Earlier today, the New England Patriots locked up the second seed in the AFC and a first-round bye in the playoffs. Consequently, the team will not enter the tournament until two weeks from today — and we now know exactly when the Patriots will join the postseason party: New England will host a divisional round game on Sunday, January 13 at 1:05 p.m. ET. The contest will be broadcast on CBS.
When looking at the AFC’s playoff picture, there are three possible opponents to come to Foxboro that day: the third-seeded Houston Texans, the fourth-seeded Baltimore Ravens, or the fifth-seeded Los Angeles Chargers will make the trip to face the Patriots in their postseason opener. New England already defeated the Texans 27-20 earlier this season, but has neither played the Ravens nor Chargers.
The date and time of the Patriots’ first game is not the only playoff contest we know. Check out the full schedule for the next two weekends here:
Wild card round
AFC: Saturday, January 5 (4:35 p.m. ET): #6 Indianapolis Colts at #3 Houston Texans (ESPN/ABC)
NFC: Saturday, January 5 (8:15 p.m. ET): #5 Seattle Seahawks at #4 Dallas Cowboys (FOX)
AFC: Sunday, January 6 (1:05 p.m. ET): #5 Los Angeles Chargers at #4 Baltimore Ravens (CBS)
NFC: Sunday, January 6 (4:40 p.m. ET): #6 Philadelphia Eagles at #3 Chicago Bears (NBC)
Divisional round
AFC: Saturday, January 12 (4:35 p.m. ET): AFC #4/#5/#6 at #1 Kansas City Chiefs (NBC)
NFC: Saturday, January 12 (8:15 p.m. ET): NFC #3/#4/#5 at #2 Los Angeles Rams (FOX)
AFC: Sunday, January 13 (1:05 p.m. ET): AFC #3/#4/#5 at #2 New England Patriots (CBS)
NFC: Sunday, January 13 (4:40 p.m. ET): NFC #4/#5/#6 at #1 New Orleans Saints (FOX)