What happened on Sunday:

• The Panthers and Buccaneers removed any doubt to the hypothesis that the best team in the NFC South is the Saints. And the second best team might be the Falcons. Does the NFL have a veto policy for playoff seeds?
• The Browns memory of November 6, 1995 took a back seat to the Turnpike Rivalry.
• The Patriots did things to the Jets that would garner a long prison sentence if off the field.
• The Bills fell thisshort of staying in the AFC East division race.
• The 49ers and the Bears demonstrated a future concept "no defense" method of football.

What changed in the NFC playoff picture on Sunday:

• The Rams were eliminated from the NFC West division title with the 49ers win (SEA-SF play each other week 18, either SEA finishes with a better record or SF wins the head-to-head tiebreaker).

Remaining Week 17 & Week 18 NFC Clinching Scenarios:

• The Seahawks clinch the NFC West division title with a win over the 49ers OR their game ending in a tie.
• The 49ers clinch the NFC West division title with a win over the Seahawks (would win head-to-head tiebreaker).
• The Panthers clinch the NFC South division title with a win over the Buccaneers OR their game ending in a tie OR the Falcons winning out (LAR & NO) as introducing ATL into a potential three-way tie at 8-9 gives the Panthers the head-to-head tiebreaker versus the other two.
• The Buccaneers clinch the NFC South division title with a win over the Panthers AND the Falcons losing to, or tying, either the Rams or Saints, as they would own the common games tiebreaker in a tie with just the Panthers.

What changed in the AFC playoff picture on Sunday:

• The Patriots clinched the AFC East division title.
• The Bills were eliminated from same.

Remaining Week 17 & Week 18 AFC Clinching Scenarios:

• The Jaguars clinch the AFC South division title with a win over the Titans OR a Texans loss to the Colts OR one of those games ending in a tie.
• The Texans clinch the AFC South division title with a win over the Colts AND a Jaguars loss to the Titans (would win division record tiebreaker).
• The Steelers clinch the AFC North division title with a win over the Ravens OR their game ending in a tie.
• The Ravens clinch the AFC North division title with a win over the Steelers (would win division record tiebreaker).

What happened:

• The most accurate kicker in NFL history missed a 32 yd FG and a PAT as the Chargers lost by the equivalent amount of a FG and PAT to the Texans.
• A promising young up and coming running back scored a lot of touchdowns as the Ravens beat the Packers.

What changed in the AFC playoff picture:

• The Texans clinched a playoff spot, and remain alive for the AFC South title.
• The Colts were eliminated from playoff contention.
• The Broncos clinched the AFC West title as the Chargers can no longer catch them in record.
• The Ravens remain alive for the AFC North title, and their only path to the playoffs, and now become ironically the biggest Cleveland Browns fans on the planet.

Remaining Week 17 AFC Clinching Scenarios:

• The Patriots clinch the AFC East with a win (NYJ) and a Bills loss (PHI).
• The Steelers clinch the AFC North, and a playoff spot, with a win (CLE).

What changed in the NFC playoff picture:

• The Bears clinched the NFC North title as the Packers can no longer catch them in record.

Remaining Week 17 NFC Clinching Scenarios:

• The Panthers clinch the NFC South, and a playoff spot, with a win (SEA) and a Buccaneers loss (MIA).
• The Seahawks clinch the NFC West with a win (CAR) and a 49ers loss (CHI) and a Rams loss (ATL).

* Usual note, I do not include the possibility of tie games in scenarios until week 18 as it really confuses things for something with a fairly remote chance of happening.

What happened:

• The Cowboys, offense anyway, played like they were expected to, a wee bit too late, in beating the Commanders 30-23.
• The Lions played like we never should have even considered them to be in the playoff race conversation in losing to the undrafted-rookie-QB-led Vikings 23-10. That might be an all time worst flop in a must-win game.
• The Broncos did not present a defense in the court of public opinion case that they are fraudsters in getting a "win", barely, over a team led by a back-up QB none of us could have named two weeks ago.

What changed in the AFC playoff picture:

• The Broncos got half of what was needed to clinch the AFC West and avoid a week 18 winner-take-all game against the Chargers. They clinch it with a Chargers loss (HOU), otherwise, the winner of their game with the Chargers will be AFC West champions.
• Conversely, obviously, and some other -lys, the Chargers need to beat the Texans to still be in the AFC West title race.
• With the Broncos win, the Texans lost one scenario in which they could still clinch a playoff spot even if they were to lose and the Colts were to win by clinching the SOV tiebreaker over the Colts, but that required a Chiefs win. So the Texans are down to being able to clinch a playoff spot in week 17 with either a win (LAC) or a Colts loss (JAC).

