The National Football League playoffs for the 2016 NFL season began on Saturday, January 7, 2017. The postseason tournament concluded with Super Bowl LI on Sunday, February 5, 2017, when the New England Patriots defeated the Atlanta Falcons in overtime at NRG Stadium in Houston, Texas.
This was the first time since 2010 that the Cincinnati Bengals and Denver Broncos did not qualify for the playoffs and the first time since 2012 that the Carolina Panthers did not qualify for the playoffs.
The Oakland Raiders and Miami Dolphins made the playoffs for the first time since 2002 and 2008, respectively.
As of the 2025–26 playoffs, this is the last postseason in which the third and fourth seeds from both conferences all won a playoff game, the opposite outcome of the previous year when every wild-card team advanced to the second round.
This was the first postseason that the Super Bowl went into overtime, and the last until the 2023–24 playoffs.
Participants
Bracket
Schedule Source:
Round Away team Score Home team Date Kickoff(ET / UTC−5) TV Viewers (millions) TV rating Wild-card round Oakland Raiders 14–27 Houston Texans January 7, 2017 4:35 p.m. ABC/ESPN 25.1 14.4 Detroit Lions 6–26 Seattle Seahawks 8:15 p.m. NBC 26.9 14.8 Miami Dolphins 12–30 Pittsburgh Steelers January 8, 2017 1:05 p.m. CBS 29.9 17.5 New York Giants 13–38 Green Bay Packers 4:40 p.m. Fox 39.3 21.3 Divisional round Seattle Seahawks 20–36 Atlanta Falcons January 14, 2017 4:35 p.m. Fox 28.7 16.2 Houston Texans 16–34 New England Patriots 8:15 p.m. CBS 29.8 16.0 Green Bay Packers 34–31 Dallas Cowboys January 15, 2017 4:40 p.m. Fox 48.5 26.1 Pittsburgh Steelers 18–16 Kansas City Chiefs 8:20 p.m. NBC 37.1 19.8 Conference championships Green Bay Packers 21–44 Atlanta Falcons January 22, 2017 3:05 p.m. Fox 46.3 25.0 Pittsburgh Steelers 17–36 New England Patriots 6:40 p.m. CBS 48.0 24.4 Super Bowl LI New England Patriots 34–28 Atlanta Falcons February 5, 2017 6:30 p.m. Fox 111.3 45.3 A. The Green Bay-Dallas game was the most-watched early-round NFL playoff game on record. B. The Pittsburgh-Kansas City game was rescheduled from a 1:05 p.m. kickoff due to public safety concerns about an ice storm affecting the Great Plains region. It thus became the first Divisional Playoff game ever played on Sunday night. The league subsequently used it as a test to consider whether to shift future Sunday playoff games into primetime, as moving games from the 1 p.m. afternoon slot potentially generates more viewers. Indeed, NBC, the broadcaster of the game, issued a press release on the following day that proclaimed that the contest was the "most-watched, highest-rated, primetime playoff game ever" in either the Wild Card or Divisional round. The league has resisted Sunday primetime games in the past because of the competitive disadvantage: if the winner was the lowest remaining seed, they would have to fly back home late Sunday night/early Monday and then travel again before their next game; while their opponent with home-field advantage might have played on Saturday, can stay at home for the next game and thus get extra time to prepare and rest.
Wild-card round Saturday, January 7, 2017 AFC: Houston Texans 27, Oakland Raiders 14
The Raiders were one of the most dominant teams in the AFC during the season, but in the final two weeks of the regular season, they lost starting quarterback Derek Carr and second-string quarterback Matt McGloin to injuries. The Raiders lost the last game and ended up going into the playoffs with Connor Cook under center, making Cook the first quarterback in the Super Bowl era to make his first NFL start in the postseason. Houston also had plenty of problems during the season as well, scoring only 25 touchdowns, the lowest number by a playoff team since the NFL expanded to a 16-game season in 1978. But in this game, they proved more than a match for the Raiders, holding them to just 202 total yards and 2-for-16 on third down conversions while scoring 27 points, without losing any turnovers or allowing any sacks.
