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NFL playoff-clinching scenarios, schedule heading into Week 17: NFC, AFC wild-card spots, division titles on the line

Week 17 of the 2020 NFL season is upon us. The playoff picture is quite a bit more clear than it was even one week ago -- with a number of spots clinched -- but there are many remaining questions to be answered as the postseason bracket is filled up.

In the AFC, the Chiefs are in (and have clinched the No. 1 seed), as are the division champion Bills and Steelers. The AFC South title remains up for grabs, as do the wild cards, with four clubs looking to land one of three.

Over in the NFC, the Packers, Saints and Seahawks have clinched their respective divisions, while the Buccaneers have secured a wild card. Three of four NFC East teams remain in play for the division title, with three other teams vying for the remaining two wild cards.

Here's the full Week 17 schedule, along with the clinching scenarios for the relevant teams involved.


Week 17 schedule

1 p.m. ET kickoff

Miami Dolphins at Buffalo Bills
Baltimore Ravens at Cincinnati Bengals
Pittsburgh Steelers at Cleveland Browns
Minnesota Vikings at Detroit Lions
New York Jets at New England Patriots
Dallas Cowboys at New York Giants
Atlanta Falcons at Tampa Bay Buccaneers

4:25 p.m. ET kickoff

Green Bay Packers at Chicago Bears
Las Vegas Raiders at Denver Broncos
Jacksonville Jaguars at Indianapolis Colts
Los Angeles Chargers at Kansas City Chiefs
Arizona Cardinals at Los Angeles Rams
Seattle Seahawks at San Francisco 49ers
New Orleans Saints at Carolina Panthers
Tennessee Titans at Houston Texans

8:20 p.m. ET kickoff

Washington Football Team at Philadelphia Eagles

Playoff clinching, seeding scenarios

Race for the NFC wild-card spots

  • Rams clinch with win OR Bears loss.

  • Bears clinch with win OR Cardinals loss.

  • Cardinals clinch with win.

Race for NFC home-field advantage

Packers clinch with:

  1. Win OR

  2. Seattle loss

Saints clinch with:

  1. Win plus Green Bay loss plus Seattle win.

Seahawks clinch with:

  1. Win plus New Orleans loss plus Green Bay loss.

Race for the NFC East title

AFC playoff-clinching scenarios for Week 17

  • Titans: Win OR Baltimore loss OR Indianapolis loss OR Miami loss.

  • Dolphins: Win OR Baltimore loss OR Cleveland loss OR Indianapolis loss.

  • Ravens: Win OR Cleveland loss OR Indianapolis loss.

  • Browns: Win OR Indianapolis loss OR Tennessee loss plus Baltimore win plus Indianapolis win plus Miami win.

  • Colts: Win AND one of the following: Tennessee loss/Baltimore loss/Cleveland loss/Miami loss.

Race for the AFC South title

  • Titans clinch with win OR Colts loss.

  • Colts clinch with win plus Titans loss.