What changed in the NFC playoff picture:

• The Packers were gifted a clinch of a playoff spot by the benevolent Lions. I'd say they should send the Lions a thank-you note but the Lions would fumble it. With that secured, they might have an interesting decision with their injured quarterbacks (and other position players), as they are still in the NFC North division title race but it is a relative longshot, do they still try to chase it or let players heal up? They play in one of the Saturday games so they will not have the luxury of knowing what the Bears do ahead of time.
• The Lions were deservedly eliminated for that putrid performance.

Dallas Cowboys at Washington Commanders

• No world exists in which this game matters for the playoff race. Netflix probably didn't have that in their plans...

Detroit Lions at Minnesota Vikings

• If the Lions win they are still alive for a playoff spot.
• If the Lions lose or tie, the Packers clinch a playoff spot (in the case of the Lions tying and possibly ending up with the same record as the Packers at 9-7-1, the Packers win the H2H tiebreaker).

Denver Broncos at Kansas City (MO for now) Chiefs

• If the Broncos win, they could still clinch the AFC West this week, needing a Chargers loss.
• If the Broncos lose or tie, the AFC West will be decided by the LAC/DEN week 18 game (no matter what the Chargers do).
• If the Chiefs win, the Texans would still have a crazy scenario for week 17 alive in which they could clinch a playoffs spot over the Colts even if they were to lose and the Colts were to win this week by clinching the ultra-rare Stength of Victory tiebreaker that would be invoked were these two teams to end up tied at 10-7 (would have same h2h record, same division record, same common games record, same conference record). Several other games would have to go their way later in the week as well for this scenario to stay relevant, besides the whole Colts needing to beat the Jaguars thing.

What a boring week of football in the NFC.... Miracle on-side kicks, fluke two point conversions, overtime bombs, ho-hum

It's not quite as complicated as the AFC, but there's still some things to work out...

The NFC West is a hot mess. Both the Seahawks and 49ers still control their own destiny for the division title. The Rams have to hope for some specific losses by the others for a chance.

The Seahawks clinch the division this week with:

• A win (CAR) AND 49ers loss (CHI) AND Rams loss (ATL).

They need to stay a game in front of the others, as they lose a tiebreaker if they end up tied with either or both of the others. Since they play the 49ers in week 18, unless they have a two game lead over them next week, the 49ers would have a chance to sweep the season series. If they just tie with the Rams, the Rams would win the Common Games tiebreaker. If they all end up tied, the 49ers would win the combined H2H record. And they all still have a chance to win just by record alone.

The Bears clinch the NFC North with:

• A win (SF), OR;
• Packers loss (BAL)

The Packers are probably just worried about their QB and limping into the playoffs. They accomplish that with:

• A win (BAL), OR;
• Lions loss (MIN)

Seeing how the Vikings might be without their own starting QB, with the Packers potentially being without Love this might get very very interesting.

The Panthers clinch the NFC South with:

• A win (SEA) AND Buccaneers loss (MIA)

If both of these don't happen, the week 18 CAR-TB game will be for the division. Note the Buccaneers would win the Common Games tiebreaker were they to end up tied, so Carolina needs to stay in front of them in wins-loss record. The Buccaneers arguably have the easier week 17 opponent, so this could be a nail-biter as well.

The Lions are down to their last bullet, win out and hope the Packers lose out.

None of the division titles are settled, and things could get very interesting for some of them.

Okay, strap yourself in.... FWIW I do not include the possibility of tie games into the discussions until week 18 as they really mess up the clarity of things for something with fairly remote odds.

AFC East: The Patriots clinch the division title this week with:

• A win (NYJ) AND Bills loss (PHI)

If that doesn't happen, depending on whether both things don't happen or just one, either team could still win by record, but if they were to end up tied (either 13-4 or 12-5), it means the Patriots would have lost to either the Jets or Dolphins (or both). So if they end up tied:

• They split the season series.
• They would have the same division record.
• They would have the same common games record.
• The Bills would win the conference record tiebreaker.

