All Wrapped Up in a Neat Little Package?! (AFC Week 16)

We are now entering the final three weeks of the 2024 NFL season, and it's wild. It's always very wild during Week 16, which is normally a Christmas week, but the calendar's makeup has allowed the NFL to kick off Week 17 on Christmas Day, so Week 17 will be a Christmas/Countdown to New Year's week, while the impending Week 16 will serve as an early Countdown to the Holidays. Because of what's happening regarding the scenarios for this week, I have to separate this by conference, because the American Football Conference could have everything settled by the end of the week. It's true.

So in order to properly do this, I'll just list the teams and what their scenarios are. Of course, this will be in proper standings order:

Division Leaders/Champions

The Kansas City Chiefs finally got a dominant win... against the Cleveland Browns. Big whoop. In any event, they're 13-1, in sole possession of the NFL's best record, and they can wrap up the conference's #1 seed with two weeks left in the season. All they need is a win and a Bills loss or tie; if they tie, the Bills have to lose. The Chiefs will be part of a Saturday double dip, hosting the Houston Texans, who clinched the AFC South and can't finish higher than the second seed in the conference.

As for the Bufallo Bills, they're second in the conference at 11-3, and they have the best chance to take the #1 seed. If they win out, and the Chiefs lose two of three, then the road in the AFC will go through Orchard Park. The Bills host the New York Jets on Sunday's early window. As for the Pittsburgh Steelers, they dropped to 10-4 with their loss to the Philadelphia Eagles, but they did clinch a playoff spot; their fourth in the last five years. The Steelers will participate in the other Saturday matchup, an AFC North battle with the Baltimore Ravens, and if Pittsburgh wins that game, the AFC North crown is theirs. They will still need a lot to happen to get the #1 seed. The Houston Texans, at 9-5, sit at #4 in the conference.

Wild Cards

There are three playoff spots in the AFC, and again, they can all be nabbed this week. As stated before, the Baltimore Ravens host the Steelers on Saturday, and if they win that game, they're in. They can also get in if the Colts and Dolphins both lose. As for the other two teams, the Denver Broncos and the Los Angeles Chargers face each other on Thursday Night Football. The scenarios for that game: Broncos are in a win or tie, or if the Colts, Dolphins, and Bengals all lose. As for the Chargers, they're in with a win and losses or ties from the Colts and Dolphins. If they tie, the Colts and Dolphins have to lose, and the Bengals cannot win.

So that's that for the teams who can clinch this week, but because the picture can be completed this week, let's talk about the remaining three teams behind the playoff line:

The 6-8 Teams

The Indianapolis Colts, the Miami Dolphins, and the Cincinnati Bengals are all alive... barely. The Bengals were the only team who could be eliminated last week, but they avoided that with a win. However, with the losses from Indy and Miami, all three teams are 6-8 and could have the plug pulled on them, and out of the three teams, the Bengals are the only team who is "lose and out." These teams can still find their way in somehow, and stranger things have happened in the NFL. First, the Colts.

Indy has the simplest scenario: they need to win out, and LA has to lose two of their final three. The Colts face the Titans this week, so they could find themselves avoiding elimination. The Dolphins need to win out, have LA lose two of three, and Indy has to lose once, because Indy has head-to-head over Miami. The Dolphins host the Niners on Sunday's late window. As for Cincy, they need to win out, Indy and Miami each have to lose a game, and whoever loses TNF has to lose the next two after that. Bengals face the Browns this week, so again, Cincy could avoid elimination for the second straight week.

Here's the thing: if KC, PIT, and LA all win, and IND, MIA, and CIN all lose, literally everything will be locked up. All four divisions, all three Wild Cards, and the #1 seed. If that happens, Week 18 of this year will be the most anti-climactic final week since 2017--which was so lacking in dramatic stories (outside of the Bills ending their playoff drought) that there was no Sunday Night game that week. Here's hoping somebody throws a proverbial monkey wrench into things so the AFC has something for Week 17 (and maybe 18).