The 49ers victory over the Broncos has given the KANSAS CITY CHIEFS the final playoff spot in the AFC. Here's what else we just learned due to late afternoon games:

* San Diego, with their victory over Arizona, has earned the #1 seed in the AFC and will have home-field advantage throughout the playoffs.

* Baltimore, via their win over Buffalo, will get the #2 seed and a first-round playoff bye.

* Indianapolis' win over Miami places the Colts in the #3 seed position and the Colts will host the Chiefs next Saturday at 4:30pm ET.

* Denver's loss places the NY Jets in the #5 seed and the Jets will travel to division rival New England next Sunday for a 1pm ET game on CBS.

* Here are the final AFC seedings:

1) San Diego

2) Baltimore

3) Indianapolis

4) New England

5) NY Jets

6) Kansas City

The NFC playoff seedings were already set earlier with:

1) Chicago

2) New Orleans

3) Philadelphia

4) Seattle

5) Dallas

6) NY Giants

Dallas will be at Seattle next Saturday at 8pm ET and NY Giants will play at Philadelphia next Sunday at 4:30pm ET.

Hope you enjoyed the tiebreaker season. See you next year!!!

Joe

Here's what we know after the 1pm game results:

In the NFC...

* The NY Giants are "officially" in the playoffs as the #6 seed in the NFC due to Minnesota's loss against St. Louis. Minnesota's loss guarantees the Giants would win a strength of victory tiebreaker against the Packers if Green Bay beats Chicago Sunday night.

* Dallas' loss at home to Detroit has assured Philadelphia the NFC East title and the #3 seed in the conference while making the Cowboys the #5 seed.

* The #6 seed Giants will play at the #3 seed Eagles on Wild Card weekend.

* The #5 seed Cowboys will play at the #4 seed Seahawks on Wild Card weekend.

* The Green Bay Packers are "officially" eliminated from playoff contention.

* FINAL NFC PLAYOFF SEEDS:

1) CHICAGO BEARS

2) NEW ORLEANS SAINTS

3) PHILADELPHIA EAGLES

4) SEATTLE SEAHAWKS

5) DALLAS COWBOYS

6) NEW YORK GIANTS

In the AFC...

* The NY Jets won and secured a playoff spot in the AFC. The Jets will be the #6 seed with a Denver win and the #5 seed (KC would be #6) with a Denver loss.

* The KC Chiefs have had everything go there way today. The Chiefs won and both Cincinnati and Tennessee lost which means the last playoff spot in the AFC comes down to the Chiefs or the Broncos.

* Denver is in as the #5 seed with a win against San Francisco and will be out of the playoffs with a loss.

* Kansas City is in the playoffs as the #6 seed with a Denver loss and out of the playoffs with a Denver win.

* Cincinnati had a great chance to be in the position Kansas City is in but a late missed FG leading to an overtime loss eliminated the Bengals.

* Tennessee couldn't win at home against New England and the Titans are eliminated after a great late season run.

* Jacksonville, which had the most remote chance to make the playoffs, was eliminated even before their loss when the Jets won around 4pm ET.

* New England will be the #4 seed if Indianapolis wins. In that case, the Patriots would host the #5 seed as either the Jets (DEN loss) or the Broncos (DEN win) on Wild Card weekend.

* If Indianapolis loses to Miami, New England would be the #3 seed and would host the #6 seed as either the Jets (DEN win) or the Chiefs (DEN loss) on Wild Card weekend.

* Other top seeds are still in play based on late afternoon results.

* CURRENT AFC SEEDING POSSIBILITIES:

1) SD/BALT

2) BALT/SD/INDY

3) INDY/BALT/NE

4) NE/INDY

5) DEN/NYJ

6) NYJ/KC

More to come later....

While watching the Giants-Redskins game, I thought I'd clarify the Giants and Packers tiebreaker scenario that has been discussed this week.

The Giants are basically in the playoffs due to their win over the Redskins unless the Packers win and an extraordinary amount of games go the Packers way.

With the Giants win, the Carolina Panthers, Atlanta Falcons and St. Louis Rams are all eliminated from playoff contention.

If Packers win, any tiebreaker at 8-8 comes down to the Giants and Packers and 1) they didn't face each other and 2) both would be 7-5 in the conference and 3) both teams would have a 1-4 record against common opponents. So the next tiebreaker is strength of victory (record of teams you've beaten).

The NY Giants clinch strength of victory tiebreaker over Green Bay if:

- DET loses OR

- MIN loses OR

- Any two of the following results occur: ARZ loss, MIA loss, SF loss, CAR win, HOU win, TB win

Green Bay Packers clinch strength of victory tiebreaker over NY Giants if ALL of the following occur:

- ARZ win, DET win, MIA win, MIN win, SF win, CAR loss, HOU loss, TB loss.

