After a wild Sunday of NFL football, there is still plenty up for grabs and two playoff spots to be decided.
Pittsburgh was eliminated in Week 16, while Cincinnati and Seattle clinched post-season berths.
Two division races (NFC East, NFC West) will come to down the final week while first-round byes and an NFC Wild Card spot remains available.
Let’s look at all the remaining scenarios in the playoff race:
AFC
All six playoff teams have been decided but there still can be a lot of momentum to be gained in the conference on the final Sunday of the season.
1) Houston Texans (12-3): With the loss to Minnesota, the Texans were unable to clinch home field advantage in the AFC. Houston will lock up the No.1 seed in the conference with a victory over Indianapolis on Sunday.
In the event that they lose, Houston could drop as low as the third seed if both New England and Denver pick up Week 17 victories.
2) Denver Broncos (12-3): The Broncos already wrapped up the AFC West and could land a first-round bye with a win over Kansas City next Sunday or a New England loss or tie to Miami.
Denver has already lost the tiebreaker to Houston (head-to-head) but can still take the top spot in the conference with a win combined with a Houston loss. A loss to Kansas City and a New England win would have the Broncos land in the No.3 spot and host a Wild Card matchup.
3) New England Patriots (11-4): The Patriots enter the final weekend as the No.3 seed but that could drastically change as they wrap up the regular season.
New England picked up head-to-head wins over Houston and Denver so they can still clinch home field advantage with a win over Miami and losses by both the Texans and Broncos.
They can land a first-round bye with a win combined with a loss by either Denver or Houston but can drop as low as the fourth seed if they lose to Miami and Baltimore defeats Cincinnati. If all three of the top seeds win, New England is idle in the third spot and will host the Bengals in the Wild Card round.
4) Baltimore Ravens (10-5): Baltimore cannot finish with a first-round bye and can only move up to the third spot with a win over the Bengals, combined with a Miami win over New England. A loss or a New England win would have the Ravens take on the Colts in the Wild Card round.
5) Indianapolis Colts (10-5): The Colts have locked up the No. 5 seed with the win over Kansas City.
6) Cincinnati Bengals (9-6): The Bengals have locked up the No. 6 seed with the win over Pittsburgh.
NFC
1) Atlanta Falcons (13-2): The Falcons locked up the No. 1 seed and home field throughout the NFC playoffs.
2) Green Bay Packers (11-4): The Packers rolled past the Titans and still sit in the No. 2 spot. Mike McCarthy’s squad can clinch a first-round bye with a win over the Vikings in Week 17.
The Packers can still clinch a first-round bye with a loss, as long as San Francisco and Seattle both lose as well.
3) San Francisco 49ers (10-4-1): Even with last week’s loss to Seattle, the 49ers can wrap up the NFC West with a win over the lowly Cardinals on Sunday. With a Green Bay loss, San Francisco can finish in the No.2 slot if they defeat Arizona.
If Jim Harbaugh’s squad falls to Arizona and Seattle beats St. Louis, San Francisco will finish as the fifth seed and host the NFC East winner in the first round of the playoffs.
4) NFC East Winner: Dallas Cowboys (8-7) or Washington Redskins (9-6)
The Cowboys and Redskins face off on Sunday Night Football. All tiebreakers are irrelevant. The winner of the game will win the division and host a first-round playoff game on Wild Card weekend.
A Cowboys loss would eliminate Dallas but Washington still has potential to finish as the No. 6 seed even if they lose on Sunday.
Note: The Dallas-Washington game will take place at 8:20 p.m. ET next Sunday.
5) Seattle Seahawks (10-5): The Seahawks landed a playoff spot with the victory over San Francisco last Sunday. The 49ers still own the lead in the division but Seattle can overtake them with a win over St. Louis and a San Francisco loss.
If San Francisco wins or Seattle loses, the 49ers win the division and the Seahawks will take on the NFC East winner in the first round.
6) Still in play: MIN, CHI, WAS, NYG
–Minnesota Vikings (9-6): The Vikings have the upper hand and will make the playoffs with a win over Green Bay. If Minnesota loses, they can only make the playoffs if all of the other contending teams fall short as well.
–Chicago Bears (9-6): The Bears cannot make the playoffs with a Minnesota victory so they will need to uncharacteristically root for the Packers. A win over Detroit and a Vikings loss would give the Bears the No. 6 spot.
–Washington Redskins (9-6): As mentioned above, the Redskins can still make the playoffs with a loss to Dallas. In that scenario, Washington would land the No. 6 seed with a loss, combined with losses from both Chicago and Minnesota.
–New York Giants (8-6): Somehow, the Giants are still alive in this race. In an ironic twist, they’ll need to cheer for the rival Redskins. A Dallas loss would eliminate the Cowboys and the Giants could slide into the final spot with a win over Philadelphia and losses from both Minnesota and Chicago.
Easy to understand? I thought so.
Hope that helped and enjoy the final week of what has been a fun regular season.
