NFL Playoff Picture 2016: Week 17 Standings, AFC and NFC Wild-Card Hunt

The New Year doesn't only signify a change in the calendar, but also the start of the NFL postseason. A Monday night Week 16 game between the Dallas Cowboys and Detroit Lions, along with the Week 17 slate, are all that separates the league from the playoffs. 

All six AFC playoff teams have clinched berths, while the NFC still needs to decipher a divisional winner. Let's take a look at the current standings and postseason picture:

Team	Record
AFC East
New England Patriots	13-2
Miami Dolphins	10-5
Buffalo Bills	7-8
New York Jets	4-11
AFC North
Pittsburgh Steelers	10-5
Baltimore Ravens	8-7
Cincinnati Bengals	5-9-1
Cleveland Browns	1-14
AFC South
Houston Texans	9-6
Tennessee Titans	8-7
Indianapolis Colts	7-8
Jacksonville Jaguars	3-12
AFC West
Oakland Raiders	12-3
Kansas City Chiefs	11-4
Denver Broncos	8-7
San Diego Chargers	5-10

Team	Record
NFC East
Dallas Cowboys	12-2
New York Giants	10-5
Washington Redskins	8-6-1
Philadelphia Eagles	6-9
NFC North
Detroit Lions	9-5
Green Bay Packers	9-6
Minnesota Vikings	7-8
Chicago Bears	3-12
NFC South
Atlanta Falcons	10-5
Tampa Bay Buccaneers	8-7
New Orleans Saints	7-8
Carolina Panthers	6-9
NFC West
Seattle Seahawks	9-5-1
Arizona Cardinals	6-8-1
Los Angeles Rams	4-11
San Francisco 49ers	2-13

In Week 16 alone, the New York Giants, Atlanta Falcons, Pittsburgh Steelers, Kansas City Chiefs and Miami Dolphins all punched their tickets to the playoffs. 

Here is what the current bracket looks like heading into Monday night:

Seed	AFC	NFC
1	New England Patriots (w,x,y)	Dallas Cowboys (w,x,y,z)
2	Oakland Raiders (w)	Atlanta Falcons (w,x,y,z)
3	Pittsburgh Steelers (w,x)	Detroit Lions
4	Houston Texans (w,x)	Seattle Seahawks (w,x)
5	Kansas City Chiefs (w)	New York Giants (w)
6	Miami Dolphins (w)	Green Bay Packers
In The Hunt		Washington Redskins
In The Hunt		Tampa Bay Buccaneers

The Lions hold their destiny in their hands heading into Monday night against the Cowboys. A win would ensure at least a wild-card spot before their Week 17 matchup against the Green Bay Packers. 

The NFC North bout in the final week of the season will decide the winner of the division and, most likely, the No. 3 seed in the process. 

But if the Lions were to lose to the Cowboys and the Washington Redskins were to win their last game against the Giants, then the Redskins would nab the No. 6 seed, per Master Tesfatsion of the Washington Post.

That would make Week 17 even more of a must-win for the Lions because if they lost to the Packers, then they would be out of the playoffs altogether. 

While the six teams in the AFC are set, there are some seeding issues that still need to be determined, which is centered around the West division. 

If the Oakland Raiders win their final game at Denver against the Broncos, then they are division champions and the No. 2 seed in the AFC with a first-round bye. However, they will be without quarterback Derek Carr, who suffered a broken fibula during Week 16 against the Indianapolis Colts, via NFL.com's Michael Fabiano.

A loss in Denver would mean the Raiders would need the Kansas City Chiefs to lose their final game of the season to the San Diego Chargers. A Chiefs win under those circumstances though would make Kansas City AFC West champions and the No. 2 seed with a first-round bye. 

The second-place team in the division would have to settle for the No. 5 seed in the conference, which would mean going to Houston to play the Texans in the Wild Card Round.

Seedings courtesy of NFL.com.