NFL Week 17 Picks: Predicting Winners for Every Key Game

There are still a few games in Week 17 of the NFL season with playoff implications.

With playoff spots and seeding still up in the air, there are a number of important divisional matchups this week that will determine just who we're watching take the field in the postseason.

Here are my picks for the four most important games of Week 17.

Kansas City Chiefs at Denver Broncos

In any other week, the Kansas City Chiefs taking on the Denver Broncos might not be a premiere matchup, but with the playoffs on the line for the Broncos, it's easily that team's most important game of the year.

The Broncos are AFC West champions with a win this week, but they are heading into it with two straight losses.

The Chiefs, though no powerhouse, have had themselves a bit of a revival, thanks to replacing Todd Haley with Romeo Crennel at head coach, starting former Bronco Kyle Orton at quarterback and the team's Week 15 win over the then-undefeated Green Bay Packers.

That means a win is going to be tough for both teams, but I see the Chiefs coming up victorious and potentially spoiling the Broncos' playoff plans.

The Kansas City defense has proven they have the ability to both pressure quarterbacks and stop the run, both things they will need to do—and will succeed at doing—in their defeat of the Broncos this week.

Baltimore Ravens at Cincinnati Bengals

With a win this week, the Baltimore Ravens clinch the AFC North title and with it the No. 2 (or even No. 1) spot in the AFC, which comes with it a first-round bye and home field advantage.

At the same time, the Cincinnati Bengals would have a great chance of snagging the conference's second wild-card playoff spot if they win. Therefore, this game has a great deal of significance for both teams.

The Baltimore Ravens' four losses have all come on the road this year. They, more than many other teams, need home-field advantage in the playoffs, but they will be hard-pressed to achieve it on the road this week.

This game will more likely come down to how well or poorly the Ravens offense performs rather than how effective their defense is at stopping the Bengals' strong rushing and passing offenses.

With so much on the line, I see the Bengals pulling off an inspired home victory that launches them into the playoffs as the third representative of the AFC North to reach the postseason.

San Diego Chargers at Oakland Raiders

Though the San Diego Chargers were knocked out of playoff contention in Week 16, the Oakland Raiders' postseason hopes are very much alive. With a win this week and a loss by the Denver Broncos, the Raiders reach the playoffs as AFC West champions.

Should both the Raiders and Broncos win, there are still a number of scenarios that end with the Raiders snagging the second wild-card spot in the AFC. Therefore, this week's contest is a must-win for Oakland.

The Chargers have been up, but mostly down, this season. Starting the season 4-1, the Chargers embarked on a six-game losing streak.

Though they managed to snap it in Week 13 and go on to win three games in a row, their big loss last week against the Detroit Lions proves that whatever is wrong in San Diego hasn't yet been fixed.

While the Chargers are a talented team and are poised to play the role of spoiler this week, I don't see them besting the Raiders in Oakland in a year when the Raiders have been so determined to do whatever it takes to reach the playoffs.

Dallas Cowboys at New York Giants

There's just one undecided playoff spot left in the NFC. Not surprisingly, that spot up for grabs is the NFC East's entrant in the postseason.

The NFC East has been an unpredictable division all season long, with its four teams constantly up-and-down at disparate times. That the division has come down to the final game of the final week of the season seems only fitting.

The Dallas Cowboys suffered an embarrassing loss at the hands of the Philadelphia Eagles last week while the New York Giants nearly gave away a win to the New York Jets but managed to hang on for the 29-14 win.

Though the Cowboys have had more consistent success throughout the season than the New York Giants, who had a great span of wins in the first half of the year but stumbled in the second, the Giants are the altogether better team.

It's going to be a strange matchup this week, however, with both teams' trademark errors and missteps likely to make appearances in concert with a few brilliant plays from Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo and Giants quarterback Eli Manning.

It will be a close game, but I see the Giants ending the game with the win and the sole playoff berth for an NFC East team.