FOOTBALL NFL ARTICLES

The New England Patriots surprised nobody by cruising past the Titans and into the AFC Championship game. But they are being joined by a shocking upstart. The Jacksonville Jaguars have been one of the worst teams in the NFL for the past half-decade but turned it around this year.... 

Somehow, some way, the Minnesota Vikings are in the NFC Championship game. And if they can win here they will head home for the Super Bowl. The Vikings will hit the road to face off against the Philadelphia Eagles with a shot at the Super Bowl on the line.... 

The New Orleans Saints held on to win their home wild card game over the Carolina Panthers on Sunday. Now they must hit the road. The Saints will travel to face the Minnesota Vikings in the NFC Divisional Round.... 

The lack of playoff experience didn’t faze the Jacksonville Jaguars’ defense on Sunday, as they dominated in a low-scoring win over the Buffalo Bills. The degree of difficulty will rise considerably in the AFC Divisional Round when the Jaguars hit the road to face off against the Pittsburgh Steelers.... 

The Tennessee Titans pulled off a shocking second-half comeback to beat the Chiefs in the wild card round of the playoffs. They would truly shock the world with a win in the AFC Divisional Round. The Titans will hit the road to face off against the defending champion New England Patriots, who are the top seed and favorites once again to win the conference.... 

The Atlanta Falcons used a high-powered offense to make it to the Super Bowl a season ago. They relied on their defense to lead the way in the wild card round this year. The Falcons shut down the Rams’ high-powered offense on Saturday to advance to the NFC Divisional Round, where they will travel to face the Philadelphia Eagles.... 

The Buffalo Bills, improbably, are in the playoffs. Now they are hoping their stay lasts for awhile. Buffalo had the perfect sequence of events happen on the last day of the season and sneaked into the AFC postseason as the final team.... 

The Tennessee Titans sneaked into the playoffs by upsetting the Jaguars in their season finale, but it’s not expected to be a long stay. The Kansas City Chiefs will welcome them to Arrowhead Stadium for their matchup in the AFC Wild Card round.... 

The Atlanta Falcons picked up a critical win in the regular season finale to make the playoffs, so they will have a chance to reach the Super Bowl for the second consecutive year. But it’s not going to be easy.The Falcons will begin their trek on the road against the Los Angeles Rams, who have been one of the better teams in the NFL all season. The Rams were not expected to be very competitive this season but outperformed expectations from the get-go.... 

The NFC South has placed a team in the Super Bowl each of the past two years, and have half of the playoff field in the conference this year. One team is guaranteed to make the Divisional Round but another will be out when the New Orleans Saints host the Carolina Panthers in the NFC Wild Card Round.... 

The New Orleans Saints can wrap up the NFC South title and earn home field in the first round of the playoffs with a victory in Week 17. They have to hit the road but it is a winnable matchup against the hapless Tampa Bay Buccaneers.... 

The Philadelphia Eagles have the best record in the NFL heading into the final game of the season, but they have some issues to work out. The season-ending injury to Carson Wentz a few weeks back was a critical blow, and while Philly is undefeated since then, it has been a struggle against the Giants and Raiders.... 

The Kansas City Chiefs are locked into the No. 4 seed in the AFC heading into the playoffs, which means it’s Patrick Mahomes time in Week 17 of the regular season. The rookie first-round pick has been sitting on the bench as an understudy all year behind Alex Smith. Since the game doesn’t matter, he will get his chance against the Denver Broncos.... 

The Cleveland Browns are one loss away from an 0-16 campaign, and it’s going to be hard for them to avoid that fate. The Browns will go on the road for their regular season finale in 2017 and play the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 17.... 

The math is simple for the Baltimore Ravens in their regular season finale: knock off the Cincinnati Bengals at home in Week 17, and they will be going to the playoffs. The Ravens can still make it with a loss but would prefer not to tempt fate.... 

The Seattle Seahawks will be the Carolina Panthers’ biggest fans this week. For Seattle to make it into the postseason, it needs to take care of business against the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday and have Carolina knock off Atlanta on the other side of the country.... 

The Los Angeles Chargers still have a chance to win the playoffs, but they need some help. Los Angeles is sitting at 5-6 in conference and that means it is currently behind both Buffalo and Tennessee for the tiebreaker. All the Chargers can do is take care of business against the Oakland Raiders in Week 17 and then hope for the best at this point.... 

The San Francisco 49ers have to be wondering how different things would have been if they acquired Jimmy Garoppolo in the offseason instead of at mid-season. Jimmy G is undefeated as a starter, leading the 49ers to four straight wins over the last four weeks. Kyle Shanahan has been able to deploy the schemes that made him successful in Atlanta last year with Garoppolo at quarterback. That has helped San Francisco beat good teams like Tennessee and Jacksonville these last two weeks. Now, San Francisco is looking to end its season with one last win against a Los Angeles Rams team that is going to rest a lot of its players.... 

The Buffalo Bills are facing a must-win situation this week to keep their playoff hopes alive, but even a victory over the Miami Dolphins won’t guarantee a berth. The team would also need at least two of the teams between the Titans, Chargers or Ravens to lose as well.... 

When the season began, it would have been easy to believe the Houston Texans and Indianapolis Colts could be matchup up in the regular season finale with the division on the line. Instead, both have been hit hard by injury at the quarterback position and are each finishing up disappointing seasons when they meet in Week 17.... 

The Tennessee Titans have watched their playoff hopes drop from near-certain to completely up in the air. A three-game losing streak has them at this point but the Titans can still sneak in if they can knock off divisional foe the Jacksonville Jaguars in Week 17 of the regular season.... 

The Detroit Lions laid an egg last time out, eliminating their chance at making the playoffs with a loss to the Bengals. It didn’t sound likely at the start of the season but the Lions and Green Bay Packers will face off in Week 17 with nothing on the line.... 

The Atlanta Falcons’ backs are against the walls, as they need a win in the Week 17 regular season finale over the Carolina Panthers to guarantee a playoff berth. Both of these teams have been solid all year, and it should be a really interesting finale.... 

It’s been an awful season for the New York Giants. The Giants made the playoffs in 2016 and seemed poised to make an even bigger move this year after some nice additions in the offseason. Rather than make it back to the Super Bowl or even win the division, the Giants took a hard left turn and are sitting at 2-13. They fired former head coach Ben McAdoo a month ago and are now looking to just put an end to their dismal campaign. Don’t expect a big crowd when they welcome the Washington Redskins to town for their season finale.... 

With just one more win, the New England Patriots will lock up the No. 1 spot in the AFC. The Patriots have dominated the conference during the Brady-Belichick era and are the favorite to claim the AFC yet again. However, we all know how important home field advantage is in the playoffs, and the Patriots don’t want to slip up at the very end and lose it to the Steelers. They will be motivated to beat the New York Jets on Sunday, who can’t wait for this season to be over....