NFL playoff picture 2014, Week 16: Eagles, Chargers fighting for postseason lives on Saturday

Once surging toward a division title, the Eagles suddenly find themselves on the outside of the playoffs looking in after a loss to Washington, their third consecutive loss, dropped them to 9-6. Philadelphia is in a desperate situation with one game remaining, the team's playoff hopes all but vanished. The loss means the Detroit Lions clinch a playoff berth in the NFC, their first since 2011 and only second appearance this century.

Also on Saturday, the Chargers will be fighting for their playoff lives against the recently-eliminated 49ers. Since Denver has already clinched the AFC West, San Diego's only route to the postseason is through a wild card spot. Unfortunately, three teams currently sit above them in that race.

The 11-3 Patriots have already locked up the division, but are still fighting for seeding. They'll probably be locking up a first-round bye against the awful Jets on Sunday and could go ahead and clinch home field advantage throughout the playoffs if that coincides with a Broncos loss.

A Broncos loss, by the way, is a definite possibility. They play the AFC North-leading Bengals in Cincinnati on Monday Night Football. Denver will clinch a first-round bye with a win, but needs a Patriots loss sometime in the next two weeks to jump ahead into the No. 1 seed.

Things really get interesting if Cincinnati loses. If that happens and Pittsburgh wins, the Steelers jump into first place. If both Cincinnati and Pittsburgh lose and Baltimore wins, it's the Ravens in first.

The South is kind of boring, really. The 10-4 Colts have already clinched the division, but are long shots for a first-round bye (they need losses from either Denver or New England to even enter the conversation). The second-place team, 7-7 Houston, is behind three other teams in the wild card hunt and needs to win out plus get a ton of help to have a chance.

The AFC is interesting given that three of the divisions are already locked up. The wild card race is now the important one, but it's the undecided division that's dominating that discussion as well. The Bengals have that narrow lead over the Steelers and Ravens, but if the playoffs started today, both wild card spots would go to said Steelers and Ravens, in that order. They're both at 9-5, while the Chiefs, Chargers and Bills all sit at 8-6. Buffalo is at the bottom of that, while the Chiefs and Chargers will face off in Week 17, so that could be decided there.

The biggest game of the week is on Sunday night between Arizona and Seattle. The 11-3 Cardinals (who are actually the only team in the conference who have secured a playoff spot) can lock up both the division and home field advantage with a win. If the 10-4 Seahawks win, they move into first place (though they couldn't clinch until Week 17).

Green Bay's surprising loss to Buffalo last week allowed Detroit to sneak back into the division lead. The 10-4 Lions can clinch a postseason berth with a win over Chicago on Sunday and they'll clinch the division if they win and the Packers lose. But assuming the 10-4 Packers handle their business against lowly Tampa Bay, the division will come down to the monster Green Bay-Detroit matchup in Week 17.

Oh, the NFC South. Somehow, some way, the 6-8 Saints, the 5-8-1 Panthers and the 5-9 Falcons are all still in the playoff hunt. If New Orleans beats Atlanta on Sunday and Carolina loses, the division goes to the Saints. Otherwise this dumpster fire continues into the final week.