The Lions’ victory Thursday night against the Cowboys had major implications for the NFC wild card race. We take a look at the Lions, Cowboys and everyone else in the NFL playoff race below, with rankings updated via Thursday Night Football in Week 14:
AFC Playoff Photo
DIVISION HEADS
Advertisement
1. Patriots (11-2) Best record in the NFL.
2. Broncos (10-2) If they win, they will be the No. 1 seed in the AFC, as they would hold the tiebreaker against the Patriots.
3. Jaguars (8-4) lead the AFC South with a better record than the Colts against common opponents.
4. Ravens (6-6) Hold the joint game tiebreaker against the Steelers.
WILD CARDS
5. Chargers (8-4) Hold the tiebreaker against the Bills and Colts thanks to a better record in the AFC.
6. Colts (8-4) They play the Jaguars twice more, so the AFC South is wide open.
7. Bills (8-4) Currently hold the final playoff spot in the AFC.
ON THE OUTSIDE, LOOK IN
8. Texans (7-5) The victory against the Colts keeps them in the race.
Advertisement
9. Steelers (6-6) Next week’s game against the Ravens will be important.
10. Chiefs (6-6) A big defeat in Big D.
11. Dolphins (5-7) The best of the bad teams in the AFC.
12. Bengals (4-8) kept their slim playoff hopes alive by beating the Ravens.
13. Jets (3-9) found a way to win against the Falcons.
14. Browns (3-9) Evaluating Shedeur Sanders is the priority for the rest of the season.
15. Raiders (2-10) Things are going bad in Las Vegas.
16. Titans (1-11) Worst team in the NFL.
NFC Playoff Photo
DIVISION HEADS
1. Bears (9-3) Get the NFC record tiebreaker against the Rams.
2. Rams (9-3) The loss against the Panthers hurts.
Advertisement
3. Eagles (8-4) The defending champions suffered back-to-back bad losses to the Cowboys and Bears.
4. Buccaneers (7-5) still lead the NFC South.
WILD CARDS
5. Seahawks (9-3) First place in the wild card race.
6. The Packers (8-3-1) swept the Lions.
The victory of the 7. 49ers (9-4) on Sunday kept them in wild card position.
ON THE OUTSIDE, LOOK IN
8. Lions (8-5) Big victory against the Cowboys
9. Panthers (7-6) kept their hopes alive by beating the Rams.
10. Cowboys (6-6-1) They’ll probably have to lead the standings, and even then they might not make the playoffs.
11. Falcons (4-8) A lost season for a team that still desperately needs a quarterback.
Advertisement
12. Vikings (4-8) Last place in the NFC North.
13. Cardinals (3-9) Mathematically eliminated.
14. Commanders (3-9) They fought hard against the Broncos, but came up short Sunday night.
15. Saints (2-10) Mathematically eliminated.
16. Giants (2-11) Mathematically eliminated.