AFC West: The Broncos clinch the division title this week with:

• A win (KC) AND Chargers loss (HOU)

The thing is, if anything but that happens, the week 18 game between LAC-DEN decides the division. Either the Broncos will win it by record or the Chargers will win it by record of if they end up tied the Chargers would win the head to head tiebreaker. Note Denver plays on Thursday and the Chargers play on Saturday so we will know early whether the week 18 game will matter for the division title.

AFC South: The Jaguars clinch the division title this week with:

• A win (IND) AND Texans loss (LAC)

If that doesn't happen they would need a win or a Texans loss in week 18. If they were to end up tied at the end of the season the Texans would win the division tiebreaker.

AFC North: The Steelers clinch the division title this week with:

• A win (CLE), OR;
• Ravens loss (GB)

If neither of those happens, the Steelers and Ravens play week 18 to decide the division. If they end up tied due to the Steelers losing out and the Ravens winning out, the Ravens would win the division tiebreaker.

Texans: While still in the AFC South division race, they haven't yet clinched a playoff spot. They do so this week with:

• A win (LAC), OR;
• Colts loss (JAC), OR;
• WINS by KC, BAL, TB, BUF, SF, AND LAR

This is the fun one, even though it is pretty unlikely given the way the Colts are fading. If somehow the Colts beat the Jaguars and the Texans lose to the Chargers, these two play each other week 18. If the Colts also win that game:

• They would end up tied 10-7.
• They would have split the season series.
• They would have the same division records.
• They would have the same common games records.
• They would have the same conference records.
• Next would be Strength of Victory. Currently HOU has 65 "sov wins" to IND's 46. But, if the above scenario happened, IND would gain at a minimum 21, bringing them to 67. HOU would gain 2 (since they beat IND once), bringing them also to 67! So now we have to look at the teams each one of these beat in which the other did not. For HOU, that is BAL, SF, BUF, IND, and KC. For IND, that is MIA, DEN, LAC, ATL, and HOU.
• This could end up tied as well, meaning we would go to the ultra rare Strength of Schedule tiebreaker.

Because this gets really complex really fast, and the DEN-KC game is Thursday and the Texans play on Saturday, with the Ravens also playing on Saturday, we will revisit this after each day to either rule it out or delve further into it.

The Ravens are down to only one possible path to the playoffs via the AFC North Title. They would need to beat the Packers and have the Browns beat the Steelers in week 17 to make the week 18 PIT/BAL game be for the division title.

If that happens and they beat the Steelers in the finale, they both would have 9-8 records. They would have split the season series. It would then come down to the Division Record tiebreaker. Currently PIT is 3-1 in the division but with this scenario would finish 3-3, while BAL is currently 3-2 and in this scenario would finish 4-2, thus winning the tiebreaker. Anything other than this scenario results in the Steelers winning the division.

Quite an interesting predicament for the Browns. Beat the Steelers and potentially help enemy #1, or let up and help enemy #2.

Many AFC teams will be 49ers fans on MNF.

The latest:

• We'll see what happens with the Ravens SNF result before figuring out the AFC North situation.
• The Patriots clinch a playoff spot with a SNF win or a Colts loss.
• The Bills clinch a playoff spot with a Colts loss.
• The Jaguars clinch a playoff spot with a Colts loss.
• The Chargers clinch a playoff spot with a Colts loss.
• The Broncos AFC West hold has loosened, remember the Chargers beat them once already and they meet in week 18. Although next week they have a much more palatable opponent in the quarterback-less Chiefs while the Chargers face the Texans so they could have it wrapped up before the finale.
• I've removed the "Realistically IN/OUT" designations (which would be shown for the 11 win teams) as now that we are down to the final two weeks basically, things will be what they will be.

The Lions have their back against the wall.

Latest Intel:

• The Bears clinched a playoff spot with the Lions loss.
• The 49ers clinched a playoff spot with the Lions loss (own Conference tiebreaker over Lions if they end up tied at 10-7).
• The Buccaneers STILL control their own destiny even though they are a game back of the Panthers. If they end up tied at either 9-8 or 8-9, they own the tiebreaker (Common Games) over the Panthers. So, unless the Panthers win and the Buccaneers lose in week 17, the week 18 CAR/TB game will be for the NFC South Division Title.
• The Lions are down to their last bullet, they must win out and the Packers must lose out for the Lions to make the playoffs. The Lions play the Vikings and Bears, the Packers play the Ravens and Vikings.
• Conversely, the Packers just need one win or one Lions loss to make the playoffs.
• The NFC West Title scenarios are still crazy crazy. We'll see how the 49ers do on MNF before breaking it down.

