We have arrived at the Week 17 that the NFL has always dreamed about. No NFC divisions are clinched. Four teams are battling for a playoff spot in the AFC and they all need help to get into the playoffs.
The playoff picture
See where each team stands in the playoff picture heading into the final week of the 2013 NFL regular season. **More ...**
The postseason is six days away and the San Francisco 49ers still have a chance to be the No. 1 seed in the NFC, or miss the playoffs entirely.
Perhaps no stat sums up the NFL's parity like this one: 13 of the NFL's 16 games this week have playoff implications.
The only games that don't "matter" for the playoffs are Washington-New York, Houston-Tennessee and Detroit-Minnesota. Every other game includes a team fighting to get into the playoffs, or teams like New England, Denver and Indianapolis that are fighting for playoff seeding.
The Broncos are the only team to have clinched a bye into the Divisional Round, but they still need to win against Oakland in order to ensure homefield advantage in the playoffs. The Patriots, Colts and Bengals all have a chance to win the No. 2 seed in the AFC. (The Patriots get the bye with a win.) The winners of the NFC West and NFC South will get byes in the NFC, but both divisions remain up for grabs.
There's also a chance that the San Diego-Kansas City game at 4:25 pm ET could not mean much depending on the early results Sunday. The Chargers need the Miami Dolphins and Baltimore Ravens to lose early in order to keep their playoff hopes alive.
*The latest "Around The League Podcast" broke down every playoff scenario. *
