The NFL’s Week 18 slate of games is a must-watch for anyone who enjoys high-stakes football, as long as they also enjoy elements of scoreboard-watching and…
The NFL’s Week 18 slate of games is a must-watch for anyone who enjoys high-stakes football, as long as they also enjoy elements of scoreboard-watching and slightly convoluted playoff tiebreakers.
It’s been an eventful week for players and fans, who watched in horror Monday night as Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin collapsed on the field and had to be given CPR before leaving the field in an ambulance. A few days later, those same players and fans have watched with joy as Hamlin recovers.
That makes it much easier to focus on the NFL’s stacked final week, which will determine the playoff fate of numerous teams.
One of the game’s all-time great quarterbacks, Aaron Rodgers, is facing a win-or-go-home situation when the Green Bay Packers host the Detroit Lions. One of the game’s all-time great coaches, Bill Belichick, and his New England Patriots need a win against the mighty Bills or they could find themselves on the couch watching the playoffs.
The No. 1 overall seeds in both the AFC and NFC are still up for grabs and it remains to be seen how much the AFC bracket will be affected by the cancellation of the Bills-Bengals game after Hamlin’s injury.
Here’s a look at some things to watch:
WHAT’S THE FORMAT FOR THE PLAYOFFS?
This is the third straight year of the current NFL playoff format, which includes the top seven teams from both the AFC and the NFC.
The four division winners in both conferences automatically get the top four seeds, regardless of record, and then the top three teams with the best record that didn’t win their division are the wild-card selections.
