 NFL playoff schedule, the AFC South champion Houston Texans hosted the wild card Kansas City Chiefs. The game wasn’t even close with the Chiefs racing to a 30-0 victory. The Chiefs scored in each of the four quarters, intercepting Texans quarterback Brian Hoyer four times and taking care of the ball on offense. Chiefs quarterback Alex Smith completed 17-of-22 passes for 190 yards and a touchdown, helping the team move down the field at will for scoring opportunities.

With this victory, the Chiefs advance to play the AFC East champion, New England Patriots. The Patriots finished the season 12-4 and are the defending Super Bowl champions. The Chiefs will enter the game as heavy underdogs, but injuries the Patriots have suffered this season have put the team below full strength. The oddsmakers favor the Patriots in the game already, but anything can happen during the NFL Playoffs.€

On the other side of the AFC playoff brackets, the Pittsburgh Steelers beat the Cincinnati Bengals in the final moments of the game. The Steelers had an early 15-0 lead, but stumbled with quarterback Ben Roethlisberger got hurt. The Bengals would score 16 unanswered points to take what seemed like a safe lead with less than two minutes left in the game. All the Bengals had to do was run out the clock, but running back Jeremy Hill would fumble the ball away. The Steelers then connected on a game-winning field goal to advance in the playoffs.

The NFL playoff schedule now has the Pittsburgh Steelers advancing to play the AFC West champion Denver Broncos. The Broncos finished the regular season 12-4 and secured the No. 1 seed in the AFC Playoffs. This will allow the Broncos to host the divisional round game in what may be some cold Colorado weather. The winner of the Pittsburgh vs. Denver game will then go on to face the winner of the Kansas City vs. New England game in the AFC championship.

Game times for the AFC divisional round games have also been released by the NFL. The Kansas City Chiefs vs. New England Patriots game will take place on Saturday, January 16 at 4:25 p.m. ET. The Pittsburgh Steelers vs. Denver Broncos game will then take place on Sunday, January 17 at 4:40 p.m. ET. Both AFC divisional games will air on CBS and they will decide which teams will play for the AFC title.

The two NFC wild card games take place on Sunday, January 10 to decide which teams will play in the divisional round. The lowest seeded winner will advance to play the Carolina Panthers on Sunday, January 17 at 1:05 p.m. ET. That game will be broadcast on FOX. The highest seeded NFC wild card winner will advance to play the Arizona Cardinals on Saturday, January 16 at 8:15 p.m. ET. That game will be on NBC. Everything on the 2016 NFL playoff schedule leads to Super Bowl 50 on Sunday, February 7.

[Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images]