If the NY Giants and Green Bay Packers end up tied in strength of victory, then tie will be decided by strength of schedule.

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For you Packers fans, your New Years Eve day begins at 1pm ET as you'll root for DET to win at DALL, MINN to win against STL, NO over CAR at home, CLEV win at HOU and SEA win at TB. Not likely.

If all that happens to work out for you, your next nailbiting experience will be hoping for MIA to win at INDY, ARZ win at SD, and SF win at DEN. Yikes.

Then...if that goes your way....then all you have to do is win at Chicago while the rest of the world is partying. Good luck to you.

The likely result is that the NFL's flexible scheduling will not produce a meaningful game on this Sunday night and GB @ CHI will only be attractive to fans of Brett Favre's potential retirement.

Since it's fairly clear what teams need to clinch a certain spot in the NFL playoffs at this point, the only question left is where will teams be seeded and what will be the potential Wild Card Weekend matchups. Here's a look at what teams need to claim seeding positions. (All of below assumes NO TIES occur during Week 17.) First -- here's what we know at this point:

CHI is the No. 1 seed in the NFC and will host the lowest (worst) remaining wild card winner on Divisional Playoff Weekend.

NO is the No. 2 seed in the NFC and will host the highest (best) remaining wild card winner on Divisional Playoff Weekend.

SEA is the No. 4 seed in the NFC and will host the No. 5 seed on Wild Card Weekend.

SD, BAL, INDY and NE have secured division titles and will be seeds No. 1 through No. 4 in the AFC.

Both PHIL and DAL have clinched NFC playoff spots and the division winner will be the No. 3 seed and the team that doesn't win the East title will be the No. 5 seed in the NFC If NYG wins Saturday night against WASH, all teams vying for the No. 6 seed in the NFC (GB, CAR, ATL, STL) will be eliminated from playoff contention except for GB, which has the hope of winning and beating NYG on strength of victory tiebreaker. Let's start with the AFC:

SAN DIEGO

No. 1 seed with:

- win OR

- BAL loss

No. 2 seed with:

- loss and BAL win

BALTIMORE

No. 1 seed with:

- win and SD loss

No. 2 seed with:

- win and SD win OR

- loss and INDY loss

No. 3 seed with:

- loss and INDY win

INDIANAPOLIS

No. 2 seed with:

- win and BAL loss

No. 3 seed with:

- win and BAL win OR

- loss and NE loss

No. 4 seed with:

- loss and NE win

NEW ENGLAND

No. 3 seed with:

- win and INDY loss

No. 4 seed with:

- win and INDY win OR

- loss

DENVER

No. 5 seed with:

- win OR

- loss and KC loss and NYJ loss

No. 6 seed with:

- loss and KC loss and NYJ win

NEW YORK JETS

No. 5 seed with:

- win and DEN loss OR

- loss and DEN loss and KC win

No. 6 seed with:

- win and DEN win OR

- loss and DEN win and JAX loss and CIN loss OR

- loss and CIN loss and TENN win

CINCINNATI

No. 5 seed with:

- win and NYJ loss and DEN loss and KC win

No. 6 seed with:

- win and NYJ loss and either DEN win or KC loss OR

- win and DEN loss and KC win

TENNESSEE

No. 6 seed with:

- win and DEN loss and CIN loss and KC win

JACKSONVILLE

No. 6 seed with:

- win and NYJ loss and CIN loss and TENN loss

KANSAS CITY

No. 6 seed with:

- win and DEN loss and CIN loss and TENN loss

AS FOR THE NFC:

PHILADELPHIA

No. 3 seed with:

- win OR

- loss and DAL loss

No. 5 seed with:

- loss and DAL win

DALLAS

No. 3 seed with:

- win and PHIL loss

No. 5 seed with:

- win and PHIL win OR

- loss

NEW YORK GIANTS

No. 6 seed with:

- win and GB win and NYG clinches strength of victory tiebreaker over GB OR

- win and GB loss OR

- loss and GB loss and CAR loss and ATL loss and STL loss

GREEN BAY

No. 6 seed with:

- win and NYG win and GB clinches strength of victory tiebreaker over NYG OR

- win and NYG loss and CAR win OR

- win and NYG loss and ATL win OR

- win and NYG loss and STL loss

CAROLINA

No. 6 seed with:

- win and NYG loss and GB loss

ATLANTA

No. 6 seed with:

- win and CAR loss and GB loss and NYG loss

ST. LOUIS

No. 6 seed with:

- win and NYG loss and CAR loss and ATL loss

IN THE AFC

BUFF (due to Buff loss and KC win) and PITT (due to PITT loss) are eliminated.

