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The first of 14 spots in the NFL playoff field was clinched by the San Francisco 49ers on Monday night.
Thanks to the Green Bay Packers’ 24-22 loss to the New York Giants, the 49ers earned a spot in the NFC postseason for the third consecutive year.
NFL @NFL
The @49ers are the 1st team to clinch a spot in the #NFLPlayoffs!@budlight | #CellyClinched pic.twitter.com/ygz4YKMMnk
The remaining 13 spots up for grabs between the NFC and AFC remain tightly contested. The 49ers are one of three NFC teams with a 10-3 record going into Week 15. The Baltimore Ravens are the only AFC club with 10 wins at this point.
Here are the updated conference standings after the Week 14 results.
NFC Playoff Standings Through Week 14
No. 1 seed: San Francisco 49ers (10-3; wins head-to-head tiebreaker over Cowboys)
No. 2 seed: Dallas Cowboys (10-3; wins tiebreaker over Eagles based on record in division games)
No. 3 seed: Detroit Lions (9-4)
No. 4 seed: Tampa Bay Buccaneers (6-7; wins tiebreaker over Falcons based on win percentage in common games)
No. 5 seed: Philadelphia Eagles (10-3)
No. 6 seed: Minnesota Vikings (7-6)
No. 7 seed: Green Bay Packers (6-7)
AFC Playoff Standings Through Week 14
No. 1 seed: Baltimore Ravens (10-3)
No. 2 seed: Miami Dolphins (9-4)
No. 3 seed: Kansas City Chiefs (8-5; wins head-to-head tiebreaker over Jaguars)
No. 4 seed: Jacksonville Jaguars (8-5)
No. 5 seed: Cleveland Browns (8-5)
No. 6 seed: Pittsburgh Steelers (7-6; wins tiebreaker over Colts based on win percentage in common games)
No. 7 seed: Indianapolis Colts (7-6)
Adam Schefter @AdamSchefter
Week 15 playoff scenarios: pic.twitter.com/0seaau0TIP
Week 15’s Key Games in Playoff Race
All six teams playing on Saturday are vying for playoff positioning. The most important of those games is between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Indianapolis Colts at Lucas Oil Stadium because it’s the only intraconference matchup.
The Steelers and Colts occupy the final two spots in the AFC playoffs, but they are among six teams in the conference with 7-6 records. The loser of this game will immediately fall out of the playoffs for at least one day.
Even though the other two games are interconference matchups, all four teams have playoff positioning at stake. The Minnesota Vikings and Cincinnati Bengals are trending in opposite directions. Jake Browning has lifted the Bengals to two straight wins with the offense racking up 876 yards in those games.
The Vikings are coming off a win over the Las Vegas Raiders, but no one came out of it feeling good when Greg Joseph kicked a game-winning field goal in the NFL’s first 3-0 final score since 2007.
The main event of the day is between the Denver Broncos and Detroit Lions at Ford Field. The Broncos have won five of their last six games, while the Lions are reeling with two losses in their past three games after an 8-2 start.
Detroit was helped out by the Packers’ loss to the Giants because it kept the team’s cushion in the NFC North at three games with four weeks to go.
If the Broncos and Bengals win, Denver will move ahead of the Steelers-Colts loser in the standings. If the Bengals win and Broncos lose, they will move ahead of the Steelers-Colts loser in the AFC playoff race.
The Vikings are safe in the No. 6 spot no matter what happens because they will have a better record against divisional opponents than the Green Bay Packers and better record against conference opponents than the Los Angeles Rams, Seattle Seahawks and all three NFC South teams vying for a playoff spot (Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Atlanta Falcons and New Orleans Saints).
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