PLAYOFF RACE
Here’s how the NFL playoff picture looks after Week 15’s games.
AFC
x — 1. Chiefs (11-3): AFC West leader. Does collapse against the Chargers portend a bigger one? Kansas City retains the inside track to home-field advantage because its division record (4-1) is better than that of the Bolts (3-2). But one more slip-up opens a door for San Diego to move into No. 1 spot while dropping Kansas City to fifth.
2. Texans (10-4): AFC South leader. Look who’s suddenly in line for a week off in the postseason. Will wrap up the division with one more win.
3. Patriots (9-5): AFC East leader. Loss in Pittsburgh means a failure to clinch the division. Worse, the veteran group must come to grips with the likelihood it might not get the bye the team has become so accustomed to. Of the 15 times Bill Belichick’s teams have reached the postseason since 2001, they’ve failed to get a bye just three times, and never since 2009. The Patriots have not reached the Super Bowl under Belichick and Tom Brady without being off during the wild-card round.
4. Steelers (8-5-1): AFC North leader. Can’t understate this win. Pittsburgh finally won a meaningful game against New England and, more important, maintained its division lead. A loss would have knocked the Steelers from the playoff field. x— 5. Chargers (11-3): Wild card No. 1. Back in the playoffs for the first time since 2013. They host the Ravens on Saturday and beating them would keep pressure on the division rival Chiefs, whose next game is in Seattle’s unfriendly confines. 6. Ravens (8-6): Wild card No. 2. Rookie quarterback Lamar Jackson — you can now, officially, call him The Man — maintained their late-season surge. The Ravens keep this spot because their record in AFC games (6-4) is a shade better than that of the Colts (6-5).
Still in contention: 7. Colts (8-6); 8. Titans (8-6); 9. Dolphins (7-7); 10. Browns (6-7-1)
NFC
y— 1. Saints (12-2): NFC South champions. Defeat of Carolina means the Saints need one more win to claim home-field advantage.
y — 2. Rams (11-3): NFC West champions. They’re 3-3 after that 8-0 start. Another loss would give the Bears an opportunity to pass them in pursuit of a bye. y— 3. Bears (10-4): NFC North champions. Division champs and playoff bound for first time since 2010. The Bears’ turnaround means that for the 15th time in 16 seasons, at least one NFL team has gone from worst to first after a last-place finish in the previous year. 4. Cowboys (8-6): NFC East leader. Not a surprise they lost in Indianapolis, but who foresaw a blowout by way of shutout? Dallas blew a chance to clinch the division and might have locked itself into a potentially tough wild-card matchup with the Seahawks, who handled the Cowboys in Seattle in Week 3.
5. Seahawks (8-6): Wild card No. 1. Surprising stumble against the 49ers on Sunday cost them a chance to sew up a spot. Seattle still in relatively good shape, but the visiting Chiefs represent a tough assignment in Week 16.
6. Vikings (7-6-1): Wild card No. 2. The new offense looked pretty good and kept them ahead of pursuers.
Still in contention: 7. Eagles (7-7);
8. Redskins (7-7); 9. Panthers (6-8) x — clinched playoff berth; y — clinched division