NFL Playoff Picture 2017: Updated AFC, NFC Wild-Card Bracket Ahead of Week 17

All eyes will be on the Green Bay Packers and the Detroit Lions when they meet at Ford Field in Detroit Sunday night.

These two teams will be fighting for the NFC North title, and while the game will be played at the Lions' home field, the Packers appear to have the momentum.

The Lions have dropped back-to-back games to the New York Giants and Dallas Cowboys, while the Packers have put together a five-game winning streak and appear to have gotten their act back together after a horrific run in the middle of the season that saw them drop four in a row and give up 38.3 points per game over that span.

From the outside, it appears there is a cloud of doom hanging over the Lions, but that observation may not be accurate. They have not won their division since 1993, and the franchise history is quite bleak since Hall of Fame quarterback Bobby Layne was under center in 1957. The Lions won their last NFL title that year, overwhelming the Cleveland Browns by a 59-14 margin.

Conference	Seed	Team	Week 17 opponent	Skinny
AFC	1	New England Patriots	at Miami	Regular-season finale may be tougher than expected.
AFC	2	Oakland Raiders	at Denver	Difficult assignment without Derek Carr.
AFC	3	Pittsburgh Steelers	vs. Cleveland	Finishing the season on a roll.
AFC	4	Houston Texans	at Tennessee	Facing another first-round loss.
AFC	5	Kansas City Chiefs	at San Diego	Taking the Chargers lightly would be a big mistake.
AFC	6	Miami Dolphins	vs. New England	Credit to head coach Adam Gase for Miami's rise.
NFC	1	Dallas Cowboys	at Philadelphia	Dak Prescott answering all questions.
NFC	2	Atlanta Falcons	vs. New Orleans	Should be able to clinch No. 2 seed.
NFC	3	Seattle Seahawks	at San Francisco	Many questions going into the postseason.
NFC	4	Green Bay Packers	at Detroit	Packers have found their offense.
NFC	5	New York Giants	at Washington	Improved defense has keyed success.
NFC	6	Detroit Lions	vs. Green Bay	Don't count them out yet.
NFC	--	Washington Redskins	vs. New York Giants	In charge of their own fate.
NFC	--	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	vs. Carolina	Need a win and a miracle.

There are those who may want to compare the Lions to the pre-2016 Chicago Cubs in that they are always doomed to see their season end in some combination of failure or heartbreak.

But that may not be the way this game goes. The Lions lost to the two teams with the best records in the NFC, and they are not necessarily going to fold.

Lions head coach Jim Caldwell told Justin Rogers of the Detroit News that his team can still take care of its business. 

"The most important thing is we have a job to do. We have a mission to complete," Caldwell said. "We haven't completed that mission yet. We've still got work to do."

The Packers are hot, but their defense ranks 20th in yards allowed and 29th against the pass.

While this game will decide the division title, the Lions could still get into the playoffs if they lose. For that to happen, the Giants would have to beat the Washington Redskins in the regular-season finale.

However, if the Redskins win that game, they are in the playoffs as the NFC's No. 6 seed. The Giants are locked in as the No. 5 seed.

If the Redskins tie, and the Lions beat the Packers, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers have an outside chance of making the playoffs, but they would still need four other games to break the right way, including a win by the San Francisco 49ers over the NFC West champion Seattle Seahawks.

The Dallas Cowboys are locked in to the No. 1 spot in the playoffs, and the Atlanta Falcons are holding down the No. 2 spot as the NFC South winners. They can maintain that position by beating the New Orleans Saints in the regular-season finale.

The six AFC playoff teams have been finalized, but seeding is still in play.

The New England Patriots have had a sensational season from start to finish and are at the top spot heading into the final week of the season. However, if they lose their regular-season finale on the road to the Miami Dolphins, and the Oakland Raiders go on the road and beat the Denver Broncos, the Raiders will secure the top seed, and the Pats will fall to the No. 2 spot.

The Patriots have a tough assignment on the road against the playoff-bound Dolphins, and the Raiders may be in an even tougher spot at Denver. Quarterback Derek Carr broke his fibula in Week 16 against the Indianapolis Colts, and the team is going to have to play the regular-season finale and through the playoffs with backup Matt McGloin at quarterback.

If the Raiders lose that game, and the Kansas City Chiefs win their regular-season finale on the road against the San Diego Chargers, the Chiefs will win the AFC West title.

The Pittsburgh Steelers clinched the AFC North title with their Week 16 win over the Baltimore Ravens, and they are locked in at the No. 3 position. The Houston Texans have won the AFC South and will not be moved out of the No. 4 seed.

The Chiefs are the fifth seed, but they would move up to the No. 2 spot if they can supplant the Raiders at the top of the division.

However, if the Chiefs lose their regular-season finale at San Diego, and the Dolphins beat the Patriots, the Dolphins would become the No. 5 seed, and the Chiefs would fall to the sixth spot.

That is something they would want to avoid. The sixth seed will play the explosive Steelers in the wild-card round, while the fifth seed will play the seemingly vulnerable Texans.