NFL Playoff Standings 2016: Team-by-Team Records and AFC, NFC Scenarios

Few NFL playoff spots remain up for grabs, but plenty of teams will be jostling for position in the final week of the 2015 regular season.

The on-field calculus from head coaches attempting to prioritize player health and playoff seeding alone will be one of the more entertaining storylines in Sunday's slate of games.

With only one team locked into its playoff position, there could be a lot of movement in the standings by the time all is said and done.

NFL Playoff Picture

AFC Scenarios

Charles Krupa/Associated Press

Four teams have clinched a playoff spot in the AFC: the New England Patriots, Denver Broncos, Cincinnati Bengals and Kansas City Chiefs. In addition, the Patriots and Bengals have already won their respective divisions.

New England has a one-game lead over Cincinnati and Denver and can secure the top seed with a win over the Miami Dolphins.

Obviously, the Patriots will prefer to have home-field advantage throughout the playoffs, but with the way injuries have ravaged his team, coach Bill Belichick might decide keeping his key players healthy is more important than the No. 1 seed.

"The guys that can play will play," Belichick said Monday on WEEI (via Chris Mason of the Boston Herald). "The guys that can't play, which there are a number of those, won't play. It is what it is."

Fans can read whatever they want into those comments. Belichick didn't offer concrete confirmation either way as to his plans for Sunday.

Of course, this is the same coach who gave the New York Jets the ball to start overtime in Week 16. Don't rule out any possibilities for the Patriots in the final week of the regular season.

No matter the result of the Patriots' clash with the Dolphins, the Broncos can't afford to take a break in Week 17. Denver still needs to shore up the division. The franchise will claim the AFC West crown with a victory, but a loss to the San Diego Chargers would open the door for the red-hot Chiefs, who have a more-than-winnable game against the Oakland Raiders ahead.

The other compelling AFC playoff battle involves the Pittsburgh Steelers and New York Jets.

The Steelers should have been in the driver's seat but instead stumbled against the Baltimore Ravens. As good as Pittsburgh's offense is, the defense could be the team's downfall, per the NFL:

The calculus is pretty simple for the Jets and Steelers. New York is in with a win over the Buffalo Bills, while Pittsburgh must beat the Cleveland Browns and hope the Jets lose.

The fact that the Browns can play spoiler to the Steelers at least gives fans something to cheer for Sunday.

By far, the most entertaining aspect of Sunday's games will be following the results to see if everything goes right for the Indianapolis Colts. Along with a win over the Tennessee Titans, the Colts need eight other games to break in their favor, per NFL Network's Andrew Siciliano:

Indy cornerback Darius Butler wants to believe:

The Colts will be almost certainly sitting at home during the playoffs, but that small window in which their postseason hopes are alive will provide some drama.

NFC Scenarios

Stephen Brashear/Associated Press

The NFC playoff field is already set, with seeding the only variable to be decided Sunday.

The Arizona Cardinals could snatch the No. 1 seed away from the Carolina Panthers, but a win won't come easy against the Seattle Seahawks, who will want to do everything they can to earn the fifth seed and a date with the Washington Redskins in the Wild Card Round.

Finishing in second place in the NFC would be a disappointing finish for the Panthers after their 14-0 start, but it wouldn't be the end of the world for Carolina if head coach Ron Rivera wants to give Cam Newton a bit of a break.

Bleacher Report's Mike Freeman argued the Panthers' loss to the Atlanta Falcons was actually somewhat good because it provided Rivera with more incentive to rest some of his stars this Sunday:

"

I saw a Panthers team that at times looked half asleep. It's because they are. When I interviewed Dolphins players on the 1972 team for a book on their undefeated season, one of the things they all said was how draining it was. It was inspirational and historic, but it was brutal, and they played just 14 regular-season games.

Cam Newton has been taking some of the nastiest hits that I've seen a quarterback take. I don't care how strong he is, those add up. Newton is made of flesh and bone, not ablative armor. CBS cameras caught Newton bleeding from behind the ear against Atlanta. It wasn't horrible. It wasn't scary. Just don't want to see the hottest quarterback in football bleeding near his ear. Call me crazy and all.

"

Even if Carolina is at 75 percent of its normal effectiveness, that should be enough to put the Tampa Bay Buccaneers away and finish 15-1.

Over in the NFC North, the Minnesota Vikings and Green Bay Packers will face off to determine the division champion. According to Odds Shark, Green Bay is a three-point favorite, which is a bit generous given the Packers' offensive issues.

The Cardinals undoubtedly have a very good defense, but this kind of showing was inexcusable by the Packers in Week 16, per NFL.com's Gil Brandt:

This isn't an isolated problem, either, as Green Bay has struggled to find any consistency on offense from a week-to-week basis, which is crazy for any team with Aaron Rodgers at quarterback.

Minnesota doesn't possess a dominant defense, but that might not matter if the Packers offensive line is a revolving door like it was against the Cardinals.

The Seahawks will be paying special attention to the result of the Packers-Vikings game. Since it owns a head-to-head win over Minnesota, Seattle will be hoping for a Vikings win. Otherwise, the reigning NFC champions will get the sixth seed regardless of whether they beat Arizona.

You can't understate the advantage of being the fifth seed rather than No. 6. Not only would it mean a first-round matchup with Washington, it could also mean not meeting the Panthers until the NFC Championship Game.