Which NFL teams clinched a playoff spot in Week 14 and which were eliminated?

Last week we got our first peek at what this season’s playoff picture will look like. The Rams are in, and the Raiders and 49ers are out, scenarios we knew were going to happen all the way back September. Now they’re just official.

It wasn’t much, but it was something. Think of it like picking “T” first on Wheel of Fortune and there’s only one and it’s the start of a three-letter word. We know that word is “the,” but we probably can’t solve the puzzle quite yet.

So the fate of the other 29 teams were still to be determined heading into Week 14. After the Titans’ 30-9 win over the Jaguars on Derrick Henry night, two more teams were subtracted from that total. The loss eliminated the Jaguars from the playoffs, just one year after they made it all the way to the AFC Championship. And in a win for alliteration fans, the Jets were also knocked out of playoff contention because of that Thursday night result.

There was more at stake this weekend, when two more teams booked a trip to the postseason — and two more joined the 49ers, Raiders, Jaguars, and Jets and can start planning early vacations.

Entering the week, five teams were staring down a postseason bid. And before Sunday, two of those teams — the Texans and Chargers — already saw their chance to clinch this week go down in flames. Once again, that’s all thanks to the Titans, who insisted on helping their own playoff hopes even though it hurt other teams’ chances. Rude!

On Sunday, the Saints, Chiefs, and Patriots all had the chance to make it official. Only the first two were able to pull it off, however. For the Rams, who are already guaranteed a spot, they could’ve clinched a first-round bye, but instead, they moved back down to the No. 2 seed in the NFC.

To keep the NFC South division crown in New Orleans for another year, the Saints just needed to win and they were in. Well, they could’ve also tied and they’re in, but that doesn’t rhyme.

The Saints needed one of the following to happen to win the NFC South:

As it were, both of those scenarios played out. It wasn’t easy for the Saints, who were trailing by double digits at halftime. But they rallied in the second half for a comfortable 28-14 win. Meanwhile, the Panthers had plenty of chances to beat the Browns but lost their fifth straight game instead to fall to under .500.

The Chiefs couldn’t secure the AFC West, not with next week’s opponent, the Chargers, just a game back in the division. But they did become the first AFC team to grab a playoff berth.

The Chiefs clinched a postseason spot with:

That was still a challenge for the Chiefs — the Ravens have the league’s No. 1 defense and a red-hot running game. The Chiefs have Patrick Mahomes, though. It took overtime to do it, but Kansas City is officially in the playoffs with the 27-24 win.

Yup, it’s them again. There’s still, technically, a chance for them to miss out on the playoffs and even if we’re just delaying the inevitable, the Patriots didn’t clinch this week, all because of a double-lateral touchdown we will now call the Miracle in Miami.

Here’s how the Patriots could’ve clinched AFC East for the RIDICULOUS 10th straight season:

Earlier this season, the Patriots welcomed their division rivals to Foxboro Stadium with a 38-7 stomping. For some reason, though, the Patriots struggle in Miami. Last December, they lost to the Jay Cutler-led Dolphins. This time, it took arguably THE play of the year, but the Dolphins pulled it off again.

The Rams are already NFC West champs. Next up is locking down that first-round bye. They fell short of doing that this week.

The Rams only needed to do one thing to get a first-round bye:

We were excited for Aaron Donald vs. Khalil Mack. It was the first time the two players have been on the field in the same game since 2014, when Mack was still with the Raiders and the Rams were still in St. Louis. Shaun Hill was the Rams’ quarterback in that game ... and they blanked the Raiders 52-0?! Wut? A Jeff Fisher-coached Rams team actually won a game 52-0 and no one remembers it. Also, how was that only FOUR years ago? The internet has completely screwed up our ability to understand how time works.

On a cold night in Chicago, the Bears defense shut the Rams down for an old-school 15-6 win, but Donald and Mack were relatively held in check.

The Jets and Jaguars got the band-aid pulled off early this week. With varying degrees of difficulty, the Bills, Browns, Giants, Packers, Falcons, Lions, and Cardinals could’ve also been knocked out of playoff contention. It only happened for two of them.

How the Bills were eliminated :

There were other, waaaay more complicated scenarios laid out by NFL Playoff Scenarios at Reddit, but none of those mattered. The Jets came back for a late touchdown to get the 27-23 win and welcomed the Bills to the eliminated party.

If these two things went wrong for the Browns, they could’ve been eliminated:

Neither happened! Funny how things seem to be going right for the Browns after they fired Hue Jackson.

The Giants’ elimination scenario was simple, and it didn’t happen:

The Giants only needed ... punches buttons on a calculator ... 12 things to go their way to win the NFC East. So far, so good. They rocked Washington so bad that they benched Eli Manning BECAUSE THEY WERE SO FAR AHEAD. On the other hand, the only thing winning is doing for the Giants right now is hurting their chances to draft Dwayne Haskins or Justin Herbert.

The Packers weren’t KO’d this week, but here’s how they could’ve been:

Green Bay remains alive for another week with the 34-20 win, but especially with an opening at head coach, the Packers are better off turning their attention to 2019.

It was almost the same elimination situation for the Falcons:

The Falcons lost, but so did Washington.

There are four ways the Lions could’ve been cooked (not literally ... don’t eat Lions, please):

It wasn’t pretty or interesting, but the Lions beat the Cardinals 17-3.

And that’s all it took for Cardinals to be out of contention:

So after Sunday, there are six teams eliminated, with the Bills and the Cardinals as the latest additions.

Here’s a look at the current, but ever-changing playoff picture after Sunday in Week 14:

The NFC:

The AFC:

**clinched the division
*clinched a playoff berth