NFL Playoff Picture 2016: Scenarios, Standings and Predictions Ahead of Week 17

While only 14 teams are still alive for the NFL's 12 playoff spots entering Week 17, there is still plenty of mystery surrounding the postseason and how the field will shape up.

Home-field advantage, first-round byes, division titles and wild-card berths remain up for grabs, making most of the games on the Week 17 schedule significant in one way or another.

Before 20 teams finish up their 2015 campaigns and another 12 punch their tickets to the playoffs, here is a full rundown of the playoff standings for each conference, a listing of clinching scenarios and predictions for how the biggest races will conclude.

AFC Playoff Standings 

Seed	Team	W	L
1	New England Patriots	12	3
2	Denver Broncos	11	4
3	Cincinnati Bengals	11	4
4	Houston Texans	8	7
5	Kansas City Chiefs	10	5
6	New York Jets	10	5
7	Pittsburgh Steelers	9	6
8	Indianapolis Colts	7	8

NFC Playoff Standings

Seed	Team	W	L
1	Carolina Panthers	14	1
2	Arizona Cardinals	13	2
3	Green Bay Packers	10	5
4	Washington Redskins	8	7
5	Minnesota Vikings	10	5
6	Seattle Seahawks	9	6

NFL Week 17 Clinching Scenarios

Team	Clinch No. 1 seed with	Clinch Bye with	Clinch Division with	Clinch Playoff Berth with
New England Patriots	NE win or tie OR DEN loss or tie	x	x	x
Denver Broncos	DEN win and NE loss	DEN win OR DEN tie and CIN loss or tie OR KC loss or tie and CIN loss	DEN win or tie OR KC loss or tie	x
Cincinnati Bengals	x	CIN win and DEN loss or tie OR CIN tie and DEN loss OR DEN loss and KC win	x	x
Kansas City Chiefs	x	x	KC win and DEN loss	x
New York Jets	x	x	x	NYJ win or tie OR PIT loss or tie
Pittsburgh Steelers	x	x	x	PIT win and NYJ loss
Houston Texans	x	x	HOU win or tie OR IND loss or tie OR one of ATL, BAL, BUF, DEN or OAK loss or tie OR OAK or PIT loss	HOU win or tie OR IND loss or tie OR one of ATL, BAL, BUF, DEN or OAK loss or tie OR OAK or PIT loss
Indianapolis Colts	x	x	IND win and HOU loss and ATL win and BAL win and BUF win and DEN win and MIA win and OAK win or tie and PIT win or tie as long as OAK and PIT don't both tie	IND win and HOU loss and ATL win and BAL win and BUF win and DEN win and MIA win and OAK win or tie and PIT win or tie as long as OAK and PIT don't both tie
Carolina Panthers	CAR win or tie OR ARI loss or tie	x	x	x
Arizona Cardinals	ARI win and CAR loss	x	x	x
Green Bay Packers	x	x	GB win or tie	x
Minnesota Vikings	x	x	MIN win	x

Top Week 17 Playoff Predictions

Steelers Make Playoffs, Jets Miss

The Pittsburgh Steelers entered Week 16 in control of their own playoff destiny, but a loss to the Baltimore Ravens coupled with a New York Jets win over the New England Patriots means Pittsburgh needs a victory and some help in Week 17.

While a win isn't guaranteed for the Steelers on the road against the Cleveland Browns considering what happened last week, that seems to be the easiest part of the scenario they need to play out.

The Jets have a slight advantage, as a win or tie against the Buffalo Bills or a Steelers loss or tie would get them into the tournament. Beating the 7-8 Bills will be easier said than done, though, as Gang Green already lost to them at home.

In addition to that, Bills players such as running back Boobie Dixon are fired up for the game since they can play spoiler and help head coach Rex Ryan get another win over his former team, according to Cameron DaSilva of Fox Sports.

"We're not going to the playoffs, so the Super Bowl is next week for us," Dixon said. "I know we're gonna have a lot of guys jacked. We already know what's on the line."

The Jets are excited for the game too, especially quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick, who acknowledged that his time with the Bills adds something to the clash, per Tyler Dunne of the Buffalo News:

"

It'll be the first time I've been back there in a different jersey, playing in front of those fans. So it has some extra meaning to me because I was there for four years and the fans were so great to me and my family. There's a little bit of extra meaning there, but I don't think there needs to be, with the significance and the importance of the game and what's at stake for us.

"

The Bills will be staying home no matter what happens in Sunday's game, but a win could go a long way toward giving them and their coach confidence entering the offseason and eventually 2016.

Buffalo's defense hasn't been as strong as anticipated this season; however, quarterback Tyrod Taylor, wide receiver Sammy Watkins and the running game have picked up the slack.

With the Bills relishing the spoiler role, look for Ryan to beat his old team, which will leave the door open for the Steelers to play playoff football with a win over the Browns.

Packers Beat Vikings to Win NFC North

Both the Green Bay Packers and Minnesota Vikings are going to the playoffs, but the winner of their Sunday Night Football battle will secure the No. 3 seed and the NFC North title.

The Vikes are clearly the hotter team right now, as Green Bay is coming off a 38-8 shellacking at the hands of the Arizona Cardinals, but Packers head coach Mike McCarthy insists his team is ready for what amounts to a divisional playoff, according to the team's official Twitter account:

In addition to having home-field advantage for Sunday's game, the Pack already crushed the Vikings in their previous meeting to the tune of a 30-13 result.

Green Bay held running back Adrian Peterson to just 45 yards on 13 carries in that game, and keeping him in check once again will undoubtedly be its biggest key to success.

Despite what happened previously, Vikings guard Brandon Fusco is ready to dethrone his team's biggest rival, per Matt Vensel of the Minneapolis Star Tribune.

"I'm tired of watching Green Bay win it ever year, so [beating the Packers is] our No. 1 goal right now," Fusco said.

The Packers look extremely vulnerable right now, with quarterback Aaron Rodgers playing nowhere near his potential, but they have shown a penchant for pulling off huge performances from out of nowhere.

That is precisely what Green Bay did in its first meeting with Minnesota, as it was coming off consecutive losses before turning things around.

The Pack may not be consistent enough to make a deep playoff run this season, but based on their historical success at Lambeau Field and their prior showing against the Vikes, they will clinch yet another NFC North crown.

Panthers and Patriots Clinch Home Field

The Carolina Panthers and New England Patriots have both been in the driver's seat with regard to home-field advantage for most of the season, but losses in Week 16 prevented them from clinching.

The Panthers and Pats will take on divisional foes in Week 17 in the form of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Miami Dolphins, respectively. While neither team necessarily has to win in order to clinch the No. 1 seed, they'll both get the job done against inferior opponents that they have already beaten this season.

Carolina has the benefit of a home game against the Bucs, and while it suffered its first loss of the season last week, that could prove to be a positive in terms of limiting distractions and allowing quarterback Cam Newton and Co. to refocus.

The Pats may have a slightly tougher test since they will face the Dolphins on the road; however, Miami has played very poorly as of late and seems to have checked out.

Ensuring that the road to the Super Bowl in the AFC goes through Gillette Stadium is hugely important to quarterback Tom Brady, head coach Bill Belichick and the Pats, and they won't allow that opportunity to slip through their fingers.

The Arizona Cardinals and Denver Broncos both have a chance to nab home field if either the Panthers or Patriots slip up, but they'll slam the door shut in Week 17.

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