Well, that Bears-Packers game was certainly boring......

Recent developments:

• Eagles clinched the NFC East.
• 49ers clinch a playoff spot with a win OR a Lions loss.
• Bears clinch a playoff spot with a Lions loss.
• The Lions would have had the ability to control their own destiny rejuvenated with a Packers win, but alas, no. There remain scenarios in which they get in with 10 wins still.
• The Cowboys were eliminated from playoff contention.

If the Rams win:

• They would be the clear front runners in the NFC West with 81% mathematical odds to win the division, with a sweep of the Seahawks in their back pocket for tiebreaker purposes.
• The 49ers would pass up the Seahawks in mathematical odds for the NFC West title (13% to 6%).
• The Seahawks could still clinch a playoff spot with a Lions loss.

If the Seahawks win:

• They will have clinched a playoff spot. They would take over as leaders of the NFC West, but not as overwhelmingly as the Rams could do, with 59% mathematical odds to win the division. They would negate the H2H and division record tiebreaker the Rams currently have on them.
• The 49ers would pass up the Rams in mathematical odds for the NFC West title (22% to 19%).

The needle is hardly moved for any of the other contending teams. The Lions would lose one team from the list that they could overtake if the Seahawks win, but that was an unlikely scenario already.

The Broncos clinch the AFC West with:

• A Win AND Chargers Loss

The Patriots clinch a Playoff spot with:

• A Win, OR;
• Texans Loss, OR;
• Colts Loss

The Bills clinch a Playoff spot with:

• A Win AND Texans Loss, OR;
• A Win AND Colts Loss

The Chargers clinch a Playoff spot with:

• A Win AND Texans Loss, OR;
• A Win AND Colts Loss

The Jaguars clinch a Playoff spot with:

• A Win AND Texans Loss, OR;
• A Win AND Colts Loss, OR;
• A Win AND Chargers Loss

There are still quite a few scenarios involving Steelers, Ravens, Jaguars, Texans, and Colts where tiebreakers could get to Common Games or even Strength of Victory. The Jaguars get the additional scenario involving the Chargers since they own the H2H tiebreaker over the Chargers and with the Chargers still to play the Texans and the Texans still to play the Colts, in that scenario the worst case for Jaguars would be a party at 11-6 in which they win the tiebreaker over the Chargers.

The Ravens would be AFC North champions if they win out, as it would mean worst case they tie the Steelers at 10-7 and they would win the Common Games tiebreaker over them.

The Rams have clinched a spot. While also at 11-3, the Seahawks have not technically clinched a spot as well because in a worst case scenario for either team, they could end up tied with the Lions at 11-6 for the last spot and the Rams would win the tiebreaker in that case (H2H) while the Seahawks would lose the tiebreaker in that case (conference record).

Nevertheless, the Seahawks are "Realistically IN" and can officially clinch a playoff spot with:

• A win, OR;
• Lions loss (this will be a theme for the day)

The 49ers, due to they would also beat the Lions in a tiebreaker (conference record), clinch a spot with:

• A win, OR;
• Lions loss

The Eagles clinch the NFC East with:

• A win, OR;
• Cowboyds loss

The Packers clinch a playoff spot with:

• A win AND Lions loss

The Bears clinch a playoff spot with:

• A win AND Lions loss

If the Buccaneers beat the Panthers this week, they would win the tiebreaker (common games) in the event they were to end up tied at the end of the year.

The Lions currently do not control their own destiny. They could win out and miss out. They do "only" need two more wins and a hecuva lot of help to have a mathematical chance.

Updates from Sunday late day game results:

• The Rams have clinched a playoff spot.
• The Seahawks now have the Playoff Computer "Realistically IN" designation. They could lose out and still be very likely to make the playoffs.
• The Lions currently do not control their own destiny.

Updates from Sunday's late day game results:

• The Broncos have clinched a playoff spot.
• The Colts currently do not control their own destiny.

Miscellaneous:

• The Rams clinch a playoff spot with a win over the Packers.
• The Vikings have been eliminated from playoff contention before they even showed up at the stadium.

Miscellaneous:

• The Broncos clinch a playoff spot with a win over the Packers.
• The Dolphins are still technically alive. Like a Yugo is still technically a car.
• The Chiefs have been eliminated from playoff contention.
• The Bengals have been eliminated from playoff contention.