KC is alive but will be eliminated this week with a CIN win and NYJ win.

TENN is alive but will be eliminated if CIN-DEN does NOT end in a tie and the NYJ's win.

NY Jets can not be eliminated this week as a JAX win and TENN loss was required as part of the Jets elimination scenarios.

DEN can not be eliminated as a JAX win was required (along with a DEN loss, KC win and either a BUFF loss or NYJ win).

IN THE NFC

The Giants would have eliminated St. Louis, Carolina and Green Bay all by themselves today with a win but that obviously didn't happen.

The Giants are still alive and can not be eliminated this week.

St. Louis is alive through this week.

Carolina is alive as well. San Francisco is alive as of now.

The 49ers will be eliminated with a loss today.

Atlanta is alive despite its loss.

OTHER NOTES

Indy can still get the No. 2 seed by winning next week and Baltimore losing to Buffalo.

New England would have to beat Indy outright to get higher than a No. 4 seed.

San Diego, due to the Indy loss, now has a first-round bye clinched but cannot clinch home-field advantage due to Baltimore's win.

Cincy is in the playoffs with a win today due to Buffalo loss and Jax loss.

New Orleans fans are rooting for Philadelphia on Christmas as an Eagles win will lock up the No. 2 seed for the Saints.

More to come tomorrow.

Happy Holidays!

Joe

Here's a couple of quick bullets on what effect the Packers 9-7 barnburner win over the Vikings has on the Playoff Race.

- Minnesota is now officially eliminated from playoff contention.

- Although Green Bay won to stay alive in the playoff hunt, the Packers will be eliminated from playoff contention if the NY Giants beat New Orleans this week. The New Orleans win would give the Giants a common opponents tiebreaker advantage over the Packers. That combined with the Packers loss to Philadelphia earlier this year and the fact that none of Atlanta, Carolina, SF, Seattle or St. Louis can create a 3-way tiebreaker with GB and either NYG or Philly at 8-8 with a 7-5 conference record (that might help keep GB alive based on Strength of Victory).

- GB fans need to root for Giants losses the rest of the way and at least one Atlanta loss and at least one St. Louis loss, in addition to the Packers need for a win against Chicago next week.

Okay...so Indy wins convincingly at home and the Bengals join the logjam in the AFC at 8-6.

But what does that mean for the AFC playoff race overall. Here are some quick thoughts:

- Indianapolis now controls its own destiny for the #2 seed in the AFC (Colts have common opponents edge over Baltimore) and will actually clinch at least the #2 seed with a win next week at Houston and a Baltimore loss at Pittsburgh.

- With the Cincinnati loss, Baltimore has now clinched the AFC North division title. Ravens have to beat Indy outright to have tiebreaker over them for the #2 seed. In addition, if Baltimore can best Indy on overall record and tie San Diego, the Ravens will get the #1 seed due to head-to-head win over San Diego earlier this year.

- New England can clinch a first-round bye if they win out to get to 12-4 and Baltimore loses one game and Indy loses two games.

- Of the four 8-6 teams, Denver has the tiebreaker advantage at this time based on conference record (7-4 vs. Bengals' 6-4 and Jets-Jags both at 5-5).

- Both Denver and Cincinnati control their own destiny for playoff spots, however these teams play each other this week so that leaves an opening for either Jacksonville or NY Jets or potentially one of the four 7-7 teams.

- In case Jacksonville and the NY Jets end up tied for a Wild Card spot, the Jaguars beat the Jets earlier this year in tight affair 41-0.

- The Jets seem to have the easiest rode the rest of the way as they travel to 6-8 Miami then host 2-12 Oakland. Other schedules of the 8-6 teams are much tougher as Denver plays Cincy and SF, Cincy plays Denver and Pitt and Jacksonville plays New England and KC.

- Of the 7-7 teams, Buffalo is in the best position to make an impact as they can still get to 7-5 in conference record, beat Jacksonville head-to-head and would have tiebreaker advantage over the NY Jets at 9-7 if the Jets loss is at Miami (division loss).

I'm often asked by fans and media which teams "control their own destiny" for any particular clinching scenario.

Here's a quick look at the "Teams in Control" heading into week 16:

In the NFC...

Dallas and Philadelphia BOTH control their own destiny for the NFC East title.

Philadelphia controls its own destiny for a playoff berth.