Early in the first quarter, Shane Lechler's 30-yard punt pinned the Raiders back at their own 7-yard line. Oakland gained only two yards on their ensuing drive and Marquette King's 31-yard punt gave the Texans excellent field position on the Raiders' 40-yard line, which they converted on a Nick Novak field goal from 50 yards. Three plays into Oakland's next drive, Houston lineman Jadeveon Clowney intercepted a screen pass from Cook and returned it three yards, with an unnecessary roughness penalty on Menelik Watson adding another 15 yards and giving the Texans a first down on Oakland's 4-yard line. Lamar Miller then scored on a 4-yard touchdown run to give Houston a 10–0 lead with just over six minutes left in the first quarter. Both teams had to punt on their next possession and Jalen Richard returned Lechler's 51-yard kick 37 yards to the Texans' 38-yard line. Latavius Murray then rushed four times for 31 yards as the team drove to a touchdown on his 2-yard run, cutting the deficit to 10–7.
In the second quarter, Houston quarterback Brock Osweiler completed passes to tight end C. J. Fiedorowicz for yardage gains of 18 and 17 yards, respectively, while Miller added a 19-yard carry as the team drove 75 yards in 10 plays to score on Novak's 38-yard field goal, making the score 13–7. Later on, the Texans got the ball on their own 40-yard line with 2:25 left in the half. Osweiler completed a 19-yard pass to Will Fuller and a 38-yard pass to DeAndre Hopkins, then finished the drive with a 2-yard touchdown pass to Hopkins that gave his team a 20–7 halftime lead. The third quarter started with six consecutive punts. With 28 seconds left in the period, Houston returner Tyler Ervin muffed King's 56-yard punt, but teammate Eddie Pleasant recovered the ball and returned it 12 yards to the Texans' 47-yard line. Houston then drove 53 yards in nine plays, including a 19-yard reception by Fuller, to score on Osweiler's 1-yard touchdown run and go up 27–7. After being completely shut down up to this point, Oakland's offense finally managed to respond, moving the ball 75 yards in 11 plays, with Cook completing 5 of 9 passes for 50 yards on the drive; three completions went to Andre Holmes for 37 yards, the last one an 8-yard touchdown pass to make the score 27–14. Oakland's defense then forced a three-and-out with 6:27 left, but safety Corey Moore ended the drive with an interception of a high pass intended for Amari Cooper. Cook was intercepted again in the final two minutes, by A. J. Bouye.
Osweiler was 14-of-25 passing for 168 yards and a touchdown, while also rushing for 15 yards and a touchdown. Cornerback Johnathan Joseph had 10 solo tackles, while linebacker Whitney Mercilus had seven tackles (five solo) and two sacks. In his first start, Cook completed 18 of 45 passing attempts for 161 yards and a touchdown, with three interceptions.
This was the Raiders' final playoff game played while the team was based in Oakland, as they moved to Las Vegas in 2020.
NFC: Seattle Seahawks 26, Detroit Lions 6
Seattle dominated the Lions, holding them to just 231 total yards, 13 first downs and 2-for-11 on third down conversions.
All drives in the first quarter ended in punts, except for the last one in which the Lions drove to a 4th-and-1 situation on the Seattle 38-yard line. On the first play of the second quarter, Matthew Stafford completed a pass to tight end Matthew Mulligan, but linebackers Bobby Wagner and K. J. Wright tackled him for a two-yard loss, causing a turnover on downs. Seattle then drove 60 yards in 14 plays, nine of them rushes by Thomas Rawls for 49 yards. Faced with 4th-and-goal on the Lions' 2-yard line, quarterback Russell Wilson threw the ball to Paul Richardson, who made a diving one-handed catch in the back of the end zone despite tight coverage (and a pass interference penalty) by safety Tavon Wilson, giving Seattle a 7–0 lead. Following a punt by the Lions, Rawls' 26-yard run and Wilson's 19-yard completion to Richardson set up Steven Hauschka's 43-yard field goal, increasing Seattle's lead to 10–0. Getting the ball with 1:55 left on the clock, Detroit responded as Stafford's completions to Anquan Boldin and Marvin Jones for gains of 16 and 30 yards led to a 51-yard Matt Prater field goal that made the score 10–3 with 20 seconds left before halftime.
