The NFL has announced the playoff schedule for the next two weeks, and the 49ers will be playing a day game on Saturday, January 14, when they being their postseason campaign. The 49ers will host a divisional round game at 1:30pm PT on FOX and will face either the New Orleans Saints or the winner of the likely New York Giants-Atlanta Falcons wild card matchup.
The NFL playoffs conducts a re-seeding of teams after the first round to match the worst remaining seed with the #1 seed and the best remaining seed with the #2 seed. The 49ers thus cannot play the Detroit Lions in the second round, likely much to the chagrin of FOX television executives.
The 49ers could have been scheduled for the 5:00pm PT slot on Saturday, but after the power outage at Candlestick Park, that was an unlikely scenario for the team. Instead, they get an early afternoon contest against one of several excellent playoff squads.
The number one seeded Green Bay Packers get the either the winner of Giants-Falcons or the Detroit Lions at 1:30pm PT. Barring an unexpected upset, the Packers would then advance to face the winner of the second matchup at Lambeau Field on Sunday, January 22.
Here is the complete schedule for the first two rounds of the 2012 NFL Playoffs:
NFL WILD CARD WEEKEND
Saturday, January 7
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AFC: 4:30 PM (ET) |
Cincinnati at Houston (NBC) |
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NFC: 8:00 PM (ET) |
Detroit at New Orleans (NBC) |
Sunday, January 8
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NFC: 1:00 PM (ET) |
Atlanta at Dallas/N.Y. Giants (FOX) |
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AFC: 4:30 PM (ET) |
Pittsburgh at Denver (CBS) |
NFL DIVISIONAL PLAYOFFS
Saturday, January 14
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NFC: 4:30 PM (ET) |
New Orleans/Dallas-N.Y. Giants/Atlanta at San Francisco (FOX) |
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AFC: 8:00 PM (ET) |
Denver/Pittsburgh/Cincinnati at New England (CBS) |
Sunday, January 15
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AFC: 1:00 PM (ET) |
Houston/Denver/Pittsburgh at Baltimore (CBS) |
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NFC: 4:30 PM (ET) |
Dallas-N.Y. Giants/Atlanta/Detroit at Green Bay (FOX) |