2013 NFL playoff schedule: Falcons could see number of teams in postseason

The Atlanta Falcons have clinched a first-round bye in the NFC playoffs, that much they know for sure. But beyond that, the NFC playoff picture is so muddled that it's not clear which teams will join the Falcons as division winners or who will join the Falcons in having a bye week.

But this much is assured, when the Falcons take the field for the first time after the end of the regular season, it will be at home, against the lowest remaining seed in the NFC and not until the divisional round of the NFC playoffs.

Two spots remain open in the NFC's slate of playoff-bound teams after the Falcons, San Francisco 49ers, Green Bay Packers and Seattle Seahawks clinched spots recently. Many combinations of those four teams, plus any of the five teams alive for the final two spots, could make for the Falcons' first opponent in the playoffs.

All will be determined next weekend when the final games are played, most notably the showdown between the Washington Redskins and Dallas Cowboys for the NFC East title.