After forcing Seattle to punt on the opening drive of the second half, Stafford led the Lions 61 yards in 10 plays, featuring a 23-yard completion to fullback Zach Zenner, to score on Prater's 53-yard field goal, cutting their deficit to 10–6. But after this, Seattle completely took over the game. They responded by driving 65 yards in 10 plays, including a 32-yard run by Rawls, scoring on Hauschka's 27-yard field goal three plays into the fourth quarter. Then after a punt, Wilson's 42-yard completion to Doug Baldwin initiated an 82-yard drive that ended on Rawls' four-yard touchdown run, making the score 19–6 after Hauschka missed the extra point. Another Detroit punt got them the ball back with less than eight minutes remaining and they went on to put the game away with an 11-play, 84-yard drive. The key play was Wilson's 27-yard completion to Richardson on 3rd-and-5 from the Seattle 33-yard line. Wilson eventually finished the drive with a 13-yard touchdown pass to Baldwin, making the final score 26–6.
Wilson completed 23 of 30 passes for 224 yards and a pair of touchdowns. His top target was Baldwin, who caught 11 passes for 104 yards and a touchdown. Rawls set a franchise playoff record with 161 yards and a touchdown on 27 carries. Defensive end Cliff Avril had three tackles and two sacks. For the Lions, Stafford completed 18 of 32 passes for 205 yards; Jones caught four passes for 81 yards while defensive end Ezekiel Ansah had nine combined tackles (five solo) and two sacks. Prater made NFL history with two field goals greater than 50 yards in a playoff game.
Sunday, January 8, 2017 AFC: Pittsburgh Steelers 30, Miami Dolphins 12
In their regular season meeting, Miami racked up 474 yards as they defeated Pittsburgh 30–15, but this game would have a very different outcome. The Steelers gained 387 yards, forced three turnovers, recorded five sacks and scored three touchdowns in the first half on the way to a dominant 18-point win.
Pittsburgh took the opening kickoff and drove 85 yards in 5 plays, scoring on Ben Roethlisberger's pass to Antonio Brown, who hauled in the short screen and took it 50 yards to the end zone. Then after a punt, the Steelers moved the ball 90 yards in 6 plays on the way to a 62-yard touchdown completion from Roethlisberger to Brown. This time Miami managed to respond, aided by Kenyan Drake's 33-yard kickoff return to the 41-yard line. Faced with 3rd-and-13 after two plays, Matt Moore completed a 36-yard pass to receiver Kenny Stills, setting up Andrew Franks' 38-yard field goal that cut their deficit to 14–3. But after getting the ball back, Steelers running back Le'Veon Bell carried the ball 9 times for 79 yards on a 10–play, 83-yard drive that ended with his 1-yard touchdown run, giving the team a 20–3 lead after Chris Boswell missed the extra point.
Miami then drove 39 yards in 12 plays, scoring on Franks' 47-yard field goal with less than 5 minutes left in the second quarter. Pittsburgh responded with a drive to the Dolphins' 34-yard line, but with 1:12 left, Roethlisberger threw a pass that bounced off the outstretched hands of Brown and was intercepted by safety Michael Thomas, who returned it 16 yards to the Dolphins' 27-yard line. Miami subsequently moved the ball to the Steelers' 8-yard line, featuring a 37-yard completion from Moore to DeVante Parker. But on the next play, Moore lost a fumble while being sacked by James Harrison and Steelers defensive end Stephon Tuitt recovered the ball, allowing Pittsburgh to go into the half maintaining their 20–6 lead.