The NY Giants DO NOT control their own destiny for a playoff berth (see last blog entry for explanation).

New Orleans controls its own destiny for the #2 seed and a first-round bye.

Atlanta DOES NOT control its own destiny for a playoff berth. Reason: Even if ATL gets to 9-7 and beats the Eagles to do that (putting PHIL 9-7 at best), the Eagles could still win the East with Dallas at 9-7 and the Falcons lost head-to-head to Giants and Cowboys this year.

Seattle obviously controls its destiny in the NFC West race.

In the AFC...

New England controls its own destiny for the AFC East title.

The NY Jets DO NOT control their own destiny as Cincinnati can still beat them outright and Denver could win tiebreaker at 10-6 based on better conference record.

Baltimore obviously controls its own destiny in the AFC North. However, the Ravens DO NOT control their own destiny for a first-round bye (unless Indy loses to Cincy Monday night).

Cincinnati controls its own destiny for at least a #5 seed (Bengals can still win the division). Even if Cincinnati loses to Indy on Monday night, the Bengals still control their own destiny for the #5 seed (based on conference record over Jax, NYJ and head-to-head win over Denver).

Indianapolis controls its own destiny for the #2 seed and a first-round bye (they have common opponents advantage over Baltimore).

Jacksonville DOES NOT control its own destiny for a playoff berth (Denver has conference record advantage).

San Diego controls its own destiny for the #1 seed in the AFC and home-field advantage throughout the playoffs.

Denver, based on KC's loss Sunday night, now controls its own destiny for a playoff berth. If Cincinnati loses to Indy on Monday night, Denver controls its own destiny for the #5 seed.

That's what I have for now...

Okay....here's a quick look at Week 16 NFC playoff clinching scenarios.

We already know that Chicago has clinched the #1 seed in the NFC (home-field advantage).

In the NFC EAST...

- Dallas has clinched a playoff berth and can clinch the NFC East title with a win at home this week against Philadelphia.

- Philadelphia, which like Dallas controls its own destiny to win the NFC East, can clinch a playoff berth with a win at Dallas. The Eagles can also clinch a spot with a tie and EITHER a Giants loss or tie OR a Falcons loss.

- Despite the ugly loss to Philadelphia, it would seem that the NY Giants still control their own destiny to make the playoffs this year (the Giants beat Atlanta head-to-head earlier this year). However, Atlanta could use Philadelphia in a 3-way tie at 9-7 (assuming Philly beats Dallas and loses to Atlanta week 17 and Dallas wins week 17) and that would keep the Giants out of the playoffs.

- Having said that...the NY Giants can clinch a playoff berth this week with a win, a Minnesota loss or tie, an Atlanta loss, a Philly win or tie (this keeps ATL from getting in over NYG through Philly) and EITHER a Seattle win or tie OR a SF loss or tie (this wins NFC West for Seattle and avoids Seattle beating out NYG as a Wild Card).

In the NFC SOUTH...

- New Orleans has already clinched the division title. The Saints can also clinch the #2 seed and a first-round bye with a win at the NY Giants and a Dallas loss.

In the NFC WEST...

- Seattle can win the division title with EITHER a win or tie against San Diego OR a San Francisco loss or tie against Arizona.

Next brain teaser is to see if the teams that end up 8-7 after week 15 (Seattle, NYG, Philly, Atlanta) can clinch playoff berths. Will get back to you soon on that...

On Eliminations...

MIAMI is the only team eliminated so far during week 15. Their loss and the Jets win means its "wait til next year" time for Coach Nick Saban and the Dolphins fans.

St. Louis could be eliminated if they lose at Oakland and the Giants win against the Eagles. There's also a situation where the Rams are eliminated with a loss and either Green Bay or NY Giants clinch Strength of Victory over the Rams.

Early Week 16 Scenarios...

New England will clinch the AFC East title with EITHER a win or tie at Jacksonville OR a Jets loss or tie at Miami.

If Philly beats the NY Giants today, Dallas can clinch the NFC East title with a win against Philly next week.

If the NY Giants beat Philly today, Dallas would need a win and a Giants loss or tie against New Orleans to clinch the NFC East title.

Seattle can clinch the NFC West with EITHER a win or tie against San Diego OR a San Francisco loss or tie against Arizona.

More to come after 4pm games...

Quick notes:

AFC EAST - Even though New England won big, the Jets win in Minnesota keeps the Patriots from winning the AFC East title. Jets need to win out and have the Patriots lose out to win the division title (Jets win based on conference record 7-5 to 6-6)

AFC NORTH - Baltimore's win over Cleveland keeps the Ravens division clinching hopes alive this week as a Bengals loss or tie to the Colts on Monday night wins it for Baltimore.