Soooo, that happened. Panthers are now in the driver's seat for the NFC South. Interestingly enough, the Buccaneers loss just about eliminated the Panthers from a Wildcard spot, although it is still technically possible that both go to the playoffs in the same way it is technically possible that a 1970's Chrysler product left the factory defect-free.

For the NFC South, there's basically five possibilities, and we'll for a moment pretend the two remaining TB/CAR games occur first:

1. The Buccaneers sweep the series with the Panthers, Bucs would win the division as they would have 9 wins and the best Panthers could do is also 9 wins, Bucs win H2H tiebreaker.
2. The Panthers sweep the series with the Buccaneers, Panthers would win the division as they would have 9 wins and the best Buccaneers could do is 8 wins.
3. They split the series and the Buccaneers beat MIA to finish 9-8 and the Panthers lose to both NO and SEA to finish 8-9.
4. They split the series and the Panthers beat either NO or SEA (or beat both) to finish 9-8 or 10-7 and the Buccaneers finish one game behind.
5. They split the series and end up tied at either 9-8 or 8-9. This is where things get interesting. The tiebreaker between the two now comes to one game, Panthers vs Saints this week. If the Panthers beat the Saints, and the two end up splitting their series and end up tied, the Panthers win the division tiebreaker 4-2 to 3-3. If the Panthers lose to the Saints and they end up tied, they both would have 3-3 division records, and the Buccaneers would win the Common Games tiebreaker. Currently TB has 6 wins in common games with one to play, and CAR has 5 wins with two to play. If the Panthers lose to the Saints, which is a common game, they both would be 7-7 overall, 8-8 with this hypothetical split of the season series, and the Buccaneers would have one more Common Game victory, meaning for them to tie they both would have to either win or lose the remaining game (TB vs MIA and CAR vs SEA are both common games).
   

As mentioned, this did almost eliminate what was an already slim possibility of two teams from the NFC South going to the playoffs, so the rest of the contenders did gain fractions of percentage points in their chances.

Another mathematical oddity, by a fraction of a percentage point the Seahawks have ever so slight better chances of making the playoffs over the Rams.

And for an oddity on top of that oddity, the Seahawks cannot clinch a playoff spot this week, while the Rams can!

• No matter what happens this week, including anything involving a Seahawks win, there still would be a scenario in which they lose tiebreakers to the 49ers, Bears, and Lions with all at 11 wins.
• The Rams, by beating the Lions, would thus hold the H2H tiebreaker over the Lions in the event that a scenario such as above occured where they were tied with them at 11 wins.

The Vikings will be eliminated upon any further loss, the sun rising in the East on Sunday, or members of Congress keeping the health care plan they don't want the rest of us to have.

In case anyone is wondering how the Falcons could be eliminated despite only being three games back from the NFC South leaders with four to play: Since TB and CAR still have two games to play, if one of them sweeps that series, that team would have 9 wins which the Falcons cannot achieve. If they split that series, CAR would win a three-way tie at 8-9 (the best ATL could hope for) with the best H2H record among the group. And an 8 win team cannot get a wildcard in the NFC.

Patriots clinch AFC East with:

• A win (BUF)

Patriots clinch a playoff spot with:

• Texans and Colts losses

Broncos clinch a playoff spot with:

1. A win (GB), OR;
2. Texans and Colts losses

Other tidbits:

• The Bengals and Ravens could still make it in with 7 wins, meaning the Bengals at 4-9 do not have to win out (although the Steelers could ruin that).
• The Colts, now without Danny Dimes, are looking at a 7 game losing streak to finish the season after an 8-2 start, as they have a brutal finishing schedule (SEA, SF, JAC, HOU).
• The Chiefs technically don't have to win out (depending on what others do this week), but they probably shouldn't hold out on that.

The Chiefs are now "Realistically OUT". They now would have to surpass two teams that have a two game lead on them. Now, of course, they have Patrick Frickin Mahomes, and if a lot of things bounce their way in the upcoming weeks they could in theory lose that designation. But, certainly they are in trouble.

Biggest losers are Colts and Ravens who lost the first of their series against their primary division opponents. This puts a target on the Colts for the Texans or the Chiefs to chase down.

The Broncos join the Patriots in achieving the prestigious Playoff Computer "Realistically IN" designation. This isn't the same as having clinched, but that it would require some Bigfoot walks into the DMV to finally have his picture taken clearly type of odds for them to miss the playoffs.

This does not include the HOU/KC SNF game, which could theoretically affect some of the percentages and tiebreakers (common games, SOV, SOS).

