Simple Tasks (Week 14)

One thing I've learned in the many years that I've tracked the NFL's playoff races: it's always fun to control your own destiny. Nothing makes a team sleep better at night than the feeling that all they have to do to get in is, as the late, great Al Davis once said, "just win, baby." Football fans love that scenario, too, because just winning is easy. You don't want to have to rely on any outside help; even if it's only one team standing in the way. You also don't want to back in as well, because while you did get what you played for, someone else got it for you.

Regarding Week 14, the scenarios are quite simple, after no teams clinched spots in Week 13. But before I get to that, let's look at the standings first.

In the AFC, the Buffalo Bills and the Kansas City Chiefs are tied for the top spot at 9-3, but it's the Bills who are the new #1 via their big win over the Chiefs earlier in the season. The Baltimore Ravens are #3 at 8-4, and this football fan has to mention last year, when the Ravens entered the final six weeks of the season at 8-3 and in first place in the entire conference, only to lose all of final six games to end up eliminated. The absence of Lamar Jackson plagued them last year, and here it is, the month of December, and Lamar is injured again. Oh no. The Tennessee Titans still lead the AFC South despite dropping to 7-5, and currently hold the #4 position.

Regarding the Wild Cards, the Cincinnati Bengals and the Miami Dolphins both stand at 8-4, with Cincy holding the head-to-head tiebreaker over Miami. The New York Jets still hold the last position despite dropping to 7-5, while the New England Patriots and the Los Angeles Chargers both fell to 6-6 and stand behind the playoff line. The 4-7 logjam from last week has been cleaned up a bit; the Las Vegas Raiders, the Cleveland Browns, and the Pittsburgh Steelers all won to improve to 5-7. The Indianapolis Colts dropped to 4-8-1 with their loss to the Cowboys, and the Jacksonville Jaguars have some semblance of hope at 4-8, but they need to pretty much win out and move past some teams.

In the NFC, the Philadelphia Eagles remain at #1 at 11-1, while the Minnesota Vikings improved to 10-2 and continue to keep pace with the Eagles. The San Francisco 49ers lost Jimmy Garoppolo, but did win their game to improve to 8-4, and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' Monday Night win put them at .500 (6-6), while also improving their hold over the mediocre NFC South.

We do have a change in the Wild Card standings. The Dallas Cowboys still hold the top Wild Card position at 9-3, and as a result of the tie between the New York Giants and the Washington Commanders, the former is 7-4-1 while the latter is 7-5-1. The Seattle Seahawks improved to 7-5 with their win over the Rams, and more importantly, they moved past the Commanders in the standings, as well as over the playoff line. The Detroit Lions are a good bit behind at 5-7, the Green Bay Packers are 5-8, and of course, the remaining NFC South teams are all heavily alive for obvious reasons.

On to the scenarios:

For the first time this season, an AFC team can lock in a playoff spot, and of course, it's the Kansas City Chiefs. Despite being #2 in the AFC, the Chiefs aren't in a highly competitive division like the Bills are, which is immensely ironic considering the fact that the AFC West was projected to be what both East divisions are now. The Chiefs can wrap up the AFC West in Week 14, and all they will need is a win and a Chargers loss to clinch their seventh straight division title. Kansas City will head to Denver to face the lowly Broncos (who face eliminatino entering Week 14), and should KC win, they'll check out Sunday Night Football between the Chargers and the Miami Dolphins.

The Philadelphia Eagles couldn't lock in a playoff spot this past weekend, but their win did make things easier for themselves entering this week. I mention teams controlling their own destiny; the Eagles are one of two teams who have that luxury entering Week 14. Win and in, that's all the Eagles have to do. Even a tie would get them in. It's only in the event of a loss that help would be needed, as they would need the Seattle Seahawks and the San Francisco 49ers to both lose. The Eagles will go on the road to face the New York Giants, who are coming off their tie against the Washington Commanders. It won't be easy; remember, NFC East games are tough--the Eagles' one loss was divisional. Speaking of divisions, according to the standings, the Eagles could lock up the NFC East as early as Week 15, which is one week before their second meeting with the Dallas Cowboys. The Niners host the Buccaneers this week, and the Seahawks are at home against the Carolina Panthers.

The Minnesota Vikings won their game last week, but could not clinch the NFC North due to the Detroit Lions' win over the Jacksonville Jaguars. This week, the Vikings are in Detroit, and that makes the scenario so much easier. A win or a tie will cement the Vikings as champions of the North, and it would be payback as well, after all, the last time the Vikings were in Detroit, they lost to a Lions team who was looking for their 1st win of the season. For the Lions, though, it's still a feather in their cap. I don't think they've been alive for the division this late since 2016, which actually saw them facing the Green Bay Packers for the division on the final week. The main objective for the Vikings, though, is home field. They trail the Eagles by one game for that top spot, and the Week 2 loss to Philly adds another game to that deficit. With the way the NFC looks, it'll be just those two teams competing for that top spot, so the back and forth should be interesting.

Now, that's all for the scenarios, but as we all know, it's the calm before the storm. As December progresses, the list of teams who can clinch gets longer, and could result in a chaotic final week if there's still a lot left to decide by then. For now, we can relax and drink in a quiet week as far as playoff scenarios are concerned, while we begin to prepare for the wild weeks to come.

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