AFC NORTH - With Jacksonville's loss at Tennessee, the Cincinnati Bengals can get a big edge on the Wild Card race with a win Monday night.

AFC SOUTH - Jacksonville's loss means the Indianapolis Colts are AFC South division champs even before playing on Monday night. The Colts need a win however to keep up with Baltimore and San Diego in the race for top seeds in the AFC.

AFC WEST - San Diego's situation is virtually unchanged since earlier this week as it needs a win and Indy loss to clinch a first-round bye.

NFC EAST - Dallas' win on Saturday night combined with Minnesota and Carolina losses today have clinched a playoff berth for the Cowboys. In the divisional race, the Cowboys have to wait out the Giants-Eagles game to see who's one-game behind going into week 16.

NFC NORTH - Due to the Saints loss and Robbie Gould's game-winning FG in overtime, the Bears have clinched HOME-FIELD ADVANTAGE throughout the NFC Playoffs.

NFC SOUTH - New Orleans, even though they suffered a disappointing loss at home to the Redskins, has clinched the South division title due to Carolina's loss to Pittsburgh.

Seattle's situation is in the blog entry below.

More to come today...much more!

Although Seattle will likely still win the NFC West title, their disappointing loss to San Francisco Thursday night dispels any realistic notion Seahawks fans had for a first-round bye. Seattle (8-6) does have a two-game lead over San Francisco (6-8) but the 49ers have now swept the Seahawks this year. If the Niners can somehow win out against Arizona and at Denver, they would win the NFC West title with Seattle losses against San Diego (likely) and at Tampa Bay (Seattle doesn't travel well...certainly not to the East Coast). Hey...you never know.

Seattle's division title clinching situation for next week will now be EITHER a win or tie against San Diego OR a San Francisco loss or tie against Arizona. St. Louis cannot win the NFC West title.

The Seattle loss also keeps New Orleans first-round bye clinching scenario alive this week. The Saints need Dallas to lose to Atlanta Saturday night, a win against Washington and a NY Giants loss or tie against Philly.

Other random thoughts...

- If Dallas loses to Atlanta on Saturday night, the winner of the NY Giants-Philadelphia game will have control of the NFC East tiebreakers for the division title.

- The road to the NFC playoffs will largely be decided by the Eagles as they have the Giants this week, Dallas week 16 and they close out with Atlanta.

- If the NY Jets win out against Minnesota, Miami and Oakland and New England loses two of their remaining three games (Hou, Jax, Tenn) to create a two-team tie at 10-6, the Jets would win the AFC East title based on conference record (7-5 to Pats' 6-6). They would both be tied in division record at 4-2 and common opponents (9-5) to get to conference record.

- Although its basically understood that the AFC is much stronger than the NFC this year and the likelihood of an 8-8 playoff team in the NFC is still strong, you might be surprised how the AFC winds up this year. The top three/four teams are definitely strong (SD, Indy, Balt and NE when they don't play Miami), but look at the Wild Card contenders. Cincinnati is probably playing the best and sits at 8-5 but they have Indy, Denver and Pittsburgh left on their schedule (that looks like 10-6 or 9-7). The Jets have a fairly easy schedule in Minn, Mia and Oak, but they'll lose one of those and end up at 9-7. Jacksonville is at 8-5 with Cincy and has a tough schedule as well with Tenn, NE and KC left. That smells like 9-7, especially with Tennessee and KC on the road where the Jaguars have struggled (2-4). So....there's a good chance you'll have at least one or maybe two playoff teams in the AFC at 9-7. At least there's still hope for some of the also-rans.

- San Diego has a one-game lead on Indy and Baltimore for the #1 seed. If the Chargers beat Kansas City but stumble against either Seattle or Arizona and finish 13-3, they are actually helped out if Indy wins out. That's due to San Diego having a tiebreaker advantage over Indy on common opponents (5-0 vs. 4-1), but more importantly Indy at 13-3 avoids a head-to-head tiebreaker between San Diego and Baltimore. Baltimore beat San Diego back on week 4.

- On the Indianapolis side, if San Diego loses to Kansas City that would give the Colts control of their own destiny for the #1 seed in the AFC. That's due to conference record advantage over San Diego and common opponents advantage over Baltimore (4-1 vs. 3-2).

That's it for now.

So much for Dallas being the hottest team on the planet!

Okay, so here's what the New Orleans win does to the NFC playoff picture. Chicago can now clinch a first-round playoff bye with a win tonight at St. Louis. However, a New Orleans loss may have been better overall for the Bears as they have better tiebreaker scenarios against Dallas than New Orleans when they are trying to secure home-field advantage throughout the playoffs.

