NFL Playoffs Set After Wild Finish to Regular Season

It came down to the last second of overtime of the last game of the season before the final qualifiers for the playoffs were decided for the 2021-2 NFL postseason. There were plenty of other seedings decided in Week 18 before that final game between the Chargers and Raiders on Sunday Night Football.

AFC

The Tennessee Titans (12-5) held off the Houston Texans 28-25 to win the #1 seed and first round bye in the AFC. The Titans are also the AFC South champions. The Kansas City Chiefs (12-5) beat Denver 28-24 to wrap up the AFC West and the #2 seed. The Buffalo Bills (11-6) secured the AFC East and the #3 seed with a 27-10 win over the Jets. The Cincinnati Bengals (10-7) lost to the Browns but had already claimed the AFC North title and the #4 seed.

The New England Patriots (10-7) lost to Miami and are the #6 seed. It got interesting for the remaining Wild Cards in the AFC. The Pittsburgh Steelers (9-7-1) beat the Ravens 16-13 meaning that the Sunday Night L.A. Chargers- Las Vegas Raiders game would decide who would have the final two slots. The winner of that game would make it, and the loser would be eliminated, and the Steelers would be in. If the game ended in a tie, both the Chargers and Raiders would be in and the Steelers would be out. It looked like there would very well be a tie, but the Raiders’ Daniel Carlson kicked a 47 yard field goal as time ran out to give Las Vegas a 35-32 victory and a playoff berth.

Highlights of Raiders-Chargers

The first round of the AFC playoffs looks like this:

Saturday January 15th

New England at Buffalo
Las Vegas at Cincinnati

Sunday January 16th

Pittsburgh at Kansas City

Bye: Tennessee

NFC

NFC North champion Green Bay (13-4) lost at Detroit, but the Packers had already wrapped up the conference’s top seed and 1st round bye last week. NFC South champion Tampa Bay (13-4) scored 24 points in the 4th quarter to rout Carolina 41-17. The Buccaneers are the #2 NFC seed. NFC East champion Dallas (12-5) similarly bombed Philadelphia 51-26 and secured the #3 seed. Despite the loss, the Eagles (9-8) made it to the playoffs with the #7 seed. The Los Angeles Rams (12-5) winners of the NFC West, blew a 17 point lead and lost to San Francisco 27-24 in overtime. The Rams are the #4 seed. The victory clinched a playoff berth for the 49ers (10-7); they are the #6 seed. Arizona (11-6) lost to Seattle 38-30 but made it to the post season as the #5 seed. The Cardinals started the season 7-0 but finished losing four of five, not the kind of momentum you want entering the playoffs.

The first round of the NFC playoffs includes the first Monday night playoff game:

Sunday January 16th

Philadelphia at Tampa Bay
San Francisco at Dallas

Monday January 17th

Arizona at Los Angeles Rams

Bye: Green Bay