With the NFL regular season coming to a close, the playoff picture is finalized.
With the Kansas City Chiefs clinching a first-round bye last week, they rested their starters for the final week of the NFL regular season. This meant that instead of seeing quarterback Patrick Mahomes, we saw quarterback Chad Henne under center for the Chiefs.
Henne, along with other Chiefs backups took on the Los Angeles Chargers and were unable to claim a meaningless Week 17 victory. Early on, the two teams went back and forth with scores and it looked like the Chiefs had a shot at winning.
However, a safety late in the second quarter and then a touchdown drive complete with a two-point conversion put the Chiefs at a 24-14 deficit that they were never able to recover from. Chad Henne had a solid day for the Chiefs as he completed 22/32 passes for 218 yards and 2 touchdowns. However, it wasn’t enough for him to compete with Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert who went 22/31 for 302 yards and 3 touchdowns.
It wasn’t a meaningful game for the Chiefs at all, who had already done their job and secured a first-round bye and it won’t be a loss that they dwell on for long. With Week 17 in the books, the playoff picture is finalized.
Here’s what the final picture looks like for the AFC:
- Kansas City Chiefs 14-2-0
- Buffalo Bills 13-3-0
- Pittsburgh Steelers 12-4-0
- Tennessee Titans 11-5-0
- Baltimore Ravens 11-5-0
- Cleveland Browns 11-5-0
- Indianapolis Colts 11-5-0
The Miami Dolphins fell just short of the playoffs as they lost to the Buffalo Bills this week to drop to a 10-6 record. Prior to this week, the Dolphins were among one of the five teams tied with a 10-5 record, but with the other four—Tennessee, Baltimore, Cleveland, and Indianapolis—winning, the Dolphins just missed out.
The finalized playoff picture in the NFC looks like this:
- Green Bay Packers 13-3-0
- New Orleans Saints 12-4-0
- Seattle Seahawks 12-4-0
- Washington Football Team 7-9-0
- Tampa Bay Buccaneers 11-5-0
- Los Angeles Rams 10-6-0
- Chicago Bears 8-8-0
Despite having a better record than Washington, the Arizona Cardinals barely missed the playoffs with an 8-8 record due to the Bears holding a tiebreaker over them.
The NFL has released the schedule for next week’s Wild Card weekend, which will consist of three games next Saturday and three games next Sunday. The AFC will kick off the games next Saturday with the seven seeded Colts taking on the two seeded Bills at 12:05 p.m. CT. then two NFC matchups will be the six seeded Rams taking on the three seeded Seahawks at 3:40 p.m. CT and the five seeded Buccaneers and four seeded Football Team at 7:15 p.m. CT.
Sunday will kick off with the five seeded Ravens taking on the four seeded Titans for the AFC at 12:05 p.m. CT. Then the final NFC matchup of the weekend will be the seven seeded Bears taking on the two seeded Saints at 3:40 p.m. CT. The AFC will close out Wild Card weekend with the six seeded Browns facing the three seeded Steelers at 7:15 p.m. CT.
Here’s a look at the full NFL standings:
x – denotes teams that have clinched a playoff berth
z – denotes teams that have clinched their division
AFC East
- Buffalo Bills 13-3-0 (z)
- Miami Dolphins 10-6-0
- New England Patriots 7-9-0
- New York Jets 2-14-0
AFC West
- Kansas City Chiefs 14-2-0 (z)
- Las Vegas Raiders 8-8-0
- Los Angeles Chargers 7-9-0
- Denver Broncos 5-11-0
AFC North
- Pittsburgh Steelers 12-4-0 (z)
- Baltimore Ravens 11-5-0 (x)
- Cleveland Browns 11-5-0 (x)
- Cincinnati Bengals 4-11-1
AFC South
- Tennessee Titans 11-5-0 (z)
- Indianapolis Colts 11-5-0 (x)
- Houston Texans 4-12-0
- Jacksonville Jaguars 1-15-0
NFC East
- Washington Football Team 7-9-0 (z)
- New York Giants 6-10-0
- Dallas Cowboys 6-10-0
- Philadelphia Eagles 4-11-1
NFC West
- Seattle Seahawks 12-4-0 (z)
- Los Angeles Rams 10-6-0 (x)
- Arizona Cardinals 8-8-0
- San Francisco 49ers 6-10-0
NFC North
- Green Bay Packers 13-3-0 (z)
- Chicago Bears 8-8-0 (x)
- Minnesota Vikings 7-9-0
- Detroit Lions 5-11-0
NFC South
- New Orleans Saints 12-4-0 (z)
- Tampa Bay Buccaneers 11-5-0 (x)
- Carolina Panthers 5-11-0
- Atlanta Falcons 4-12-0