If the season ended now:
AFC first-round byes: (1) Patriots; (2) Bengals
AFC wild card: (6) Steelers at (3) Broncos; (5) Chiefs at (4) Texans
NFC first-round byes: (1) Panthers; (2) Cardinals
NFC wild card: (6) Vikings at (3) Packers; (5) Seahawks at (4) Redskins
The final six postseason teams could be determined in Week 16, but it isn't likely.
The Washington Redskins get the first crack to become the NFC's third division champion. A win at the Philadelphia Eagles would assure Washington of a home playoff game against the Seattle Seahawks, Minnesota Vikings, Green Bay Packers or Atlanta Falcons. However, a Philadelphia win would vault the Eagles into first place and also keep the New York Giants alive, for at least another night.
Elsewhere in the NFC, a Packers loss at the Arizona Cardinals would mean the Vikings' Sunday night game has no impact on the NFC North race (barring any tie games) but still could have wild-card implications, though the Vikings would clinch a spot with a Falcons loss or Seahawks win earlier.
A Packers win would force the Vikings to win the late game in order to make Week 17's Vikings-Packers game decide the division.
In the AFC, the Denver Broncos would move into the No. 2 position with a win Monday against the Cincinnati Bengals but could drop all the way to No. 7 with a loss. If favored teams win in Sunday's early games, the Kansas City Chiefs and Pittsburgh Steelers would clinch playoff berths, and the New York Jets will need the Broncos to lose twice.
The Bengals-Broncos game also could give the Texans the AFC South title if Houston doesn't clinch the strength of victory tiebreaker Sunday. If the Texans and Colts win in early games, strength of victory would decide the division title if the teams finish tied, meaning the Texans could clinch with a Bengals win Monday (or a Saints win later Sunday).
In a worst-case scenario, the Eagles and an AFC South team could win their divisions at 7-9 while the 11-5 Denver Broncos or New York Jets miss the playoffs.
(y=clinched division, x=clinched playoff berth, all times Eastern)
y-1. New England Patriots (12-2, East champion; at Jets, 1; @Mia)• Clinched a first-round playoff bye because of a better record (4-1) than the Bengals (2-2) in common games (Bills, Broncos, Steelers and Texans) and a better conference record (9-3) than the Broncos (8-4; the head-to-head loss wouldn't matter in a three-way tie).
• Would clinch the No. 1 seed and home-field advantage through the AFC playoffs with a win at the Jets or at the Dolphins.
x-2. Cincinnati Bengals (11-3, North leader; at Broncos, Mon 8:30; Bal)• Clinched a playoff berth because of a head-to-head win against the Chiefs in Week 4 and a better record (4-1) than the Jets (2-3) in common games (Bills, Browns, Raiders and Texans).
• Would clinch the North with a Steelers loss/tie Sunday at the Ravens or win/tie Monday at the Broncos. Would clinch in Week 17 with a win/tie or Steelers loss/tie or by rallying to win the strength of victory tiebreaker.
• Would clinch a first-round playoff bye with a win/tie at the Broncos.
• Would clinch the No. 1 seed and home-field advantage through the AFC playoffs with two wins and two Patriots losses.
3. Denver Broncos (10-4, West leader; vs. Bengals, Mon 8:30; SD)• Would clinch the West with a win Monday against the Bengals and Chiefs loss to the Browns.
• Would clinch a playoff berth with a win and both/either a Steelers loss at the Ravens and/or Jets loss to the Patriots.
• Would clinch a first-round playoff bye with two wins or a win against the Bengals plus a Bengals loss to the Ravens plus a Chiefs loss/tie.
• Would clinch the No. 1 seed and home-field advantage through the AFC playoffs with two wins and two Patriots losses.
4. Houston Texans (7-7, South leader; at Titans, 1; Jax)• Would clinch the South and No. 4 seed Sunday or Monday with a win at the Titans and either a Colts loss at the Dolphins or clinching the strength of victory tiebreaker (if the Jets win against the Patriots and Falcons lose to the Panthers and the Saints win later against the then-eliminated Jaguars, or one of those occurs and the Bengals win Monday at the Broncos).
• Also would clinch the South and No. 4 seed with two more wins or two Colts losses plus a Jaguars loss/tie.
5. Kansas City Chiefs (9-5, top wild card; vs. Browns, 1; Oak)• Lead the race for the No. 5 seed because of a better conference record (8-2) than the Steelers and Jets (6-4). Also beat the Steelers in Week 7.
• Would clinch a playoff berth with two wins. Would clinch a playoff berth Sunday with a win against the Browns and both/either a Steelers loss at the Ravens and/or Jets loss to the Patriots.
• Would clinch the West with two wins plus a Broncos loss or a win plus two Broncos losses because of division record (5-1/4-2 to 4-2/3-3).
• Would clinch a first-round playoff bye with two wins and the Steelers winning the North and a Broncos loss to the Chargers.
6. Pittsburgh Steelers (9-5, bottom wild card; at Ravens, 1; @Cle)• Lead the Jets for the No. 6 seed because of a better record in common games (3-1 to 2-2 against the Browns, Colts, Patriots and Raiders). Also would win a possible tie because of strength of victory.
• Would clinch a playoff berth with two wins. Would clinch a playoff berth Sunday with a win at the Ravens and Jets loss to the Patriots.
• Would clinch the North with two wins and two Bengals losses and a better strength of victory than the Bengals (which would occur with a Bills loss or Chiefs loss or Seahawks loss or Cardinals win or Colts win or Broncos win next week).