In the NFC East, Dallas cannot clinch the division title this week as the Cowboys lose the bulk of tiebreakers at 9-7 against the Giants and Eagles. One thing in the Cowboys favor is that the Giants and Eagles play each other this week, so they both can't keep up with Dallas if the Cowboys can win at Atlanta on Saturday night.

On the Giants/Eagles side, if Dallas loses at Atlanta, the Giants/Eagles winner will take back control of their own destiny for the NFC East title (due to division record 4-2 at worst for Giants/Eagles winner vs. 3-3 at best for Cowboys).

In the NFC South, New Orleans can win the division title this week with EITHER a win OR an Atlanta loss and a Carolina loss or tie.

Over in the NFC West, Seattle has to wait to see what happens to St. Louis tonight for its "official" scenario, but here's how it breaks out. If St. Louis loses to Chicago, Seattle will be able to clinch the NFC West title on week 15 with a win or tie against San Francisco on Thursday night. If St. Louis pulls out the home win tonight against the Bears, Seattle would then need EITHER a win OR a tie and a St. Louis loss or tie.

Check below for the early AFC scenarios I posted Sunday night.

More to come this week as we look at what some of the middle of the road teams (Tennessee, Minnesota, Kansas City, etc.) need to make it to the playoffs promised land.

QUICK HITS IN THE AFC:

- Five teams were eliminated from playoff contention during week 14. Cleveland was eliminated on Thursday night when it failed to show up against Pitt. Houston, Tampa Bay, Arizona and Washington all joined the "wait till next year" list on Sunday.

- In the AFC East, the NY Jets lost a golden opportunity as New England lost at Miami but the Jets stumbled against the Bills in a divisional loss. New England can win the division next week with EITHER a win and a Jets loss or tie OR a tie and a Jets loss.

- In the AFC North, Baltimore took a big step forward with its win at Kansas City as it now has equaled Indy for the second best record in the AFC (although Indy would have the edge if the season ended today based on Strength of Victory tiebreaker). The Ravens can win the AFC North division title with EITHER a win and a Bengals loss or tie OR a tie and a Bengals loss.

- Cincinnati currently holds the edge as the top Wild Card with a better conference record than Jacksonville (6-3 vs. 5-4).

- In the AFC South, Indy's loss to Jacksonville tightened things up a bit. Indy still holds a two-game lead and the teams now have a season-split head-to-head, but Jacksonville's sub-par division record of 2-3 and conference record of 5-4 won't help it come tiebreaker time. If Jacksonville loses this next week at Tennessee, that will clinch the AFC South title for Indy regardless of what the Colts do next Monday night as the divisional loss would not allow the Jaguars to catch Indy in that tiebreaker. If Jacksonville wins next week, Indy cannot clinch the division title. However, if Jacksonville ties, then Indy can win the division title with a win or tie.

- San Diego won the AFC West title with its convincing win against Denver and it now controls its own destiny for home-field advantage throughout the AFC playoffs. San Diego cannot clinch HFA this week, but the Chargers can clinch a first-round playoff bye with a win against KC combined with an Indy loss.

More on the AFC and some NFC Quick hits after the Dallas-New Orleans game tonight.

A CBS SportsLine user asked a pertinent question in our NFL Playoff Race message board regarding the details behind the Bears first-round bye clinching scenario during week 14. I provided the answer below and wanted to share it with other NFL fans that may have not visited that message board (shame on you!).

Here's the Bears scenario :

Chicago can clinch a 1st round bye with a win and Dallas loss and Seattle loss

To clinch a first-round playoff bye, a team must first clinch a division title (Chicago has done that) and then must clinch being one of the top-two seeds among potential division winners.

If Chicago wins, they'll get to 11-2 and eventually, for tiebreakers assume the worst, could finish season as division champ at 11-5. Right now...only three other teams can win a division and get to at least 11-5. They include Dallas (8-4), New Orleans (8-4) and Seattle (8-4). So...to clinch a spot as top-two seed, the Bears need to clinch tiebreaker advantages over two of the three teams listed above.

Other useful facts:

- Chicago's win over St. Louis would give them a 9-0 conference record (9-3 at worst at seasons end).

- The Bears did play Seattle head-to-head (Won 37-6), but did not and will not play Dallas or New Orleans.

- Both Dallas and Seattle can match Chicago in conference record, but only New Orleans can beat them (currently 7-1).

- Of the remaining games, only New Orleans at Dallas this week involves these four teams playing one another.

