Welcome to what could be the most impactful weekend of the 2020 NFL season in positioning the playoffs. These are conquest scenarios for seven teams, in addition to the five that have already qualified. And if some results fall the right way, we will see the end of some of the longest playoff droughts in the league. The Browns can guarantee their first post-season appearance since 2002, while the Buccaneers can guarantee their first appearance since 2007. Washington and Arizona can also guarantee their first appearances since 2015.
Here are the full prospects for the postseason and the conquest scenarios ahead, along with ESPN’s Football Power Index (FPI) analysis, after Saints beat NFC South on Friday while eliminating the Vikings from the playoff dispute.
Note: X denotes a team that won a playoff spot, Y shows a team that won its division, and Z indicates a team that guaranteed goodbye in the first round.
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AFC
FPI playoff opportunities: Conquered
FPI chances of winning the division: Conquered
The Chiefs can guarantee the advantage of playing at home for the AFC with a win or draw on Sunday against Falcons. Even if they lose, they win with a Steelers win or draw, a Bills loss or draw or if they can get a victory strength tie over the Steelers or Bills (or a tie in the victory strength tie over the other team ). Did you understand all that? The simplest answer is always the best: Beat the Falcons. Even so, the FPI says the Chiefs have a 99.9% chance of receiving the AFC bye.
Remaining schedule: vs. Falcons, vs. Chargers