NFL Week 18 playoff clinching scenarios: What remaining teams need to do to reach postseason
There’s only one last round of games before the NFL’s playoff picture fully falls into place.
Entering Week 18, 11 of the 14 postseason berths have already been wrapped, as have six of the eight divisions and home-field advantage in the NFC, which went to the Green Bay Packers. Still, there’s plenty to sort out over the weekend. The AFC’s top seed is still up for grabs, with several teams having a shot at securing it, and seeding could fluctuate wildly depending on several different matchups.
Saturday further shaped the field, as the Kansas City Chiefs’ win over the Denver Broncos took home-field advantage off the table for the Cincinnati Bengals and New England Patriots, while the Dallas Cowboys kept their hopes for a higher seed alive with a victory over the Philadelphia Eagles
Chiefs vs. Broncos final score, results: KC stays on top in AFC thanks to scoop-and-score TD
With their 28-24 victory Saturday in Denver to close out the regular season, the Chiefs have a shot at earning the No. 1 seed in the AFC playoffs.
The win clinched at least the No. 2 seed for Kansas City. The Chiefs will finish No. 1 if the Titans lose to the Texans on Sunday.
2021 NFL season, Week 18: What we learned from Chiefs-Broncos; Cowboys-Eagles
1. The Cowboys bounced back just as they’d hoped they would. Dallas needed a positive night to close the regular season after falling in a frustrating home loss to Arizona and got exactly that, taking what was once a one-score game and turning it into a blowout with relative ease. The Cowboys racked up 475 yards of total offense, converted 8 of 13 third-down attempts and did all of this without forcing a turnover, reversing what had been a negative trend in games in which they didn’t record at least one takeaway. The Cowboys head into the playoffs feeling good about their chances, starting with the performance of Dak Prescott (21/27, 295 yards, 5 TDs). They’ll hope to repeat this type of night a week from now.
2022 NFL Playoff Picture: How Saturday wins by Cowboys and Chiefs impact the postseason race
For the first time in 17 years, the NFL scheduled a Saturday doubleheader for the final week of the season and both of those games ended exactly as expected with the Chiefs and Cowboys both winning.
The Chiefs, who were an 11-point favorite over the Broncos, got an unexpected scare in Denver in a 28-24 win. As for Dallas, there was no scare for the Cowboys as they rolled to an 51-26 blowout win over Philadelphia. The Cowboys’ didn’t come as a surprise and that’s mostly due to the fact that the Eagles benched their starters while Dallas played its starters for the better part of three quarters.
So how do these two games impact the playoff race heading into the final day of the season? Glad you asked.
Dak Prescott breaks Tony Romo’s single-season TD pass record in Cowboys’ win over Eagles
Dak Prescott’s comeback season officially has a place in the Cowboys’ record books.
With his fifth touchdown pass in Saturday night’s win over the Philadelphia Eagles, Prescott moved past Tony Romo for the most passing touchdowns in a single season in Cowboys history with 37. Prescott did so by completing an eight-yard pass to former Eagles hero Corey Clement to make it a 37-20 game and officially end Prescott’s night.
The quarterback finished with a passing line of 21-of-27 for 295 yards, five touchdowns and a 151.8 passer rating.
“It’s special but I mean a record like that, that’s this team, that’s this offense,” Prescott told ESPN’s Lisa Salters after the game. “All the different guys that caught passes, the guys that protected, everybody played a part in it and I’m just the beneficiary of it. But, to know where I was a year ago, to be where we are now headed to the playoffs, [I’m] very excited.”
NFL Week 18 Saturday Schedule: Chiefs-Broncos and Cowboys-Eagles games thread
Saturday of week 18 across the NFL brings a pair of games to get the weekend underway. The league has set up its schedule in recent years to exclusively feature divisional matchups in the final week of the regular season to maximize playoff tension, and usually it works out very well to set up at least one winner-take-all game for a playoff spot, if not for a division title.
This week, there is just one of those games, with the winner of the Chargers-Raiders game heading into the AFC playoffs as a wild-card team. That game therefore receives Sunday Night Football treatment tomorrow, but the other AFC West game, between the Kansas City Chiefs and Denver Broncos, kicks off this afternoon. That game will see the Chiefs try to give themselves a chance at home-field advantage in the AFC playoffs once again, as they need a victory (or at least a tie) to give themselves a chance at that status.
2021 NFL playoff picture, standings: Chiefs take over first in AFC, Cowboys rout Eagles with playoffs secure
The longest season in NFL history is finally coming to a close, starting with a Week 18 Saturday doubleheader that features matchups with playoff implications. The Kansas City Chiefs rallied to defeat the Denver Broncos to clinch a least No. 2 seed in the AFC, forcing the Tennessee Titans to win Sunday in order to lock up home-field advantage in the AFC.
The Philadelphia Eagles and Dallas Cowboys have their playoff berths clinched. Dallas still has a shot at the No. 2 seed in the NFC while the highest the Eagles can obtain is the No. 6 seed in the conference. Philadelphia rested several key starters in the Saturday night showdown.
NFL Week 18 Saturday Schedule: Chiefs-Broncos and Cowboys-Eagles games thread
Saturday of week 18 across the NFL brings a pair of games to get the weekend underway. The league has set up its schedule in recent years to exclusively feature divisional matchups in the final week of the regular season to maximize playoff tension, and usually it works out very well to set up at least one winner-take-all game for a playoff spot, if not for a division title.
This week, there is just one of those games, with the winner of the Chargers-Raiders game heading into the AFC playoffs as a wild-card team. That game therefore receives Sunday Night Football treatment tomorrow, but the other AFC West game, between the Kansas City Chiefs and Denver Broncos, kicks off this afternoon. That game will see the Chiefs try to give themselves a chance at home-field advantage in the AFC playoffs once again, as they need a victory (or at least a tie) to give themselves a chance at that status.