Playoff talk in Week 15 isn’t exclusive to fantasy football, as three of the NFL’s top teams have the chance to punch their ticket to the post-season on Sunday.
The NFC-leading Los Angeles Rams, AFC-leading Denver Broncos and New England Patriots all face clinching scenarios as the regular season begins to wind down.
Los Angeles has the simplest path to the post-season in Week 15. Sitting atop the conference, a Rams victory over the Lions gets them into the post-season. However, they don’t have any alternative scenarios in what’s a close NFC playoff race.
In the NFC West, the Rams (10-3) hold the tiebreaker over the Seahawks (10-3) while sitting one game up on the 49ers (9-4). San Francisco and Seattle currently hold the top two Wild Card spots, with the Bears (9-4) occupying the last. Detroit (8-5) is on the outside looking in.
In the AFC, the 11-2 Broncos hold the tiebreaker over the 11-2 Patriots after defeating the Raiders on Sunday (Las Vegas beat New England in Week 1).
With both teams sitting a tad more comfortably at the top with 11 wins while the Colts are the team on the outside looking in at 8-5, Denver and New England have multiple avenues in which they can clinch a post-season birth.
A Patriots win will also clinch their first AFC East title since 2019, while the Broncos can’t clinch a divisional title.
Here are the three team’s scenarios:
Denver Broncos:
Win OR
Tie + Chargers loss OR
Tie + Jaguars loss OR
Tie + Texans loss or tie OR
Tie + Colts loss or tie OR
Texans loss or tie + Colts loss or tie (as long as both teams don’t tie)
New England Patriots:
Win OR
Tie + Chargers loss OR
Tie + Jaguars loss
Tie + Texans loss or tie OR
Tie + Colts loss or tie OR
Texans loss or tie or Colts loss or tie (as long as both teams don’t tie)
AFC East title:
Win
Los Angeles Rams:
Win
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