So...at 11-5, Chicago needs to get another loss for at least two of these 8-4 teams. Since Dallas and New Orleans play each, they both can't lose this week. If they tie and both teams win out, that would mean 11-4-1 finishes which would best Chicago at 11-5. So a tie is out in any clinching scenario this week.

If Seattle loses at Arizona, that would give the Seahawks a fourth conference loss. That combined with the loss to Chicago means they can't use one of the other teams to jump ahead of Chicago in any tiebreaker with Dallas and/or New Orleans. So....a Seattle loss gets rid of one of the two teams needed for Chicago to clinch a first-round bye.

As for Dallas-New Orleans, since New Orleans could lose and still beat Chicago on conference record (they could be 11-5 overall and 10-2 conference), that means a New Orleans loss doesn't help the Bears. HOWEVER, a Dallas loss gets them to 11-5 at best and 8-4 at best in conference record. Without having any head-to-head advantage over Chicago, that Cowboys loss would put them behind the Bears in any tiebreaker scenario.

Which leads us to....Chicago can clinch a first-round playoff bye with a WIN and a Seattle loss and a Dallas loss.

After Philadelphia's come-from-behind victory over Carolina last night, we now have four NFC teams at 6-6 fighting for Wild Card playoff spots and potential division titles. Should be a real rollercoaster ride over the final four weeks with a lot of contenders playing against each other. Atlanta will be a real key tiebreaker team as they play Dallas, Carolina and Philadelphia the final three weeks. Dallas has New Orleans, Atlanta and Philadelphia the next three weeks. The NY Giants play Carolina, Philadelphia and New Orleans the next three weeks. Carolina, Philadelphia and New Orleans are all in this mix as well.

Here's how the clinching scenarios breakdown for four NFC teams heading into week 14:

CHICAGO BEARS

* Chicago has clinched the NFC North division title. The Bears can clinch a first-round playoff bye with a win at St. Louis on Monday night and a Dallas loss against New Orleans (the flex game on Sunday night) and a Seattle loss at Arizona.

NEW ORLEANS SAINTS

* New Orleans can clinch a playoff berth with EITHER:

- NO win + MIN loss or tie + CAR loss + PHI loss OR

- NO win + MIN loss or tie + NYG loss + ATL loss OR

- NO win + MIN loss or tie + PHI loss + ATL loss

DALLAS COWBOYS

* Dallas can clinch a playoff berth with a win and a Philly loss and a Minnesota loss or tie and a St. Louis loss or tie and a San Francisco loss or tie and an Atlanta loss.

The Cowboys might have to wait at least a week on that one.

SEATTLE SEAHAWKS

* Seattle can clinch the NFC West division title with EITHER:

- SEA win + SF loss or tie OR

- SEA tie + STL loss or tie + SF loss

If you're an NFL Tiebreaker fan, be sure and read my blog entry below where I walk through steps you need to take when looking at certain clinching scenarios. Hopefully it's helpful.

Prior to heading into the murky tiebreaker waters of the NFC (does ANYBODY want to make the playoffs in that conference?), I'll add another scenario for the AFC and it involves the red-hot Baltimore Ravens.

Baltimore cannot clinch the AFC North title this week even though it can claim a three-game lead on Cincinnati with three games to go with a win and a Bengals loss. Since the Ravens and Bengals split their home-and-home series this year, the next tiebreaker step in divisional ties is division record and Cincinnati can still best Baltimore in that category. So...no division clinching scenario for Baltimore...at least not yet.

However, the Ravens could clinch a playoff berth this week with a number of events going their way. If Baltimore wins at Kansas City, it would also need a Cincinnati loss, a NY Jets loss and a Denver loss AND Baltimore would need to clinch the Strength of Victory tiebreaker over the NY Jets. Here's how this breaks down in this installment of TIEBREAKERS 101 (it would be helpful to have our standings page open in a browser as you walk through these steps):

* Baltimore win gets Ravens to 10-3. When assessing a team's ability to clinch a playoff berth, you need to assume it will lose the rest of its games (10-6 overall and 7-5 in the conference in this case) going forward and create a scenario where it's assured of at least the #6 seed.

* At this point, there are nine teams that can get to 10-6 or better records and potentially deny Baltimore a playoff spot. They include NE and NYJ in the East, Baltimore and Cincy in the North, Indy and Jax in the South and SD, KC and Denver in the West. To get Baltimore in the playoffs this next week, we need to eliminate three teams' ability to either beat the Ravens outright or beat them in any tiebreaker.

