The 2021 playoff race is all but wrapped up as we enter the final week of the regular season, but there are still three wild card spots up for grabs.
AFC
Tennessee Titans 11-5*
Kansas City Chiefs 11-5*
Cincinnati Bengals 10-6*
Buffalo Bills10-6*
New England Patriots10-6*
Indianapolis Colts 9-7
Los Angeles Chargers 9-7
Contention:
8. Las Vegas Raiders 9-7
9. Pittsburgh Steelers 8-7-1
10. Baltimore Ravens 8-8
NFC
Green Bay Packers 13-3*
Los Angeles Rams 12-4*
Tampa Bay Bucs 12-4*
Dallas Cowboys 11-5*
Arizona Cardinals 11-5*
San Francisco 49ers 9-7
Philadelphia Eagles 9-7*
Contention:
8. New Orleans Saints 8-8
* = clinched playoffs
The Indianapolis Colts, Los Angeles Chargers, and San Francisco 49ers have yet to clinch a playoff spot before their week 18 matchups. The Colts failed to clinch after losing to Las Vegas last week. The Chargers lost an improbable game to Houston week 16 and are climbing out of the hole by beating Denver last Sunday. The 49ers have performed well this season but are working on overcoming a mid-season stretch where they lost 4 out of 5 games, partly due to injury issues with many starters.
Outlook
Indianapolis @ Jacksonville
Los Angeles (C) @ Las Vegas
Pittsburgh @ Baltimore
San Francisco @ Los Angeles (R)
New Orleans @ Atlanta
This is about as juicy as you could hope for the first extended season (with extra playoff teams) in NFL history. Not including the matchups that will decide seeding, there are five games this weekend with do-or-die playoff implications. Doesn't get any more down to the wire than that.
-If Indianapolis takes care of Jacksonville as they should, they will lock up the 6th seed and potentially could jump New England should the Patriots lose to Miami.
-The winner of the Chargers/Raiders game will advance to the playoffs. This will be the matchup of the week, with their last matchup ending in a Los Angeles 28-14 victory in week 4. Week 4 was a long time ago however and while the Chargers are the favorite on paper, Vegas has pulled off weirder wins.
-If Indianapolis loses to the Jaguars, the winner of the Steelers/Ravens game will advance to the playoffs as the 7th seed and the winner of the Chargers/Raiders will move to the 6th seed. Due to their tie with Detroit, the Steelers will have a 9-7-1 record, giving them a 1/2 game lead over the Colts. If Baltimore wins, they have the tiebreaker over Indy due to a week 5 victory over them.
-Despite currently holding a spot, the 49ers have the hardest road to holding onto it. They beat the Rams in week 9 at home but will have to do so on the road with Trey Lance likely at QB to clinch. The Rams need a win to secure the #2 seed, so reports say McVay is rolling out the starters.
-The New Orleans Saints are in an insane position where they have a pretty good shot at making the playoffs despite a mid-season 5-game losing streak and a carousel of starting quarterbacks. If San Francisco loses to the Rams on the road, all New Orleans must do is beat the Falcons and they will clinch a postseason berth. The 49ers losing to LA is very possible, and the Saints beating the Falcons is also likely. This could be the shake-up of the wildcard race.
The NFL rearranged the schedule so that all the contention games are happening simultaneously for max intensity. The Colts and Jags battle Sunday at 1pm EST while the Steelers and Ravens battle it out in the same time slot. The afternoon games at 4:25 EST feature the NFC elimination matchups in 49ers/Rams and Saints/Falcons. The Chargers and Raiders face off on Sunday Night Football in Vegas to end the regular season and decide who is the final playoff team of 2021.
Have fun and hat's off to another crazy NFL season!
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