NFL Playoff Scenarios: Breaking Down What Each Team Must Do to Clinch on Sunday

Given the playoff stakes in many of Week 17's NFL matchups, fans will have plenty of reasons to remain glued to their televisions on Sunday.

Only two actual playoff spots will be on the line, with six different teams fighting for the places. While that sounds somewhat anticlimactic, half of the league's divisions will also determine a winner, adding to the drama.

Here's a look at the current playoff picture.

You can read a brief explanation of the division and wild-card races and how the teams involved can achieve their respective goal.

Division Races

Pittsburgh Steelers and Cincinnati Bengals

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Few games will be bigger than the Pittsburgh Steelers vs. the Cincinnati Bengals. By beating the Denver Broncos on Monday, the Bengals clinched a playoff spot, but the AFC North remains up for grabs. The winner of this game will take the division.

This might be classified as a rivalry, but it's too one-sided to really be considered much of one. The Steelers are 54-34 all time against Cincinnati and have won 22 of the 30 matchups since the turn of the century.

There's also the little matter of Andy Dalton, who's 2-5 in his career against Pittsburgh.

If Cincinnati plays like it did Monday night, the Bengals will win the division. The Steelers are unlikely to let Jeremy Hill run for 147 yards, though. The more pressure heaped upon Dalton, the more trouble Cincy will find itself in.

Carolina Panthers and Atlanta Falcons

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By now, everybody has had their fun with the NFC South. No matter what, a losing team will go to the playoffs. FiveThirtyEight's Reuben Fischer-Baum determined that the South is the second-worst division in NFL history, behind the 2008 NFC West.

According to FiveThirtyEight's Nate Silver, the Atlanta Falcons and Carolina Panthers are both in the lower half of the league:

On the plus side, the Panthers turn into the best team in the league when December rolls around, per NFL on ESPN:

Carolina and Atlanta will meet in the Georgia Dome to determine the NFC South champion. The Falcons haven't been unstoppable at home, and with the Panthers' current hot streak, Carolina arguably gets the edge.

Detroit Lions and Green Bay Packers

In what is a theme in Week 17, the Detroit Lions and Green Bay Packers' highly anticipated matchup will decide the NFC North winner.

The Packers are unbeaten at Lambeau Field this year, and Aaron Rodgers has been spectacular at home, throwing for 2,108 yards and 23 touchdowns to no interceptions.

There's some worry that a calf injury could affect Rodgers on Sunday.

"Aaron's plan today, he did all the pre-practice work and no-huddle, and then we had a segment he was able to get some rehab done," said head coach Mike McCarthy on Wednesday, per Mike Spofford of Packers.com. "Then he went back outside for the team (11-on-11) stuff. He got done what he needed to get done today. He's getting better. He threw the ball around."

As long as Rodgers is on the field, it wouldn't be wise to bet against Green Bay.

Seattle Seahawks and Arizona Cardinals

Seattle's arguably the hottest team in the league, riding a five-game winning streak and playing absolutely dominating defense. The Seahawks have given up 33 points total during that run, which is less than they scored in Week 16 against the Arizona Cardinals, per ESPN Stats & Info:

"

The @Seahawks scored 35 points last night vs the @AZCardinals. Seattle has allowed 33 points in its last 5 games COMBINED.

— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) December 22, 2014"

With a win over the St. Louis Rams, the Seahawks will not only win the NFC West, they could also secure home-field advantage in the playoffs. As if that's not enough of a motivator for Seattle, the team will be looking for revenge after its Week 7 loss to the Rams.

According to Odds Shark, Seattle's a double-digit favorite over St. Louis, and Bleacher Report's NFL expert panel is unanimous in its support of the Seahawks.

All of this is to say that the Cardinals will likely have to settle for the wild card.

Wild-Card Hunt

San Diego Chargers

The San Diego Chargers control their own playoff destiny. With a win over the Kansas City Chiefs, they'll win the final wild-card spot in the AFC; it's that simple.

San Diego finds itself in this position after its 21-point comeback victory over the San Francisco 49ers last Saturday night. The Chargers scored twice in the final five minutes and 15 seconds to tie and then prevailed in overtime.

"It was exciting, and all that (game) did was put us back in control," said Philip Rivers, per Michael Gehlken of U-T San Diego. "Other than that, we still have to take care of business. It could all mean nothing if we don't do it."

The Chargers fell to the Chiefs at home back in October, so their advancing to the playoffs is far from a done deal.

Baltimore Ravens

The Baltimore Ravens could've controlled their own destiny in Week 17 had they not lost to the Houston Texans last week. Now, they've got to beat the Cleveland Browns and have the Chiefs beat the Chargers.

Beating the Browns will be the easy part. Cleveland attempted and failed to sign Rex Grossman to be the starting quarterback, per Lindsey Foltin of Fox Sports Ohio, which is about as strong an indictment about the Browns' situation as you can find.

CBS Sports' Jason La Canfora reported that Tyler Thigpen is next in line:

Barring a massive collapse, the Ravens should beat Cleveland, and given San Diego's tough matchup, Baltimore might have the best chance of anybody left to reach the playoffs.

Houston Texans

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Even if the Houston Texans don't make the playoffs, it won't change the job that Bill O'Brien did in his first season. Despite starting one of Ryan Fitzpatrick, Case Keenum, Tom Savage and Ryan Mallett this year, he's helped the team remain in playoff contention going down to the final week.

The Texans couldn't have asked for a better opponent as they fight for their postseason lives. The Jacksonville Jaguars are among the worst teams in the league, and Houston plays them at home. It beat the Jags 27-13 in Week 14.

The problem will be counting on both the Chargers and Ravens to fall. That's the only way the Texans will get in.

Kansas City Chiefs

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No team needs more help than the Chiefs. They could've made life a lot easier for themselves if they had beaten the Steelers last week. Instead, Kansas City must beat the Chargers and then hope that the Ravens and Texans lose as well.

The Chiefs have learned the hard way just how valuable a go-to wide receiver is. You'd think that it would be impossible to go an entire season in today's pass-happy NFL without a WR touchdown:

The pieces are generally there for Kansas City, so a couple of tweaks in the offseason should get the Chiefs into playoff position again.