CURRENT AFC PLAYOFF FIELD

1. x-Kansas City (11-3)

2. Houston (10-4)

3. New England (9-5)

4. Pittsburgh (8-5-1)

5. x-Los Angeles (11-3)

6. Baltimore (8-6, holds tiebreaker over Titans and Colts via better conference record)

x-clinched playoff berth

AFC CLINCHING SCENARIOS

Chiefs (11-3): Kansas City will clinch the AFC West and a first-round bye with a win combined with a Chargers loss. The Chiefs will clinch home-field advantage throughout the playoffs with a win combined with a Chargers loss and a Texans loss/tie, or a win combined with a Chargers loss plus six wins from the following teams: Giants, Bucs, Patriots, Bengals, Packers, Steelers, 49ers and Cardinals.

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Texans (10-4): Houston will clinch the AFC South with a win/tie, or a Titans loss/tie plus a Colts loss/tie. The Texans will clinch a first-round bye with a win combined with a Patriots loss/tie, or a tie and a Patriots loss. Houston will clinch a playoff berth with a Steelers loss, or a Ravens loss/tie, or a number of other scenarios playing out.

Patriots (9-5): New England will clinch the AFC East with a win/tie, or a Dolphins loss/tie.

Steelers (8-5-1): Pittsburgh will clinch the AFC North with a win combined with a Ravens loss/tie, or a tie and a Ravens loss. The Steelers will clinch a playoff berth with a win combined with losses by the Titans and Colts.

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AFC ELIMINATION SCENARIOS

Chargers (11-3): Los Angeles, which has clinched a playoff berth, will be eliminated from AFC West title contention with a loss combined with a Chiefs win.

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Ravens (8-6): Baltimore will be eliminated from AFC North title contention with a loss combined with a Steelers win/tie, or a tie and a Steelers win. The Ravens will be eliminated from playoff contention with a loss combined with a Steelers win/tie and a Titans win, or a loss combined with a Steelers win/tie, Titans tie and Colts win.

Colts (8-6): Indianapolis will be eliminated from AFC South title contention with a loss/tie or a Texans win/tie. The Colts will be eliminated from playoff contention with a loss plus the following results: Ravens win, Steelers win, Dolphins win, Patriots win/tie, Bengals win, Falcons win, Bucs win, Raiders lose and Texans lose.

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Titans (8-6): Tennessee will be eliminated from AFC South title contention with a loss/tie or a Texans win/tie. The Titans will be eliminated from playoff contention with a loss combined with a Steelers win and Ravens win.

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Dolphins (7-7): Miami will be eliminated from AFC East title contention with a loss/tie, or a Patriots win/tie. The Dolphins will be eliminated from playoff contention with a loss, or with a number of other scenarios playing out.

Browns (6-7-1): Cleveland cannot win the AFC North. It will be eliminated from playoff contention with a loss/tie, or a Titans win/tie, or a Colts win/tie, or a Ravens win.

ALREADY ELIMINATED FROM PLAYOFF CONTENTION: Broncos (6-8), Bengals (6-8), Bills (5-9), Jaguars (4-10), Jets (4-10), Raiders (3-11).

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CURRENT NFC PLAYOFF FIELD

1. xy-Saints (12-2)

2. xy-Rams (11-3)

3. xy-Bears (10-4)

4. Cowboys (8-6)

5. Seahawks (8-6)

6. Vikings (7-6-1)

x-clinched playoff berth

y-clinched division title

NFC CLINCHING SCENARIOS

Saints (12-2): New Orleans will clinch the No. 1 seed and home-field advantage throughout the playoffs with a win, or a tie combined with a Rams loss/tie, or a Rams loss combined with a Bears loss/tie. The Saints will clinch a first-round bye with a win/tie, or a Rams loss, or a Bears loss/tie.

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Rams (11-3): Los Angeles will clinch a first-round bye with a win combined with a Bears loss/tie, or a tie combined with a Bears loss.

Bears (10-4): Chicago will clinch at least the No. 3 seed with a win/tie, or a Cowboys loss/tie.

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Cowboys (8-6): Dallas, whose ceiling is the No. 4 seed, will clinch the NFC East with a win, or a tie combined with an Eagles loss/tie and a Redskins loss/tie, or with losses by both the Eagles and Redskins. The Cowboys will clinch a playoff berth with a tie combined with a Vikings loss.

Seahawks (8-6): There are 25 scenarios in which Seattle can clinch a playoff spot, most them involving a win. The simplest scenarios are a win combined with a Redskins loss/tie, or a win combined with a Vikings loss. The Seahawks also can clinch a playoff spot with a tie combined with a Redskins loss, an Eagles loss/tie and a Vikings loss.

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Vikings (7-6-1): Minnesota will clinch a playoff berth with a win combined with a Redskins loss and an Eagles loss/tie.

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NFC ELIMINATION SCENARIOS

Redskins (7-7): Washington will be eliminated from NFC East title contention with a loss, or a Cowboys win, or a tie combined with a Cowboys tie. The Redskins will be eliminated from playoff contention with a loss combined with an Eagles win, or a loss combined with a Vikings win and a Seahawks win/tie.

Eagles (7-7): Philadelphia will be eliminated from NFC East title contention with a loss, or a Cowboys win, or a tie combined with a Cowboys tie. The Eagles will be eliminated from playoff contention with a loss combined with a Vikings win/tie, or a tie combined with a Cowboys win/tie, Seahawks win/tie and Vikings win.

Panthers (6-8): Carolina will be eliminated from playoff contention with a loss, or a Vikings win/tie. There are a number of other elimination scenarios involving a Panthers tie, or a combination of wins/ties by other teams. Carolina only can reach the No. 6 seed in the NFC bracket.