NFL Playoff Schedule: Wildcard Weekend : Road to Super Bowl 2011

The NFL playoffs are finally here, which can only mean one thing: Get your popcorn ready baby. In fact, you should probably just install a popcorn machine next to your couch this weekend because you won’t be moving from it. The NFL playoffs kick off this weekend (Jan. 8-9) and with New England, Pittsburgh, Atlanta and Chicago all earning first-round byes, there are eight teams that will duke it out during Wildcard Weekend.

Hopefully your team is one of the Lucky 12 that navigated their way into the playoffs because the popcorn will taste that much better. As we all have come to learn, It’s a new season and anybody can win … except for Seattle. We will give credit where credit is due though. Congratulations Seattle, you became the first team in the NFL to make the playoffs with a losing record (7-9). Be proud Seachickens!

Check out the four games on tap for this weekend.

Saturday, January 8
No. 5 New Orleans Saints (11-5) at No. 4 Seattle Seattle (7-9) at Qwest Field, 4:30 p.m., ET, NBC
The defending Super Bowl champion Saints will travel to Seattle to take on the Seahawks, which we noted earlier, is the first team to make the NFL playoffs with a losing record. Tampa Bay and New York both had a better record than Seattle but because the Seahawks won the NFC West title, they get an automatic bid to the playoffs. Drew Brees and the Saints offense will roll in this game.

No. 6 New York Jets (11-5) at No. 3 Indianapolis Colts (10-6) at Lucas Oil Stadium, 8 p.m. ET, NBC
The Indianapolis Colts haven’t played anywhere near the caliber that we’ve come to expect from under the tutelage of Peyton Manning, but they’re in so it doesn’t matter now. Peyton has looked rattled at times this year, especially against the blitz, so look for the Jets and coach Rex Ryan to exploit that fact with some creative blitz packages.

Sunday Jan. 9
No. 6 Green Bay Packers (10-6) at No. 3 Philadelphia Eagles (10-6) at Lincoln Financial Field, 4:30 p.m. ET, FOX
Green Bay played their way into the playoffs with a 10-3 win over Chicago in Week 17, while Philadelphia put it on cruise control knowing that it would have the No. 3 seed regardless. The Packers will go into Lincoln Financial Field looking for an upset over Michael Vick, who has had an MVP-type season. The Packers beat the Eagles earlier this season, but at that point Vick was still playing behind Kevin Kolb. Seriously, how long ago does that seem?

No. 5 Baltimore Ravens (12-4) at No. 4 Kansas City Chiefs (10-6) Arrowhead Stadium, 1 p.m., ET, CBS
The Kansas City Chiefs are the biggest surprise of the NFL season, but they will have a tough welcome-to-the-playoffs moment when they host Ray Lewis and the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday. Ray Rice, Joe Flacco and Anquan Boldin power the Ravens offense, while Matt Cassel has his own star target in wideout Dwayne Bowe. Arrowhead might be one of the toughest places to play, but I doubt the term “tough environment” is even in the Ravens vocabulary.

NFL DIVISIONAL PLAYOFFS
Saturday, January 15
AFC: 4:30 PM (ET) Indianapolis or Kansas City or Baltimore at Pittsburgh (CBS-TV)
NFC: 8:00 PM (ET) St. Louis/Seattle or New Orleans or Green Bay at Atlanta (FOX-TV)

Sunday, January 16
NFC: 1:00 PM (ET) Philadelphia or St. Louis/Seattle or New Orleans at Chicago (FOX-TV)
AFC: 4:30 PM (ET) Kansas City or Baltimore or New York Jets at New England (CBS-TV)