Amazingly, no team has clinched anything yet, but the Pats are close. (Getty Images)
Amazingly, no team has clinched anything yet, but the Pats are close. (Getty Images)

i wanted to provide a quick glimpse into the impact of Week 14 results through Sunday's games and an early look at Week 15 clinching scenarios.  A full update and scenarios will be available after the Monday night game between Green Bay and Atlanta.

Going into Week 14 we had two clinching scenarios involving Indianapolis and Denver and neither came to fruition.  The Colts needed a win and a Houston loss to clinch the AFC South title. Houston beat Jacksonville to nix that possibility.  Denver won but they needed many other results to unfold in order to clinch a playoff berth, including a Houston loss or tie, so they have to wait until Week 15 as well.  NOTE:  Based on our research, this is the first time since 1979 that no playoff spots have been clinched with three weeks left to play in a non-strike year (it happened in the strike year of 1982).

We lost two teams during Week 14 as well with Chicago and Tampa Bay being eliminated from playoff contention.  However, 6-7 Minnesota and St. Louis and 4-8-1 Carolina remain in the playoff hunt.

Looking at division clinching scenarios for Week 15, we have three possibilites in the AFC.

INDIANAPOLIS COLTS can clinch the AFC South division title with:

1) WIN or TIE

Indy plays Houston and has a two-game lead and a win or tie would give them the head-to-head advantage in their season series and at least a two-game lead with two games left.  If Houston wins, they would split the season series and Houston could still win the division on overall record.

NEW ENGLAND can clinch the AFC East division title with:

1) WIN or TIE

New England's win over San Diego gives the Patriots a three-game lead with three to play and they play Miami next week.  The only thing preventing New England from clinching in this case would be a Miami victory as that would give the Dolphins a season sweep over the Patriots and they could still tie at 10-6.

DENVER can clinch the AFC West division title with:

1) WIN or TIE

Denver has a two-game lead and has a game Week 15 at the Chargers.  Denver already has an advantage against Kansas City with a season sweep and a better division record, so the Chiefs can't catch them. A Denver win would get them to no worse than 11-5 and the Chargers will be three back with two to play. A Denver-San Diego tie would give the Broncos a two-game lead with two to play but the Broncos would have a head-to-head advantage at 1-0-1 vs. the Chargers 0-1-1.  If San Diego beats Denver in this scenario, they would be one game back with two to play and can win on overall record.

There are no division clinching scenarios in the NFC for Week 15.

More to come on playoff clinching scenarios and tiebreaker notes for all NFL teams after Monday night.

Playoff picture standings and tiebreakers

Joe Ferreira is an NFL playoffs expert in his 23rd season of handling official playoff scenarios for the NFL. Follow Joe on Twitter: @JoeNFL.