The Raiders are trying to lose, right?
Tyler Shough making a strong case for offensive rookie of the year, even though he’s only played for the second half of the season.
In the NFC, it’s a bit chaotic. Depending on tonight’s game plus next week, there are situations where any of the Bears, Seahawks, 49ers, or Rams can take the #1 overall NFC seed.
It gets a lot simpler after tonight’s game, and to a lesser extent, tomorrow’s game.
GB is locked into the #7 seed and the winner of the NFC south is locked into the #4 seed as a division winner.
If the 49ers win tonight, the #1 seed / NFC West are decided by the Seattle/SF game next week. Chicago gets the #2 or #3 seed depending on next week. #5 and #6 would be the Rams plus the loser of Seahawks/SF depending on next week’s games.
For the Bears to have that #1, they do need to win out plus they need the 49ers to win next week. If so, Rams win the NFC West and the #2 seed if they win out with Seattle as the #5 and SF as the #6. If the Rams drop a game in this scenario, Seattle wins the NFC West and #2 seed with SF as the #5 and Rams as #6.
For the Rams to have #1, they need to win out, the Bears to win tonight and lose next week plus they need SF to win next week. Then Chicago has the #2, SF is the #6 and Seattle the #5.
Otherwise, if the Rams drop a game plus the Bears win tonight and lose next week, Seattle has the #1 seed regardless of next week, Chicago the #2, SF the #5 and Rams #6.
Like I said…chaotic. It gets massively simpler in about 5 hours.
The second half, where the Saints coincidentally have a 4 game winning streak.
He might be their next franchise guy.
Down 13-12 with 5 seconds in the game, the Bills go for it on a 2 point conversion to win and Allen misses an open receiver. Just a bad throw. Bonkers,
Thanks.
So The Bears are #3 seed at worst.
To get #1 seed they need to win out and SF has to win next week.
Otherwise they are #2 seed. Still get a bye but lose home field advantage in NFC championship game IF against the #1 seed.
A win tonight assures them of at least #2 seed? Probably still more complex than that.
The #2 seed no longer gets a bye; that went away when they added a third wild-card team in 2020.
If the Bears wind up seeded #2, they would host the #7 seed (the Packers, ironically enough) in the Wild Card Round.
With the Bills loss today, the AFC got cleared up just a bit.
Patriots have won the AFCE. Broncos have won the AFCW. Broncos are the AFC #1 seed with a win next week or a Patriots loss. Patriots are the top seed with a win over the Fins and a Broncos loss to the Chargers.
Chargers and Bills are wild card teams. Texans and Jaguars are in the playoffs; Jacksonville wins the AFCS with a win next week over the Titans, or a Houston loss. Houston wins the division with a win and a Jaguars loss next week.
Winner of Ravens/Steelers game next week wins the AFCN. Loser is out of the playoffs.
(At least, I think this is right…)
This will definitely be the Sunday night game next week.
Maybe. If the Seattle/Niners game is for the NFC #1 seed, then it will probably be the Sunday night game.
Yes, the winner of the NFC South is pretty much a lock for the #4 as they will either go 8-9 (Tampa wins next week and gets the tie-breaker) or 9-8 (Carolina wins). Or I suppose there’s the chance they tie, which means Carolina at 8-8-1.
If you are looking just at the Bears, it’s considerably simpler to describe:
Bears win tonight:
No worse than #2 seed, will host GB in the wild card round
#1 seed (plus the bye) with win AND SF win in Week 18
Bears lose tonight:
#2 seed with win OR with Eagles loss in week 18 (will host GB in wild card round)
#3 seed with loss AND Eagles win in week 18 (NFC West team in wild card - probably SF again or Rams)
In recent memory, when was it the earliest it was known who the top 4 teams at the end were?
Sorry if thats ungrammatical.
And the Bucs/Panthers game is basically identical to the Steelers/Ravens game. Winner claims the worst division, loser sits out until next year. So it would have an equal claim for the Sunday night game.
I suspect that game will be Seattle in San Francisco unless something changes dramatically in this Bears game tonight.
More important than showing a game with playoff implications, they want the late game to be one that matters to both teams no matter what happens earlier in the day. Even if a game is a big deal for one team, it’s not good football if the other is resting starters or doesn’t care.
They’re really talented that way. They don’t really have to try; it just comes naturally.
It’s a popular theory of late, esp. after they put Maxx Crosby on IR last week. After losing to the Giants today, they are currently sitting at the #1 pick in next spring’s draft.
The Sunday night game between the Niners and Bears is quite entertaining.
35-35 after one play in the fourth quarter.
Pittsburgh gameplanned so hard to keep Myles Garrett from getting the sack record that they forgot try to win the game
Was anyone predicting this kind of back and forth slugfest?
And will the Bears pull off yet another win in the last two minutes?
What a game😃