NFL Power Rankings Week 17: Predicting Standings After Season Finales

We're now staring the final week of the 2016 NFL season right in the face. All 32 teams will be in action next Sunday, and once Week 17 comes to an end so will the regular season.

For some teams, there will be a lot at stake in Week 17. There could be a playoff slot up for grabs in the NFC, while seeding shuffling can occur in the AFC. For other teams, though, there will be little to play for other than pride.

The Pittsburgh Steelers, for example, are locked into the No. 3 seed in the AFC. The Dallas Cowboys have clinched the top seed in the NFC. There are a plethora of teams with no shot at making the postseason at all.

So what will the playoff picture look like once the dust settles next week? That's what we're going to try to determine. We'll be making our best guess for the final standings, using factors like past performances, Week 17 matchups and team health as guidelines. We'll also take a look at some of the most important games of Week 17.

Seed	Team	Record
AFC
NFC
1	New England Patriots	14-2
2	Oakland Raiders	13-3
3	Pittsburgh Steelers	11-5
4	Houston Texans	10-6
5	Kansas City Chiefs	12-4
6	Miami Dolphins	10-6
7	Baltimore Ravens	9-7
8	Tennessee Titans	8-8
9	Denver Broncos	8-8
10	Indianapolis Colts	8-8
11	Buffalo Bills	8-8
12	Cincinnati Bengals	5-10-1
13	San Diego Chargers	5-11
14	New York Jets	4-12
15	Jacksonville Jaguars	3-13
16	Cleveland Browns	1-15
1	Dallas Cowboys	14-2
2	Atlanta Falcons	11-5
3	Green Bay Packers	10-6
4	Seattle Seahaws	10-5-1
5	New York Giants	10-6
6	Washington Redskins	9-6-1
7	Detroit Lions	9-7
8	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	9-7
9	Minnesota Vikings	8-8
10	Arizona Cardinals	7-8-1
11	New Orleans Saints	7-9
12	Carolina Panthers	6-10
13	Philadelphia Eagles	6-10
14	Los Angeles Rams	4-12
15	Chicago Bears	3-13
16	San Francisco 49ers	2-14

Matchups to Watch

New England Patriots at Miami Dolphins

The Patriots and Dolphins are both going to be in the postseason this year. The outcome of next Sunday's game between the two isn't going to affect this. However, the Patriots still have a lot to play for here.

New England currently holds the No. 1 seed in the AFC, but if it loses to Miami it'll also risk losing home-field advantage throughout the playoffs. If the 12-3 Oakland Raiders win in Week 17 while the Patriots lose, the Raiders would earn the top seed based on tiebreakers.

This means the Patriots absolutely must treat their final game as an important one. New England failed to finish strong last year and ended up giving away the top seed. Had it hosted the Denver Broncos in the AFC title game instead of playing in Denver, it might have survived to reach Super Bowl 50.

“We need to keep playing well down the stretch," Patriots quarterback Tom Brady said, via the Boston Herald. "We’ve got eight days before we go out there, but I expect to go out there and try to be at my best."

The Dolphins will also try to be at their best, though perhaps for slightly different reasons. The Dolphins could move into the fifth seed with a win and a Kansas City Chiefs loss. However, knocking off the Patriots could be reason enough to want to win.

Not only would this potentially force the AFC race to run through Oakland instead of New England, but it would give the Dolphins a ton of confidence moving forward. Miami lost in the opening round the last time it reached the playoffs. Knowing it can beat one of the top teams in the conference would be huge for the Dolphins.

New Orleans Saints at Atlanta Falcons

Streeter Lecka/Getty Images

The No. 1 seed isn't up for grabs in the NFC, but the No. 2 seed is. The Falcons can secure it with a win over the Saints next weekend.

The Falcons moved into this position by beating the Carolina Panthers in Week 16 and then watching as the Seattle Seahawks fell to the Arizona Cardinals. All the Falcons need to do now is win one more game at home in order to get that first-round bye.

If the Falcons fail, the Seahawks will have a chance to reclaim that second seed. This makes the game between the Saints and Falcons extremely important for two teams, though the Saints aren't necessarily one of them.

New York Giants at Washington Redskins

The contest between the New York Giants and the Washington Redskins will also be an important one, though perhaps not for both teams involved.

The Giants clinched their playoff spot when the Tampa Bay Buccaneers lost in Week 16.

The Redskins, meanwhile, have to win in order to have a chance at the NFC's final wild-card spot. If they do, they'll finish 9-6-1 and they'll be able to stay ahead of any other nine-win team, provided that team doesn't also end up with a tie on its record.

Essentially, the Redskins need to win next week and need the Detroit Lions to lose their next two games, and they're in the postseason.

The Giants, though, probably wouldn't mind playing spoiler against their division rival. Considering the Redskins have already beaten New York once this season, playing that spoiler role wouldn't just be for vindictive reasons either—the Giants simply may not want to see them in the postseason.

Washington's offense, which is rated seventh overall by Pro Football Focus, is one of the few that has gotten the better of New York's defense in 2016.

Green Bay Packers at Detroit Lions

Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images

This is the big one for Week 17. Not only is the game between the Lions and the Packers going to be a heated division rivalry, it's going to be for the NFC North title.

Regardless of how the Lions fare against the Cowboys on Monday night, they'll have a chance to clinch the division next Sunday night—the league selected this game for the nightcap. If Detroit loses this week and wins next week, the Lions will finish 10-6 while the Packers finish 9-7.

Even if the Lions win on Monday night, they'll still need to beat Green Bay to win the division crown, though. If both teams finish 10-6, the Packers would win the NFC North based on the head-to-head tiebreaker.

The Packers have already beaten the Lions once this season.

This game could be extra meaningful for Detroit, though, as a loss in Week 16 would put the team in danger of missing the postseason entirely. As we mentioned above, the Redskins would get the last playoff spot if both they and the Lions finish with nine wins.

Detroit cannot afford to look past the Cowboys, even if the team might want to.

“I’m not concerned about any of that," Lions head coach Jim Caldwell said, per Michael Rothstein of ESPN.com. "I’m not concerned about looking, even if it’s another game ahead. I’m looking right straight forward at the team that we have to face; that’s our focus."

If Detroit wins on Monday, though, they'll be in the playoffs. Regardless, this Week 17 game will be huge.