Here are the times and dates for the NFL 2015-16 postseason. All times are Eastern. Referee assignments will be posted when available. (Playoff assignment criteria)
Wild Card Playoffs
Click here to see the full crews for the Wild Card playoffs.
Saturday, Jan. 9
- âµChiefs at â´Texans, 4:35 p.m. ESPN ABC — Ron Torbert
- â¶Steelers at ³Bengals, 8:15 p.m. CBS — John Parry
Sunday, Jan. 10
- â¶Seahawks at ³Vikings, 1:05 p.m. NBC — Walt Coleman
- âµPackers at â´Washington, 4:40 p.m. Fox — Gene Steratore
Divisional Playoffs
Click here to see the full crews for the Divisional playoffs.
Saturday, Jan. 16
- âµChiefs at ²Patriots, 4:35 p.m. CBS — Craig Wrolstad
- âµPackers at ²Cardinals, 8:15 p.m. NBC — Clete Blakeman
Sunday, Jan. 17
- â¶Seahawks at ¹Panthers, 1:05 p.m. Fox — Tony Corrente
- â¶Steelers at ¹Broncos, 4:40 p.m. CBS — Terry McAulay
Conference Championships
Click here to see the full crews for the Conference Championships.
Sunday, Jan. 24
- ²Patriots at ¹Broncos, 3:05 p.m. CBS — Ed Hochuli
- ²Cardinals at ¹Panthers, 6:40 p.m. Fox — Bill Vinovich
Super Bowl 50
Sunday, Feb. 7
- Panthers vs. Broncos*, 6:35 p.m. CBS — Clete Blakeman (full crew)
*designated home team
Will you be doing predictions for each game Ben?
(and by predictions, I mean ref assignments, not game results)
Would love a technical explanation of how the league determines playoff schedule. Is it pre set in the off season. For example, this years schedule gives an advantage to the #2 seeds in both conferences as they get an extra day of rest assuming the seeds win out.
The consideration for the “extra day of rest” is negligible, I’m sure. The primary factor is the TV networks. (They also will not have a game kick off before noon local time.) The networks alternate the primetime game for the conference championship, then the other primary network (CBS or Fox) gets a primetime game in one of the other rounds. Also with NBC and ESPN taking 3 games, one network will lose an extra game, which I believe won’t happen to the same network in consecutive years. Also, it has to be structured so that one network doesn’t have 2 games on the same day. Once that is all lined up, the teams are distributed to the network slots they can occupy.
I don’t agree with the seahawks at number 1, but this is easily the strongest year of 6 seeds. The Steelers and Seahawks have to be favored on the road against the Bengals and Vikings. Vikings just lost to the Seahawks by 31 points in week 13, and the Steelers won by 13 on the road against the Bengals in week 14.
My predictions for these games will be
KC Hou: Bill Vinovich
Pit Cincy: Gene Steratore
Sea Min: Pete Morelli
GB WSH: Walt Anderson
Ben Austro,
What a shock that TV $$$ controls all. Sigh. Seriously, the extra day of rest may be “negligible” to those inside the process of picking the playoff dates/times, but to the players and teams it’s a big advantage. A strong argument can be made that the extra day or rest negates home field advantage.
The big change this year that’s going to affect the playoffs is the ongoing ignoring of the “no contact past 5 yards” rule for receivers and defensive backs. The NFL made it a point of emphasis five years ago, and it was a lot of fun to watch the Green Bays, the Denvers, and the New Englands turn passing into an art form. Now the officials are letting the D backs mug the receivers every play, and it’s no coincidence that all these passing games tanked. Look for defense and the run to rule the playoffs.
Well said JW….
Ed Hochuli is on the sidelines at Carolina. I guess no playoffs on-field for him this year? Superbowl ref usually comes out of this round.