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Okay, so after another exciting weekend that included some predictable wins and some surprising upsets, the playoff picture got shaken up, yet looks clearer than it did before this weekend. The Bengals upset the Chiefs. With that result, Cincy officially clinched the division title, and they pushed the Chiefs out of the top seed of the AFC in the process. That is in part because the Titans won, and hold the tiebreaker advantage over Kansas City. Thus, entering the final week of the regular season, the road to the playoffs would run through Tennessee, if the Titans go ahead and beat the Texans next weekend.
As of right now, five teams in each conference have officially clinched playoff berths. Three trams in each conference have outright won their division titles, while other teams are still trying to win their respective divisions. The Rams should be able to clinch the NFC West title with a win next week, although the Cardinals finally snapped their losing streak and still have a chance, at least. And then in the AFC East, the Bills still control their destiny, as far as the division title goes. If they win next weekend, or if the Patriots lose, Buffalo will finally clinch the division title. Both of those teams nevertheless are in the playoffs.
Then there are the teams that are still not yet officially in. On the NFC side, the 49ers should make it, but they have not quite yet officially clinched it. The Eagles almost suffered a seriously painful loss, but managed to just squeak by against Washington to stay in a strong position. But they will have a tough game in Dallas next weekend, so it certainly is not assured just yet. And the New Orleans Saints now are the only other team hanging onto playoff hopes, but they need to win, and need either the 49ers or the Eagles to lose.
On the AFC side, it is a bit more crowded. The Colts seemed to have a playoff spot locked up just a couple of weeks ago, but that loss to the Raiders really hurt. Still, they should be in, as should he Chargers, but the Chargers and Raiders will play next weekend in what amounts to a de facto playoff game. The winner will advance, and for the loser, the season will almost assuredly be over, barring a very unlikely scenario. There are two other teams still alive, at least technically: Baltimore and Pittsburgh. But both of those teams need a lot of help to qualify, and so it seems that they are unlikely to get in.
Otherwise, the Dolphins finally saw their seven game winning streak snapped. Yet, that was enough to make their elimination official. The Browns only played on Monday Night Football, yet by Sunday afternoon, they also had officially been eliminated from playoff contention. The Falcons fought hard against the Bills, and looked like they might pull off a huge upset at Orchard Park. Instead, that loss knocked them out of playoff contention. Finally, the Broncos also saw their slim playoff hopes come to an official end as well.
Okay, exhale.
Yes, that was a mouthful. But it is always like that come playoff time, isn’t it? And this year has been particularly strange, because other than the Green Bay Packers, no teams have had anything resembling dominant records or easy times clinching playoff spots and/or division titles. Indeed, Green Bay was the only team that seemed to just pure and simply run away with everything, never looking back. Other teams that seemed to be in similar positions, like Buffalo and Dallas and Tampa Bay and Arizona, all saw late losing streaks kind of compromise their division titles, or at least prolong the time before they were officially able to clinch the division. In he case of the Cardinals, they outright lost the lead, and at least as of right now, seem highly unlikely to win the division as we sit right now.
So there we have it.
Now, let’s take a closer look at each individual game and what happened, and how each team – particularly those still fighting to qualify for the postseason, anyway – got to where they wound up.
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