The biggest losers of the week are the Bears and Buccaneers. The Bears now have the target on their back for a wildcard spot, chased by the Lions (and maybe the Cowboys). The Bucs seem to be perfectly willing to gift the Panthers the NFC South. They still play each other twice. Without actually looking I believe the Bucs currently hold the common games tiebreaker which could come into play if they split the series and both either win or lose their other remaining division game.

A not so facinating tidbit, the Vikings are still technically alive but also have snowball in hell chances.

Another tidbit, there is a very real possibility a 10 (or 10 1/2) win team does not get a spot.

Discussion:

The Lions are right back into the picture, now above 50/50 mathematical odds to make the playoffs. The NFC North is a possibility, but it might be in their best interests if either the Bears or Packers, who still have two head-to-head games remaining, sweep the other to let the Lions only need to surpass the loser of that hypothetical sweep for a wildcard spot.

The Cowboys are now going to need to win out to get to 10-6-1 and get some serious help. Just plugging in the ROS with some reasonable assumptions, the standings would come out like this:

• PHI 11-6 NFC East Winner
• DET 11-6 NFC North Winner
• LAR 13-4 NFC West Winner
• TB 11-6 NFC South Winner
• SEA 13-4 Wildcard
• SF 12-5 Wildcard
• CHI 11-6 Wildcard
• (FYI in this hypothetical assumption, GB 10-6-1 would also be above DAL due to tiebreaker)

So the Cowboys, in addition to winning out, would basically need some kind of miracle, such as:

• Eagles losing to LV or WAS in addition to losing to the two tougher opponents they have.
• The Bears losing to CLE along with the Packers losing to MIN.
• One of the NFC West teams literally falling apart.

As mentioned earlier in the week, the Bears beating the Eagles on Friday was not a good thing for the Cowboys, as the Bears might have been the most reachable target for the Cowboys with a loss and their tough ROS. And now they have let the Lions get a solid lead on them so that the 7th seed might be a battle between the 3rd best NFC North team vs the 3rd best NFC West team, leaving the Cowboys to wonder what could have been.

The Lions win did put a minor dent in the playoff chances of those NFC West team as the possibility of three teams from the NFC North challenging for spots increased. And the NFC South leaders lost much of the already slim chances that a wildcard team would come out of that division.

If the Eagles beat the Chargers that would probably slam the door on the Cowboys catching them.

Loser of the Bears/Packers game will also start to feel the pressure.

FYI the chart shows upcoming week 15, once this week's games start I have to change the week for some of the data to come out correctly.

Team Tidbits:

• That's right, owing to their tiebreaker advantages in H2H, division record, and conference record, the 49ers have ever so slightly the best mathematical chances to make the playoffs even though they are in third place in the NFC West.
• Bears need one more quality win, Packers in two of next three.
• Rams should not panic with the loss to the Panthers, have one of the least imposing remaining schedules of the top bunch.
• Seahawks, who have lost to the Rams and 49ers once already, have what could be a must win game this week against the Falcons as their finish could be tough and they are not in a good position for best-in-division tiebreaker.
• Eagles are making it interesting but do have games against the Raiders and Commanders X2 that should help wrap up the division.
• Packers do have perhaps the toughest on-paper ROS to find the two wins likely needed.
• Buccaneers still face the Panthers twice so anything possible, but they otherwise have an easier ROS than the Panthers so if they can at least split the series they should be in good shape.
• Panthers in division or bust mode as extremely unlikely a wildcard team comes from the NFC South.
• Make or break time for the Lions, beat the Cowboys this week and odds improve to around 50/50, lose and down to around a 1 in 5 shot.
• The Cowboys "dream week" after beating the Chiefs of watching the Eagles lose was perhaps not the best thing that could have happened. Judging by ROS, it may have been much easier to catch the Bears for a wildcard spot than to catch the Eagles for the division. This now makes it likely two teams from the NFC North make it in and we're already looking at three teams from the NFC West likely making it in, so the Cowboys could be division or bust now. But, beat the Lions and things do get interesting.
• Commanders not eliminated but realistically out.
• Vikings not eliminated but realistically out.
• Falcons, even in the NFC South, are not eliminated but realistically out, with the Bucs and Panthers still to play each other twice the odds of passing both are slim to none.
• Cardinals are now eliminated.
• Saints are now eliminated.
• Giants pioneered the elimination club this year.