There’s no other way to put it; it’s a crazy last week of the season. Heading into week 17 and the final week of the regular 2012-13 season, everything is up for grabs. Will the defending Super Bowl champion Baltimore Ravens beat the Bengals to get into the playoffs? After all, the Ravens have gone to the playoffs six straight years with John Harbaugh as their head coach. Will the Dallas Cowboys finally make it to the playoffs? Will the final game of the season be the Bengals first home lost of the year? Can the Pittsburgh Steelers make the playoffs? Will the Atlanta Falcons pull off the upset and win against the Carolina Panthers in Tony Gonzalez last NFL game? Will Rex Ryan be fired? Hell, can the J-E-T-S beat the Dolphins?
There are so many questions and nothing is clear aside from the unusual amount of teams in a “win or go home” scenario. There are also a lot of interesting playoff scenarios for week 17. To help you keep track, below are a few of the more complicated scenarios by division:
AFC
CLINCHED: Denver — AFC West and first-round bye
Cincinnati — AFC North
Indianapolis — AFC South
Kansas City — playoff spot
Denver clinches home-field advantage throughout AFC playoffs with:
1) DEN win or tie OR
2) NE loss or tie
New England clinches a first-round bye with:
1) NE win or tie OR
2) CIN loss or tie + IND loss or tie
New England clinches home-field advantage throughout AFC playoffs with:
1) NE win + DEN loss
Indianapolis clinches a first-round bye with:
1) IND win + NE loss + CIN loss or tie
Miami clinches a playoff spot with:
1) MIA win + BAL loss or tie OR
2) MIA win + SD win OR
3) MIA tie + BAL loss + SD loss or tie OR
4) MIA tie + BAL tie + SD tie
Baltimore clinches a playoff spot with:
1) BAL win + SD loss or tie OR
2) BAL win + MIA loss or tie OR
3) BAL tie + MIA loss + SD loss or tie OR
4) BAL tie + MIA tie + SD loss OR
5) MIA loss + SD loss + PIT loss or tie
San Diego clinches a playoff spot with:
1) SD win + MIA loss or tie + BAL loss or tie OR
Pittsburgh clinches a playoff spot with:
1) PIT win + MIA loss + BAL loss + SD loss
NFC
CLINCHED: Seattle — playoff spot
Carolina — playoff spot
San Francisco — playoff spot
Seattle clinches NFC West division and home-field advantage throughout NFC playoffs with:
1) SEA win or tie OR
2) SF loss or tie
Carolina clinches NFC South division and a first-round bye with:
1) CAR win or tie OR
2) NO loss or tie
Carolina clinches home-field advantage throughout NFC playoffs with:
1) CAR win + SEA loss + SF win
San Francisco clinches NFC West division and a first-round bye with:
1) SF win + SEA loss
San Francisco clinches NFC West division and home-field advantage throughout NFC playoffs with:
1) SF win + SEA loss + CAR loss or tie
New Orleans clinches a playoff spot with:
1) NO win OR
2) NO tie + ARI tie OR
3) ARI loss
Arizona clinches a playoff spot with:
1) ARI win + NO loss or tie OR
2) ARI tie + NO loss
Below are my straight picks for week 17. Drink and pick responsibly!
SUNDAY, DECEMBER 29
New York Jets
Miami Dolphins
Cleveland Browns
Pittsburgh Steelers
Washington Redskins
New York Giants
Detroit Lions
Minnesota Vikings
Jacksonville Jaguars
Indianapolis Colts
Carolina Panthers
Atlanta Falcons
Baltimore Ravens
Cincinnati Bengals
Houston Texans
Tennessee Titans
Buffalo Bills
New England Patriots
Denver Broncos
Oakland Raiders
Kansas City Chiefs
San Diego Chargers
Green Bay Packers
Chicago Bears
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
New Orleans Saints
St. Louis Rams
Seattle Seahawks
San Francisco 49ers
Arizona Cardinals
Philadelphia Eagles
Dallas Cowboys
Tam-Star’s NFL Pick Em’ week 16 picks
Pick Em’ Results (week 16): 13-3
Pick Em’ Results (season): 152-76-1
Note: DNP week 11
About me: I am a producer, managing editor, photo taker, aspiring professional bowler, and all around Jane of all trades. I am creative, quirky, and clearly a little offbeat. I blame my obsession with sports gambling and picking parlays on an ex-boyfriend. Funny thing is that’s all he was good for.
Make sure to check me out on Twitter @iamStarWalker and on Instagram @iamStarWalker.
[…] Tam-Star’s NFL Pick Em’ week 17 picks […]