NFL playoff standings 2017: Who clinched the final spots in Week 17

The 2017 NFL regular season will draw to a close by 8 p.m. ET on Sunday, and that will seal the books on disappointing seasons for 20 teams, including 2016 playoff competitors like the Packers, Cowboys, Texans, and Giants. That leaves 12 teams to battle for a spot in Super Bowl 52 — but the field of participants isn’t set quite yet.

A handful of afternoon battles will fill out this January’s brackets as the Falcons, Seahawks, Ravens, Bills, Titans, and Chargers all try to force their way into a crowded landscape. Only three playoff spots are up for grabs in the final week of the season, but first-round byes and home-field advantage in the AFC will also be determined Sunday.

Nine teams have punched their postseason tickets — five from the NFC and four from the AFC.

In the NFC, Philadelphia has ensured home-field advantage throughout the playoffs atop its conference, while Minnesota and Los Angeles have each won their respective divisions. New Orleans and Carolina are battling for the NFC South title, but they’ll both qualify for next week’s Wild Card round thanks to identical 11-4 records.

All four of the AFC’s divisions are spoken for, with New England, Pittsburgh, Jacksonville, and Kansas City commissioning new banners. The Patriots and Steelers have also secured first-round byes. That leaves the conference with two playoff spaces and four eligible teams to fight over them.

Home-field advantage, first-round byes, and division titles are still at stake in Week 17, but some teams have the latitude to treat the final game of the season as an exhibition. The Eagles are locked into the NFC’s top spot, and thus won’t have to try very hard against the Cowboys, whose playoff hopes were dashed last week. The Chiefs are stuck in the AFC’s No. 4 spot and decided a season finale against the Broncos is a great time to throw Patrick Mahomes into an audition as the team’s starting quarterback.

The Jaguars are the AFC’s No. 3 seed, but they’ll still be playing to screw up the Titans’ playoff hopes when the two meet on Sunday.

New England Patriots clinch No. 1 seed and home-field advantage in the AFC

New England’s win over the Jets sealed up the No. 1 seed for them for the second season in a row. The Patriots’ win also helped lock up the No. 2 seed in the conference.

Pittsburgh Steelers clinch the No. 2 seed in the AFC and a first-round bye.

The Steelers had a chance to get the No. 1 seed this week, but they needed New England to lose to the Jets for that to happen. It didn’t. So, along with the Steelers’ win over the Browns AND a Patriots win, Pittsburgh has the No. 2 seed.

Minnesota Vikings clinch a first-round bye.

All the Vikings had to do was beat the Bears, and they did that, no problem. Now, they’ve got the NFC’s No. 2 seed.

New Orleans Saints clinch the NFC South.

New Orleans didn’t beat the Buccaneers, thanks to a last-minute Bucs touchdown, but they didn’t need to. Carolina’s loss to the Falcons gives the Saints the NFC South crown.

Three teams just need victories to lock down the final three playoff spots in the 2017 postseason. The Ravens, Titans, and Falcons are all just one win from extending their seasons, although those Ws come with varying degrees of difficulty.

The Ravens have the easiest path against a 6-9 Bengals team — albeit one that crushed the Lions’ playoff hopes a week before. The Titans have to face the AFC South champion Jaguars, but Jacksonville is locked into its spot and doesn’t have much motivation beyond pride in Sunday’s game. Atlanta has the toughest challenge, as it will face a Carolina team still battling for a division title and the chance to bring a playoff game to Charlotte next week.

Here are the franchises that control their own destinies in Week 17.

Atlanta Falcons clinched a playoff spot.

They’re win over the Panthers gives them the NFC’s last Wild Card spot.

Buffalo Bills clinch a playoff spot.

They beat the Dolphins, and got some help from the Bengals who beat the Ravens to give Buffalo the last AFC Wild Card spot.

Tennessee Titans clinch a Wild Card playoff spot.

Tennessee’s 15-10 win over the Jaguars was all they needed. They’re in.

Three teams can still challenge Week 16’s standings and rally their way into the playoffs. Of the three, the Bills got here in the dumbest possible fashion. A 9-6 Buffalo team would have the inside track on the fifth playoff spot and likely be able to get in even with a surprising Week 17 loss. Instead, the Bills punted a Week 11 loss to the Chargers by starting rookie quarterback Nathan Peterman, who needed just 14 passes to throw five interceptions.

As such, the 8-7 club’s playoff-less streak seems likely to extend to an 18th season.

The Chargers need even more help. Also 8-7, they need a win and at least one (but possibly two) losses/ties to truly overcome an 0-4 start and push on to game No. 17. Things are much more simple for the Seahawks, who need to beat the Cardinals and hope the Falcons lose to a motivated Panthers team to keep their playoff streak alive.

Seattle Seahawks DID NOT clinch a playoff spot.

They needed the Falcons to lose.

Baltimore Ravens DID NOT clinch a playoff spot.

They needed to beat the Bengals. They almost did, except for Andy Dalton’s incredible last minute touchdown.

Los Angeles Chargers DID NOT clinch a playoff spot.

The Titan’s win ended the season for the Chargers.

Here are the current postseason standings and seedings:

**clinched division

Still in the hunt: nobody.

Eliminated: everyone else!

**clinched division
*clinched playoff spot

Eliminated: Everyone else.