4) Miami Dolphins: Beat the Tua Tagovailoa-less Browns to keep their playoff hopes alive. Their path is straighter than the Bengals’. To advance to the postseason, the Broncos must lose and the Dolphins must beat the Jets.
5) Tampa Bay Buccaneers: A 48-14 win over the Carolina Panthers keeps their NFC South championship hopes alive heading into Week 18. The Bucks hold a one-game lead in the division after Sunday night’s loss to Atlanta and could clinch the title. They are scheduled to win next Sunday against the New Orleans Saints. To win the NFC South, they need to finish the game before the Falcons. This is because the Falcons, who had the same record and overwhelmingly defeated the Bucks in the regular season, will win the district league title.
6) Buffalo Bills: They locked up the AFC’s No. 2 seed. That means they’ll be playing the AFC’s No. 7 seed and only need to leave home during the playoffs for the AFC Championship Game in Kansas City. Just as importantly, the Bills’ defense looked much better than it did in Week 16’s bizarrely versatile performance against the Patriots. The Bills defense made Aaron Rodgers miserable, sacking him four times, intercepting him twice and keeping the Jets off the scoreboard until Tyrod Taylor. replaced him.
7) Green Bay Packers: It was too little, too late, but the Packers’ offense rallied from a 17-point deficit with about seven minutes left against the Vikings, showing what will make the Packers a dangerous opponent in the playoffs. -Jordan loves to tear it up. The Packers were swept by the Lions and Vikings this season, but are still in the mix.
8) Los Angeles Rams: Defeated the Cardinals on Saturday night to clinch the NFC West title. After that, we waited to see how strong the winning tiebreaker (the fifth tiebreaker) would be. Sunday’s wins over the Bills, Vikings and Commanders gave the Rams an advantage over the Seattle Seahawks. There may be better ways to spend your NFL vacation, but we can’t think of any.
9) Washington Commanders: The Commanders clinched a wild-card spot with a Jayden Daniels-dominated overtime win over the Falcons on Sunday night. This was the biggest step toward a dramatic turnaround from a 4-13 season in 2023. They will finish as the No. 6 seed and will play the Rams in Super Wild Card Weekend. However, if they fall to the No. 7 seed by the end of the season, the Commanders will face the Eagles in the first round of the playoffs. The division rivals split their regular season meetings.
