2017 NFL Playoffs NFL Wild Card Saturday TV Schedule: Raiders At Texans, Lions At Seahawks

Well, here we are again. Another year of postseason NFL football, another year of watching from the outside. Such is life as a Rams fan.

Nonetheless, we’ve got two wild card games kicking things off in the 2017 NFL Playoffs that should be pretty entertaining, save for the removed drama from injuries which nobody (with a soul) should be happy about.

Here’s your duo for today:

Oakland Raiders at Houston Texans

4:35pm ET - ESPN/ABC

This one is dominated by the injuries to both teams’ starting quarterbacks.

QB Derek Carr broke his leg in Oakland’s Week 16 win over the Indianapolis Colts, meaning they’ll roll with Connor Cook as the starting QB and Matt McGloin as the backup. Raiders LT Donald Penn was ruled out in heartbreaking fashion.

Houston has been forced to go back to their huge free agent signing in QB Brock Osweiler who was replaced late in the season by QB Tom Savage. Savage suffered a concussion in Week 17 and was unable to pass through the concussion protocol to be able to play today pushing Brandon Weeden up into the backup slot.

It’s an inviting matchup, though one certainly of a different shade with the injuries at QB.

Detroit Lions at Seattle Seahawks

8:15pm ET - NBC

This one is a much more inviting matchup in terms of quality, though it could struggle to impress the neutral observer.

Will the Lions’ powerful offense be able to cut through the Seattle’s Legion of Boom defense even as Detroit QB Matt Stafford is playing with just nine usable fingers? And will the Seattle offense be able to upend a weak Detroit defense with significant concerns on the Seahawks’ offensive line?

Streaming

NBC and CBS will stream for free. FOX and ESPN require subscription.

There are no redos. Two teams go on to the divisional round, two join the Rams and 20 other teams as observers, no longer participants.

Let the 2017 NFL Playoffs begin.