NFL Week 17 Playoff Scenarios: Who's in and Who's Out in Both the NFC and AFC
by George Monroy - 12/27/2013
For many teams, the NFL season has come down to the final week of the year—one game to continue on into the postseason. Week 17 will feature two matchups for the division crown, must-win situations for nearly every team in contention, and a few of the top teams battling for seeding position. The Seattle Seahawks and Denver Broncos are still the favorites to win the Super Bowl, receiving +240 and +300, respectively.
The last week of the season and all the playoff scenarios can be a bit confusing, especially for bettors who do not follow the NFL closely. Let’s make things easy and take a closer look at the playoff and seeding scenarios for each team still in contention in both the AFC and NFC.
NFC Playoff Situation
1) Seattle Seahawks
Super Bowl Odds: +240
The Seahawks control their own destiny for the No. 1 seed in the NFC. Seattle can lock up the top spot and home-field advantage throughout the playoffs with a win on Sunday over the St. Louis Rams. However, Seattle can fall all the way down to the fifth seed in the NFC with a loss and a San Francisco win. The 49ers hold the tiebreaker over Seattle based on a better division record.
2) Carolina Panthers
Super Bowl Odds: +900
The Panthers are currently sitting in the second spot in the NFC and simply need to win the last game of the season to lock up their position. Carolina has already clinched a playoff berth but could fall the way to the six spot with a loss and a New Orleans win on Sunday.
3) Philadelphia Eagles
Super Bowl Odds: +2500
The Eagles need to win their last game of the season and can only make the playoffs by winning the division. Philadelphia will head into Dallas on Sunday with the NFC East title on the line. If the Eagles lose the game, their 9-7 record will not be enough to earn a wild-card spot.
4) Chicago Bears
Super Bowl Odds: +8000
The Bears currently lead the NFC North but will have to play a matchup against the Green Bay Packers for all the marbles on Sunday. Chicago will again be without its starting quarterback, Jay Cutler, while the most recent news out of Green Bay says that Aaron Rodgers will play in the matchup. Chicago cannot make the playoffs via the wild-card spot and needs to win the division to get in.
5) San Francisco 49ers
Super Bowl Odds: +850
San Francisco holds the tiebreaker against hated rival Seattle for the division crown, so the 49ers need to win on Sunday against the Arizona Cardinal and hope that the Seahawks manage to lose to the Rams. At worst the 49ers will take the first wild-card spot and at best will win the NFC West.
6) New Orleans Saints
Super Bowl Odds: +2500
The Saints still have a shot at winning the division based on holding the tiebreaker over the Carolina Panthers. New Orleans would need a win on Sunday coupled with a Panthers loss to leapfrog Carolina for the division lead. However, the Saints could drop out of the playoff entirely with a loss and a Cardinals win on Sunday.
Arizona Cardinals
Super Bowl Odds: +10000
Arizona’s only way to make the playoffs is to beat the San Francisco 49ers and hope that Saints lose. New Orleans holds the tiebreaker based on a better conference record.
Dallas Cowboys
Super Bowl Odds: +10000
Green Bay Packers
Super Bowl Odds: +2500
Both Dallas and Green Bay can only make the playoffs by winning on Sunday.
AFC Playoff Situation
1) Denver Broncos
Super Bowl Odds: +300
The Broncos control their own destiny and simply need to win on Sunday to lock up the No. 1 seed in the AFC. If Denver was to lose and New England was to win, the Broncos would fall to second spot in the AFC based on the Patriots owning the tiebreaker.
2) New England Patriots
Super Bowl Odds: +900
With a loss on Sunday the Patriots could fall to the fourth spot in the AFC if both the Indianapolis Colts and Cincinnati Bengals win. Both teams own tiebreaker situations over the Patriots. New England could end up anywhere from the first seed all the way down to the fourth seed after Sundays matchups.
3) Cincinnati Bengals
Super Bowl Odds: +2000
The Bengals could move up to the second spot in the AFC or fall to the fourth spot depending on how this plays out over the last week of the season. The Bengals best situation is to get a win over the Ravens on Sunday and hope that the Patriots lose.
4) Indianapolis Colts
Super Bowl Odds: +3500
The Colts’ situation looks very similar to Cincinnati’s playoff picture. Indianapolis could end up anywhere from the second to fourth seed in the AFC depending on how both the Bengals and Patriots do on Sunday. Indianapolis easiest route is to win on Sunday and hope one either the Patriots or Bengals drop their final game of the season.
5) Kansas City Chiefs
Super Bowl Odds; +3500
Kansas City has the first wild-card spot locked up and cannot move up or down. At the moment the team is expected to play the Bengals but could face the Patriots or Colts as well, depending on the outcome of Sunday’s games.
6) Miami Dolphins
Super Bowl Odds: +10000
Miami owns the tiebreakers over both the Baltimore Ravens and San Diego Chargers. All the team has to do is win on Sunday or have both the Chargers and Ravens lose.
Baltimore Ravens, San Diego Chargers
Both teams need the Dolphins to lose before they can even think about making the playoffs. But if that were to happen, the Chargers would also need Baltimore to lose as well in order to get in the playoffs. The Ravens hold the tiebreaker over San Diego and simply need a Miami loss to get in.
Read more articles by George Monroy
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