• The New England Patriots clinched the AFC East when they defeated the Jacksonville Jaguars on the road.

• The Seattle Seahawks clinched the NFC West, despite losing to the San Diego Chargers, by virtue of the San Francisco 49ers’ loss to the Arizona Cardinals.

• The Philadelphia Eagles clinched a playoff berth by winning their Christmas Day game against the Dallas Cowboys.  They also now hold the lead in the NFC East race, thanks to the fact that they swept the Cowboys in their two head-to-head meetings this season.

• The New Orleans Saints, by virtue of Philadelphia ’s win, claim the number-two seed in the NFC and get the other first-round bye.

The Pittsburgh Steelers, already in the midst of a forgettable season, were put out of their misery in front of the home faithful by an impressive Baltimore Ravens team that is tuning up for the playoffs.  The Buffalo Bills, meanwhile, had their playoff hopes dashed by a tough loss at home to the Tennessee Titans.  San Francisco ’s loss at home to Arizona knocked them out of the chase.  And Minnesota ’s loss at Green Bay in a low-scoring Thursday night tilt did them in.  Those four teams join Arizona , Cleveland , Detroit , Houston , Miami , Oakland , Tampa Bay and Washington on the early-vacation list.

The final week of the NFL season promises to be a real doozy.  There are only three playoff spots left, with eleven teams still in the hunt.  Some of those teams are in control of their own fates, while others need to win and get some level of help from other teams.  And there is still playoff position to consider, especially in the AFC, where home-field advantage and both first-round byes are still up for grabs.  Here’s what to watch for in Week 17:

The San Diego Chargers, the AFC West champs, clinch the number-one seed and home-field advantage throughout the playoffs with a win at home against Arizona , regardless of the outcome of the game between the Baltimore Ravens and the Buffalo Bills.  The Chargers also clinch home field if the Bills beat Baltimore .  Baltimore , meanwhile, clinches the number-one seed if they win AND San Diego loses.  The Ravens hold the tiebreaker on the Chargers because they won the head-to-head meeting in Week 4.  The Ravens can also clinch the number-two seed and a first-round bye with a win or tie OR an Indianapolis Colts loss at home to the Miami Dolphins. 

The New England Patriots, the AFC East champs, clinch the number-three seed in the playoffs with a win at Tennessee AND an Indianapolis loss at home against Miami .  If the Colts, the AFC South champs, beat the Dolphins, they secure the number-three seed, regardless of what the Patriots do, because they beat New England during the regular season.  The Patriots cannot do better than the number-three seed, but the Colts can clinch the number-two seed and the other first-round bye if they win AND the Ravens lose.

The Denver Broncos and the New York Jets have the best chance of the remaining AFC teams of clinching the two wild-card berths up for grabs.  Denver clinches one berth with a win or tie at home against San Francisco OR a Kansas City loss at home against the Jacksonville Jaguars.  The Jets, meanwhile, clinch a berth under four different scenarios, the easiest of which is by beating the Oakland Raiders in the Meadowlands.

Cincinnati , Jacksonville , Kansas City and Tennessee are all still alive.  The Bengals need the least help, as they can get in with a win at home against Pittsburgh AND a Jets loss to the Raiders.  The Chiefs, Jaguars and Titans need to win AND get some serious help.

The Philadelphia Eagles clinch the NFC East with a win at home against the Atlanta Falcons, regardless of the outcome of the game between the Detroit Lions and the Dallas Cowboys.  They also clinch the division if Dallas loses OR if both Dallas and Philadelphia end their games in a tie.  As mentioned earlier, Philadelphia holds the head-to-head tiebreaker over Dallas , so the Cowboys cannot finish with the same record as the Eagles if they want to win the division.

Atlanta , Carolina , Green Bay , the New York Giants and St. Louis are all still alive, but they all need to win AND get help.  Each of these teams has at least two different scenarios that will get them in the playoffs.  The Giants have four different scenarios that get them in, and the Packers have five.  And of those nine scenarios between the Giants and Packers, two involve the dreaded Strength of Victory tiebreaker.

	Web useless-knowledge.com