Week 17 playoff scenarios
Published: December 27th, 2011 | Tags: Playoff scenarios, Cincinnati Bengals, Dallas Cowboys, Denver Broncos, New York Giants, New York Jets, Oakland Raiders, Tennessee Titans
On the one hand, there are only three out of 12 playoff spots still up for grabs heading into the final week of the regular season. On the other hand, there are so many possibilities in terms on a) who gets those three spots; and b) where teams fall in the seeding. Here are the playoff scenarios heading into Sunday:
AFC
CLINCHED:
New England – AFC East and a first-round bye
Houston – AFC South
Baltimore – playoff spot
Pittsburgh – playoff spot
NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS
New England clinches home-field advantage throughout AFC playoffs with:
1) NE win or tie OR
2) BAL loss or tie + PIT loss or tie
BALTIMORE RAVENS
Baltimore clinches AFC North division and a first-round bye with:
1) BAL win OR
2) BAL tie + PIT loss or tie OR
3) PIT loss
Baltimore clinches home-field advantage throughout AFC playoffs with:
1) BAL win + NE loss
PITTSBURGH STEELERS
Pittsburgh clinches AFC North division and a first-round bye with:
1) PIT win + BAL loss or tie OR
2) PIT tie + BAL loss
Pittsburgh clinches home-field advantage throughout AFC playoffs with:
1) PIT win + BAL loss or tie + NE loss
DENVER BRONCOS
Denver clinches AFC West division with:
1) DEN win OR
2) DEN tie + OAK loss or tie OR
3) OAK loss
OAKLAND RAIDERS
Oakland clinches AFC West division with:
1) OAK win + DEN loss or tie OR
2) OAK tie + DEN loss
Oakland clinches a playoff spot with:
1) OAK win + CIN loss + TEN loss or tie OR
2) OAK win + CIN loss + NYJ win
CINCINNATI BENGALS
Cincinnati clinches a playoff spot with:
1) CIN win or tie OR
2) NYJ loss or tie + OAK loss or tie OR
3) NYJ loss or tie + DEN loss or tie
NEW YORK JETS
New York clinches a playoff spot with:
1) NYJ win + CIN loss + TEN loss or tie + OAK loss or tie OR
2) NYJ win + CIN loss + TEN loss or tie + DEN loss or tie
TENNESSEE TITANS
Tennessee clinches a playoff spot with:
1) TEN win + CIN loss + NYJ win + OAK loss or tie OR
2) TEN win + CIN loss + NYJ win + DEN loss or tie OR
3) TEN win + CIN loss + NYJ loss or tie + OAK win + DEN win
NFC
CLINCHED:
Green Bay – NFC North and home-field advantage
San Francisco – NFC West
New Orleans – NFC South
Detroit – playoff spot
Atlanta – playoff spot
SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS
San Francisco clinches a first-round bye with:
1) SF win OR
2) SF tie + NO loss or tie OR
3) NO loss
NEW ORLEANS SAINTS
New Orleans clinches a first-round bye with:
1) NO win + SF loss or tie OR
2) NO tie + SF loss
NEW YORK GIANTS
New York clinches NFC East division with:
1) NYG win or tie
DALLAS COWBOYS
Dallas clinches NFC East division with:
1) DAL win