Nine of today’s 14 regular season ending National Football League contests are played outdoors and all have mild weather.
Yesterday’s NFL action decided the top seed in the National Football Conference but still left four teams vying for the final two playoff berths. The Seattle Seahawks victory was sweet revenge for quarterback Sam Darnold who lost the top seed a year ago on the final day of the season with a loss at Detroit.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers victory on Saturday over the Carolina Panthers gave them a chance to advance to the postseason but not a lock. They need the New Orleans Saints to upset the Atlanta Falcons on the road today to get the final berth in the NFC. The final AFC playoff berth will be decided tonight when the Pittsburgh Steelers host the Baltimore Ravens.
We don’t get my final day of the regular season edge where a team that needs a win to get into the postseason is playing a team already eliminated. That edge belongs to the team that has nothing to play for other than messing up their opponent's playoff aspirations. My second edge on the final day of the season is when a team needs a win to advance and are playing a team already locked into their postseason seed. In that scenario, the team that needs it gets it against a team with nothing to play for and already preparing for the postseason.
What we do get today are a bunch of games that will affect the playoff seeds. The Seahawks are the NFC top seed but any of three American Football Conference squads could land the top spot and opening week postseason bye. The Denver Broncos are in the driver's seat, win over the Los Angeles Chargers and they are the top seed. The Chargers are already assured a playoff berth, so it is highly likely the Broncos will end the drama for the top spot with a victory.
If they don’t win, the door is open for the New England Patriots to grab the top spot with a triumph over the Miami Dolphins. The Dolphins are already eliminated, so they are a live underdog possibility against the Patriots. If the unexpected happens in Denver, and the Dolphins upset the Patriots, then the top seed could go to the Jacksonville Jaguars if they beat the Tennessee Titans today.
If the Jaguars lose, they could also surrender the third seed in the playoffs to the Houston Texans who with a win over the Indianapolis Colts and a loss by the Jaguars capture the AFC South Division title. The Texans, depending on their result and others, will land with a third, fifth or sixth seed.
The Los Angeles Rams are the odds favorite to win Super Bowl LX next month at Levi’s Stadium and are going to enter the postseason as either a fifth or sixth seed in the NFC. They host the Arizona Cardinals today and with a win clinch the fifth seed while dropping San Francisco, who lost a chance at the top seed yesterday, to the sixth seed.
It is amazing that the NFL skipped all this drama prior to 1975 when the playoff home field advantages were determined before the season started on a rotating basis. They also used to play games on the final week by a predetermined schedule that included a Monday Night Football matchup. Beginning in 2010, they adopted the practice of scheduling the times for the final week to avoid having an early game played that affected a later contest. Now, games that matter to each other are all played on the same day at the same time.
The defending Champion Philadelphia Eagles could move up to a second seed with a win and Chicago Bears loss. The Eagles are hosting the Washington Commanders, and the Chicago Bears meet the Detroit Lions at Soldier Field. Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni announced early in the week that he is more concerned about resting his key players and best avoiding any end of the year injuries to starters. The difference between a second and third seed does not interfere with a team opening the playoffs with a home date and Sirianni obviously sees getting his team in the best position for the playoffs is better than risking injury while even a victory won’t move their seed if the Bears beat the Lions.
That announcement sent the wise guys to get down on the Commanders plus the generous point spread, which quickly shifted three points, from the Eagles favored by 7½ to 4½. What we have here, given Sirianni’s game plan and the desire on the Commanders part to end this season with a win over the defending champs to take some of the sting out of their disappointing campaign, is a nice spot for the underdog.
A year ago, the Commanders were a surprise success and went all the way to the NFC Championship Game, which resulted in a lopsided loss to the Eagles. This year, they have only four wins and would like nothing better than to end their disappointing season with a win where their 2024 campaign ended with a thud last January. Without the Eagles putting up a concerted resistance, we expect the Commanders to get that last upbeat to their campaign.
As for the public, their three favorite plays of the day begin with the Los Angeles Rams (-13) over the Arizona Cardinals. That game is followed by the Buffalo Bills (-8) over the New York Jets and Cincinnati Bengals (-7½) over the Cleveland Browns.
The Qoxhi Week 18 Sunday plays are now posted on this site, and if a Bullet Play develops before the day’s first kickoff, that game will be added to the list of recommendations by 9:45 a.m. Pacific Time.