How the playoffs are going with one game left in Week 16
In Week 16, the San Francisco 49ers (8-7) lost on Thursday night, and the Baltimore Ravens (8-7) were humbled on Sunday, but both remain in the playoff picture of their respective conferences.
The Arizona Cardinals (10-5) also stumbled again, but clinched their ticket to the postseason. Finally, the Dallas Cowboys (11-4) did not even have to take the field to secure their NFC East title, thanks to wins by teams outside their division: the Atlanta Falcons (7-8) and Las Vegas Raiders (8-7).
With one game remaining in Week 16 – a Monday Night Football matchup between the Miami Dolphins (7-7) and New Orleans Saints (7-7) – five teams have already qualified for the postseason in the National Conference, compared to just one in the American Conference.
If the season were to end today, these are the match-ups in the Wild Card Round of the playoffs:
American Conference
The Kansas City Chiefs (11-4) are AFC West champions for the sixth consecutive year. What else is new?
The Chiefs — the only team in the conference mathematically qualified for the postseason — crushed the Pittsburgh Steelers (7-7-1) at Arrowhead, and remain the best team in the AFC, and the team with the longest winning streak in the entire league, stringing together eight consecutive victories.
The Tennessee Titans (10-5) remain second, but were unable to clinch their divisional crown after beating the Niners on Thursday, thanks to the Indianapolis Colts (9-6) beating the Cards in Saturday action. Either way, they are sitting pretty in the AFC, awaiting a stumble by KC.
Next come the Cincinnati Bengals (9-6), who slaughtered the Ravens to take sole leadership of the North. Still, the worst team in the division is the Cleveland Browns (7-8), but they are only two games behind Cincy. The lockout in this division is a doozy, despite the fact that three of the four members fell in Week 16.
Finally, the Buffalo Bills (9-6) have regained control of the East, beating the New England Patriots (9-6) on the road.
The first Wild Card ticket remains in the hands of the Colts, followed by the Pats. Finally, the Ravens received a great Christmas present with the Los Angeles Chargers’ surprise loss to the Houston Texans (4-11), to place seventh and leave the Bolts temporarily out of the playoff picture.
The AFC Wild Card Round matchups would see the Ravens visiting the Titans, in a game that has suddenly become a classic thanks to the last two postseasons; the Patriots traveling to the jungle to meet the Bengals, and the Bills hosting the Colts. Indy pummeled Buffalo 41-15 in Week 11, but the other two games would be new for the current campaign.
Of course, we’ll have to wait and see what Miami says in their Monday night game, because a win would displace the Ravens to put the Dolphins in the last seeding spot in the AFC.
National Conference
Three teams stamped their passports to the postseason in the NFC, splitting two divisional titles in Week 16.
The Green Bay Packers (12-3) retained their tag as the best team in the NFL after beating the Browns in a Saturday game. All indications are that Aaron Rodgers will have a week off when the regular season ends to try to recover as much as possible from the fractured toe that has plagued him for several weeks.
The Cowboys already had playoff tickets in hand–thanks to Tennessee’s win last Thursday–but wins by the Falcons and Raiders in Sunday afternoon games ensured that Dallas would have the strength-of-schedule tiebreaker criteria in its favor over the Philadelphia Eagles (8-7) in the East, even before they took the field in the night game to shred the Washington Football Team (6-8). It’s their first divisional title since 2018.
The Los Angeles Rams (11-4) knocked the Cards out of the comfortable seat of divisional leaders in the West, but both have their invitation to the postseason dance. Finally, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (11-4) were crowned in the South, where they had not ruled since 2007.
The Cards have now lost three in a row, so they are entering the postseason in reverse mode. The Niners, in the same division, are clinging to the sixth ticket in the NFC. Philly currently holds the seventh and last place in the NFC, but a win by the Saints in the “MNF” could force the Eagles and 49ers to change their seats.
The Wild Card Round games would include–if the season were to culminate today–the Cowboys facing Eagles for the third time this year, Niners would stay in California but travel a bit further south to meet the Rams in Los Angeles, and the Cards would pack their bags to land in Tampa Bay.
Dallas outscored Philly 41-21 in Week 3, but they have a remaining regular-season finale, so they would meet in back-to-back weeks. The Niners-Rams matchup would also be the third of the year, with San Francisco taking the win in Week 10, 31-10, but also with a date pending in Week 18. As in the previous case, it would be a repeat on consecutive days between the same opponents. Finally, Arizona has not had a chance to see firsthand what Tampa Bay has to offer in the current regular season.
