A Look Ahead to Week 18 of the 2023 NFL Season

Week 17 kicks off tonight, but I want to take a look ahead to Week 18, the final week of the regular season. We all love the final week, don't we? We've really loved it since they changed the final week's schedule back in 2010. The final week always completes the league's playoff puzzle, it's do or die for a lot of teams looking to get in and even clinch divisions. However, a lot of games lacked a lot of drama, and even saw teams not give their all when they know that they can't move up in the standings. So in 2010, the NFL decided to make all of the final week's games divisional, because regardless of where a team is in the standings, that team wants to give their all to defeat a division rival.

From 2010-2020, Week 17 was the final week; since 2021, it's been Week 18. The all-divisional schedule has resulted in a number of division championship games taking place, with the first seven seasons seeing such games actually end the regular season on Sunday Night Football. All 16 final week games used to take place on Sunday, but with Week 18 added, we see the first two games on Saturday, while the remaining 14 are placed on Sunday and divided into the three usual time slots: the early window (1PM Eastern/10AM Pacific), the late window (4:25PM Eastern/1:25PM Pacific), and Sunday Night Football (8:20PM Eastern/5:20PM Pacific).

In addition, the level of importance depends on what time slot the game receives, though the current Week 18 format now allows three national TV slots in the final week, as opposed to just one from 2010-2020 when the season was 17 weeks long. The most important and anticipated game ends the season on Sunday Night Football, while the Saturday games have some good level of importance. As for the other slots, its usually the irrelevant games that are placed in Sunday's early window, with one or two playoff relevant games mixed in, while Sunday's late window has a few more relevant games--usually played in the Pacific Time Zone.

With all of that, let's look at the eight divisions and the games that will occur during Week 18.

AFC East

The AFC East games for Week 18 will see the Buffalo Bills and the Miami Dolphins face each other, while the New York Jets will face the New England Patriots. Clearly, Bills/Dolphins is the more important of the two, though the level of importance could decrease after Sunday. If the Bills win and the Dolphins lose this week, then these two teams will face each other for the division crown. Chances are, if that happens, Bills/Dolphins could end up ending the regular season, even though the game won't be an elimination game (whoever loses is out). Of course, Jets/Patriots will be buried in Sunday's early window.

AFC North

One AFC North game will see the Pittsburgh Steelers head to Baltimore to face the Ravens, while the other is the Battle of Ohio in Cincinnati. This is a bit tricky. Depending on the outcome of this week, we may see both games in Sunday's late window, or one of them in that window while the other actually kicks off Week 18 as the first Saturday game. The entire division is alive in the playoff race. Even if the Ravens lock up the #1 seed this week, we could still see Steelers/Ravens in that late window if Pittsburgh remains alive in the race. Browns/Bengals should be in that same window if Cincy is still kicking by then.

AFC South

The AFC South is another interesting situation. There's a three way tie for the division lead, and two of the teams, the Indianapolis Colts and the Houston Texans face each other in the final week, while the Jacksonville Jaguars head to Nashville to face off against the Tennessee Titans. Now, if the Jags clinch the division this week, their game against Tennessee will have no meaning and be placed in the early window. Otherwise, things could get really interesting. There's a good chance that Texans/Colts may be for the division, and that could be a winner take all situation. If it comes to that, it could either be placed in the Saturday primetime slot, or on Sunday Night Football.

AFC West

The AFC West is a bit of a shocking mess, as there is a chance that the Kansas City Chiefs could actually fail to win the division. They need a win to clinch the West, and if they get it this week, their game against the Los Angeles Chargers will be an irrelevant game placed in the late window because the Chargers are at home. The Las Vegas Raiders will face the Denver Broncos in the other AFC West game, but we should see both games most likely in the late window.

NFC East

In the NFC East, the Philadelphia Eagles will visit the New York Giants, while the Dallas Cowboys will face off against the Washington Commanders. There's not a lot of relevancy in this division, mainly because the Giants and Commanders are both out. The NFC East will most likely be settled this week, and even if it isn't, I sense both games being in the late window, though one of them could kick off the final week as the first Saturday game.

NFC North

Surprisingly, the NFC North has all of its teams alive this late in the season, but that could change by the final week. In one game, the Green Bay Packers will host the Chicago Bears, while the Detroit Lions host the Minnesota Vikings. The Lions already won the division, but all three of the other teams could be eliminated by the final week. If that's the case, along with Detroit being out of the #1 seed conversation, both games will be in the early window. Chances are, the Bears will be done for, but if the Packers and Vikings remain alive, expect one, the other, or both games to be placed in the late window.

NFC South

The other division that no one wants to win could come down to the final week. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers face off against the Carolina Panthers, while the Atlanta Falcons and the New Orleans Saints clash in a game that could decide the division if Tampa Bay loses out. Though I do want Falcons/Saints to end the regular season on Sunday Night Football, I don't know if that's possible. Even if Tampa Bay loses (to New Orleans) and Atlanta wins, the only way ATL/NO decides the division is if TB loses in the final week. The Bucs only need to win one of the final two to lock up the division. If the Bucs beat NO, the Bucs win the South while NO will be eliminated. If that's the case, Bucs/Panthers will be in the early window, while Falcons/Saints ends up there regardless of whether or not Atlanta still has a playoff pulse.

NFC West

Finally we have the NFC West, which will be represented by the battle between the Los Angeles Rams and the San Francisco 49ers, as well as the clash between the Seattle Seahawks and the Arizona Cardinals. Both games will definitely be in the late window due to taking place in the Pacific Time Zone, and this is regardless of the amount of relevance remaining by the time the final week takes place.

Per usual, the Week 18 schedule will be announced during NBC's coverage of Week 17's Sunday Night Football game. The results of the other 15 games this week should determine which games become irrelevant and placed (usually) in the early window, or which of the highly important games will serve as the 272nd and final game of the 2023 regular season.