• Would clinch a first-round playoff bye with a division title (see above) and Broncos loss to the Chargers and Chiefs loss/tie.
New York Jets (9-5; vs. Patriots, 1; @Buf)• Would clinch a playoff berth with two wins and a Chiefs loss or Steelers loss or Broncos loss.
• Would be eliminated Monday with a loss to the Patriots and Chiefs win against the Browns and Steelers win at the Ravens and Broncos win/tie against the Bengals.
Indianapolis Colts (6-8; at Dolphins, 1; Ten)• Would clinch the South and No. 4 seed with a win against the Titans plus two Texans losses, or two wins plus a Texans loss plus rallying to win the strength of victory tiebreaker, or a win at the Dolphins plus two Texans losses plus a Jaguars loss/tie at the Saints plus rallying to win the strength of victory tiebreaker.
• Would be eliminated Sunday or Monday with a Texans win at the Titans and both either a loss/tie at the Dolphins and/or losing the strength of victory tiebreaker (which could occur Sunday and probably would occur Monday if the Bengals beat the Broncos).
Jacksonville Jaguars (5-9; at Saints, 4:05; @Hou)• Would clinch the South and No. 4 seed with two wins and a Colts loss to the Titans and a Texans loss at the Titans because of a better conference record (6-6) than the Colts and Texans (5-7).
• Would be eliminated with a Texans win/tie at the Titans or loss/tie at the Saints.
y-1. Carolina Panthers (14-0, South champion; at Falcons, 1; TB)• Would clinch the No. 1 seed and home-field advantage through the NFC playoffs with a win/tie at the Falcons or Cardinals loss/tie to the Packers.
• Would lose a tie with the Cardinals because of conference record (11-1 to 10-2).
y-2. Arizona Cardinals (12-2, West champion; vs. Packers, 4:25; Sea)• Would clinch a first-round playoff bye with a win/tie against the Packers.
• Would clinch the No. 1 seed with two wins and two Panthers losses.
x-3. Green Bay Packers (10-4, North leader; at Cardinals, 4:25; Min)• Would clinch the North with a win at the Cardinals plus Vikings loss to the Giants (later), or a win/tie against the Vikings.
• Would clinch a first-round bye with two wins and a Cardinals loss to the Seahawks.
4. Washington Redskins (7-7, East leader; at Eagles, Sat 8:25; @Dal)• Would clinch the East and No. 4 seed with a win Saturday at the Eagles because of a better conference record (7-5) than the Giants (6-6) if they finish tied.
• Also would clinch the East with a win at the Cowboys and Eagles loss/tie at the Giants.
x-5. Seattle Seahawks (9-5, top wild card; vs. Rams, 4:25; @Ari)• Clinched a playoff berth because of a better record (4-1) than the Falcons (2-3) in common games (Cowboys, 49ers, Panthers, Vikings).
• Lead the Vikings for the No. 5 seed because of a head-to-head win in Week 13 but lost to the Packers in Week 2.
• Would clinch the No. 5 seed and a wild-card game at the East champion with a win against the Rams and Packers win/tie at the Cardinals and Vikings loss to the Giants (later).
6. Minnesota Vikings (9-5, bottom wild card; vs. Giants, 8:30 NBC; @GB)• Have not clinched a playoff berth because of worse strength of victory than the Falcons if they finish in a three-way tie with Seattle.
• Would clinch a playoff berth with a Falcons loss/tie to the Panthers or Seahawks win/tie against the Rams (because a head-to-head win against the Falcons in Week 12 decides a two-way tie with Atlanta) or win/tie against the Giants.
• Would clinch the North with two wins or two Packers losses because of division record (5-1 to 3-3).
Atlanta Falcons (7-7; vs. Panthers, 1; NO)• Would clinch a playoff berth (and No. 5 seed) with two wins and two Seahawks losses and two Vikings losses plus winning the strength of victory tiebreaker (which is likely; teams the Falcons would have beaten would have at least 64 wins, while teams the Vikings have beaten would have at most 66 wins and teams the Seahawks have beaten would have at most 61 wins).
• Would be eliminated with a loss/tie to the Panthers or Seahawks win/tie against the Rams or Vikings win/tie against the Giants.
Philadelphia Eagles (6-8; vs. Redskins, Sat 8:25; @NYG)• Would clinch the East and No. 4 seed with two wins or a win against the Redskins plus Giants loss at the Vikings plus Redskins loss at the Cowboys because of a better division record (4-2) than the Redskins (3-3) or a better record in common games (6-4) than the Giants (5-5) or Redskins (4-6).
• Would be eliminated with a loss/tie to the Redskins.
New York Giants (6-8; at Vikings, 8:30 NBC; Phi)• Would clinch the East and No. 4 seed with two wins and two Redskins losses but need to win the East outright.
• Would be eliminated with a Redskins win Saturday at the Eagles or loss at the Vikings.
AFC eliminated teams: Oakland Raiders (6-8), Buffalo Bills (6-8), Miami Dolphins (5-9), Baltimore Ravens (4-10), San Diego Chargers (4-10), Cleveland Browns (3-11), Tennessee Titans (3-11)
NFC eliminated teams: St. Louis Rams (6-8), Tampa Bay Buccaneers (6-8), Detroit Lions (5-9), New Orleans Saints (5-9), Chicago Bears (5-9), San Francisco 49ers (4-10), Dallas Cowboys (4-10)
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