* A Baltimore win means a Kansas City loss and since the Ravens would have a head-to-head win against the Chiefs and the Chiefs couldn't catch the Ravens on conference record (6-6 at best for KC and 7-5 at worst for Baltimore), that should kick KC out of the mix. The only other saving possibility you have to consider is could KC still win the division with a loss this week, thus not needing to beat Baltimore in a tiebreaker. The answer is the Chiefs can still win the division at 10-6, but only if San Diego loses out and in this scenario for the Ravens we have Denver losing this week which means a San Diego win and KC can't win the division. So...bye bye KC. One down, two to go!

* The Cincinnati loss, although it doesn't clinch the division title this week for Baltimore, is key here as a 7-6 Bengals squad would then have to win out to deny Baltimore the division title.

* Since the Bengals would have to win out, that would include a win in Week 16 at Denver and, combined with a Denver loss at San Diego (also included in scenario above) would give the Broncos seven losses and they couldn't catch the Ravens. So...see ya Denver. Two down, one to go!

* Next up, the NY Jets. The Jets play Buffalo at home and a loss in this scenario would get them to 7-6 (10-6 at best) and 5-5 in the conference (7-5 at best). The Jets and Ravens don't play each other this year.

* Before we go down the tiebreaker steps between these two teams, let's see what happens if the Jets can win the AFC East to avoid the tie situation with Baltimore. The problem with that scenario is, although the Jets could win the division at 10-6 (with a New England loss or tie this week at Miami), that would then eliminate New England for Baltimore either on overall record or, if New England ends up 10-6 with the Jets and loses the tiebreaker to NY, the best conference record the Patriots would have is 6-6...not good enough to beat Baltimore at 7-5.

* OK...back to Jets and Ravens. Since they would both end up at 10-6 overall and 7-5 in the conference in this scenario, the next tiebreaker step for Wild Card ties is record against common opponents. Under this situation, both teams would end up with 3-2 records against common opponents (Tennessee, Buffalo, Cleveland and Oakland).

* So....the next step is a weird stat called "Strength of Victory" which simply means the winning percentage of the teams you have defeated this year. Baltimore currently owns a .463 to .405 SOV advantage at this point. If you look forward to SOV records with both teams ending up at 10-6 in this scenario, Baltimore would hold an 11-game edge at 57-63 to New York's 46-74. Depending on which other teams win or lose this week, there is a chance that Baltimore could mathematically clinch the SOV advantage at the end of the regular season. That would eliminate the Jets from the Ravens' path and down goes team number three!

* To recap the situation, if Baltimore wins and Cincinnati loses and the Jets lose and Denver loses and Baltimore clinches Strength of Victory over the Jets then the Ravens will have clinched an AFC playoff berth. Whew! Hey....and that's just one team's chance to clinch in one scenario.

Now....the NFC Wild Card is bound to get ugly. I'll get back to you later on Tuesday on that.

In addition to the division title clinching notes I listed earlier this evening in the blog below, I have a couple other scenarios for teams to clinch playoff berths in the AFC if they fail to win division titles this week.

Indianapolis:

- can clinch a playoff berth in the case of a loss with losses by the New York Jets, Cincinnati, Denver and Kansas City

San Diego:

- can clinch a playoff berth with a win against Denver (this assumes Kansas City wins)

Look for more notes, anecdotes and potential scenarios tomorrow and then again after the Carolina-Philadelphia MNF game.

Here are some quick hits looking ahead to week 14 focusing on how leading teams can clinch division titles along with a few mentions of which teams cannot clinch this coming week.

In the high-powered AFC...

New England:

- can clinch the AFC East division title with a win at Miami and a NYJ loss against Buffalo

Baltimore:

- cannot clinch the AFC North division title this week after blowing their chance last Thursday

Indianapolis:

- can clinch AFC South division title with win or tie at Jacksonville

San Diego:

- regardless of what Denver does tonight against Seattle, the Chargers can clinch the AFC West title with win (against Denver) and a Kansas City loss or tie against Baltimore

Over in the NFC...

Dallas:

- cannot clinch the NFC East division this week (Giants can still win tiebreak on division record...currently at 3-1 Giants vs. 2-3 for the Cowboys)

Chicago:

- has already won division title

- cannot clinch Home Field throughout due to New Orleans playing Dallas this week

- can clinch 1st round bye with win at St. Louis and Dallas loss and Seattle loss to Arizona (or tie against Ariz if they lose to Denver tonight)

New Orleans:

- cannot clinch Division title…even with Carolina loss Monday night as the Panthers can still sweep New Orleans

Seattle:

- if they win tonight at Denver…can clinch NFC West division title with win and SF loss or tie