The NFL Playoff picture is set for the 2017 season and is sure to be very exciting with a lot of close games.  The favorites to take the Lombardi Trophy are the New England Patriots and the Dallas Cowboys.  The Patriots have a very experienced team while the Cowboys have a lot of players who have never been there before.  As the wild card round is over, the Oakland Raiders, Detroit Lions, New York Giants, and the Miami Dolphins have been eliminated.  

The Houston Texans are having some quarterback troubles as Tom Savage was recently injured and Brock Osweiler has struggled all season long.  After a solid performance by Brock Osweiler and Lamar Miller, they will have to take on a very strong New England team.  The Patriots have had very few turnovers and have an offense that can march down the field in just a few plays.  The Patriots claimed the first seed in the AFC and have looked very strong this season with Tom Brady back and Legarrette Blount in the backfield, who leads the NFL in rushing touchdowns.  

The Cowboys have been one of the hottest teams this season, led by two rookies, Dak Prescott and Ezekiel Elliott.  The Cowboys have done a great job throwing the deep ball to Dez Bryant and can beat anyone on the ground with one of the top offensive lines in the NFL.  These two teams will be playing at home throughout the playoffs and are both favorites to make a run to the Super Bowl.  They will take on a strong Green Bay defense and star quarterback Aaron Rodgers and Jordy Nelson.  They are always a hard team to beat and fans should be in for an exciting game that is won late.  

The Falcons have peaked at the end of the season with pro-bowl combo Matt Ryan and Julio Jones and their very strong defense.  In addition, Devonta Freeman has come on as of late and Tevin Coleman has been a strong runner all season long.  The Seattle Seahawks came on very strong at the end of the season as Russell Wilson is fully healthy and he has found targets Jimmy Graham and Doug Baldwin recently.  Their defense is not what it used to be, but will still be able to get to Matt Ryan and cause some bad throws.  

Moving on to the last matchup.  The Pittsburgh Steelers look like they could go pretty far in the playoffs.  They finally have their three stars Ben Roethlisberger, Antonio Brown, and Le’Veon Bell back and are hoping to put up a lot of points in their upcoming game as they take on the tough Kansas City Chiefs.  The Kansas City Chiefs have flourished without legendary running back Jamaal Charles, with rookie Tyreek Hill and Spencer Ware in the backfield.  The Chiefs could be in some trouble as Ware recently suffered a rib injury, but the first round bye should give him some time to recover.