We had a relatively light slate of games on Sunday in Week 17 due to the Christmas Day matchups and a pair of Saturday games, but plenty was still at stake. A number of teams were in action, and playoff and draft implications rippled throughout the day.
In the early window, the Seattle Seahawks maintained their grip on the No. 1 seed in the NFC with a win over the Carolina Panthers, who will now face the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in an NFC South title game next weekend after both teams lost on Sunday.
The Jacksonville Jaguars kept control of the AFC South with a win over the Indianapolis Colts, applying pressure to both the Denver Broncos and New England Patriots at the top of the conference. The Patriots, meanwhile, clinched the AFC East with their victory over the New York Jets, coupled with the Buffalo Bills' loss to the Philadelphia Eagles in the late afternoon window.
The Pittsburgh Steelers squandered their opportunity to wrap up the AFC North with a loss to the Cleveland Browns and will now meet the Baltimore Ravens in a de facto division title game next weekend. Elsewhere, the New Orleans Saints outdueled the Tennessee Titans, the Cincinnati Bengals routed the Arizona Cardinals, and the Las Vegas Raiders gained the inside track to the No. 1 overall pick by losing to the New York Giants.
Thursday
Cowboys 30, Commanders 23 (Takeaways)
Vikings 23, Lions 10 (Takeaways)
Broncos 20, Chiefs 13 (Takeaways)
Saturday
Texans 20, Chargers 16 (Takeaways)
Ravens 41, Packers 24 (Takeaways)
Sunday
Browns 13, Steelers 6 (Takeaways)
Seahawks 27, Panthers 10 (Takeaways)
Saints 34, Titans 26 (Recap)
Patriots 42, Jets 10 (Recap)
Jaguars 23, Colts 17 (Recap)
Bengals 37, Cardinals 14 (Recap)
Dolphins 20, Buccaneers 17 (Recap)
Giants 34, Raiders 10 (Recap)
Eagles 13, Bills 12 (Recap)
Bears at 49ers (8:20 p.m., Preview)
Monday
Rams at Falcons (8:15 p.m., Preview)
x-clinched playoff berth; z-clinched division
Josh Allen had Khalil Shakir WIDE open in the back of the end zone for the game-winning two-point conversion and he just flat out missed the throw. The Eagles will hang on for the win and they are still alive for the No. 2 seed in the NFC. The Bills' loss means the Patriots clinch the AFC East and the Bills will be a wild card team.
The cardiac Bills have done it again, storming back from a fourth-quarter deficit. They're going for two to try to win the game.
What is happening in this game??? Outrageous grab from Brandin Cooks to get Buffalo into scoring territory. Wow.
What a play for the Bills to convert on fourth-and-10 and get themselves into Eagles territory with a chance to go and tie the game.
Buffalo got great field position thanks to a terrific punt return from Khalil Shakir, and finally took advantage with a really nice drive that ended with this Josh Allen touchdown run on a QB sneak. Lots of quick game, hurry-up, and runs up the middle to move down the field. Unfortunately for the Bills, the extra point was blocked so they remain down by 7 points.
New York snapped its nine-game losing streak here, while the Raiders extended their own losing streak to 10 games. The Raiders now have the inside track to the No. 1 pick in the draft, while the Giants can still get their hands on it if they lose next week and the Raiders beat the Chiefs. It's been a horrendous season for both of these teams, but at least one of them is likely to get rewarded with the top selection in the draft.
The Bills had a goal-to-go sequence after that incredible Shavers catch, and it ended with a Josh Allen scramble that was stopped just shy of the goal line. Allen had no receivers open and tried several times to move around and pump fake his way to SOMETHING popping open and it actually looks like Ty Johnson briefly did, but Allen instead tried to run it and Zack Baun stopped him inches away from the end zone.
Right over the top of Quinyon Mitchell to get Buffalo down into scoring territory for the first time.
It did not take New York long to answer the Lockett touchdown. Deonte Banks took the ensuing kickoff 95 yards to the house.
Las Vegas converted a pair of fourth-down tries on its latest drive, which ended with this touchdown pass from Geno Smith to Tyler Lockett, who tapped the toes in the back of the end zone to come away with the score. The loser of this game will likely land the No. 1 overall pick on the draft.
Jake Elliott kicked his second field goal in as many drives to push Philly's lead to almost two touchdowns with just a few seconds left in the half. The Bills will need to get something going offensively after halftime, which they haven't been able to do so far.
It's been a quiet, defensive-focused game up in Buffalo but the Eagles are in control and currently driving in Buffalo territory. They're at the two-minute warning in the second quarter and the Eagles are moving the ball with a chance to extend this lead going into halftime.
These two teams were aggressively trying to out-tank each other in the lead-up to the game but once they get on the field, the players out there are obviously trying to win. And so far it's the Giants doing a better job of that than the Raiders. The loser of this game is exceedingly likely (though not guaranteed) to land the top pick in the 2026 NFL Draft.
Philadelphia quickly took advantage of the miscue by Josh Allen. A.J. Brown had a nice catch to get the Eagles into scoring territory and then Saquon Barkley got them down to the goal line, where Jalen Hurts delivered this touchdown pass to Dallas Goedert.
Wild play here between Buffalo and Philly. This looks like a potential Tuck Rule play but the officials upheld the fumble upon review.
Jacksonville pulled off a come-from-behind win here to maintain its hold on the AFC South lead and a chance at the No. 1 seed in the conference. The Jaguars just need to win next week to win the division, but they'll need help in order to claim the top spot in the conference.
With both Tampa and Carolina losing their respective games this week, the two teams will play for the NFC South title and the No. 4 seed in the NFC next weekend. This could be a Saturday night game, given the schedule and the implications of the game.
Cleveland pulled off a MASSIVE upset of Pittsburgh and kept the Ravens' playoff hopes alive for another week. The Steelers and Ravens will play each other for the right to go to the playoffs as the No. 4 seed. It would be pretty surprising if that game were not the Sunday Night Football matchup, honestly.
Seattle is going to win this one after Zach Charbonnet's latest touchdown run. The Seahawks will maintain their hold on first place in the NFC, while the Panthers will be in a one-game NFC South title game against the Buccaneers next week.
The Jaguars are set up with great field position as they try to maintain their hold on the AFC South lead and their chances at nabbing the No. 1 seed in the AFC. Great play by Josh Downs to help the Colts avoid the pick-six, which would have been Philip Rivers' second in as many weeks.
Carolina put together a nice drive to get back into this game against the Seahawks, and Young capped it with this rushing score. The Panthers, remember, are fighting to maintain their hold on first place in the NFC South. Plus, if they win and the Buccaneers lose, they'd clinch the division.
The No. 1 overall pick is putting together a really solid stretch of football to end the season. He's 14 of 22 for 200 yards and two scores already today, and this spinning, twisting throw over the middle to Elic Ayomanor was a thing of beauty.
Maye's day is over against the Jets with the Pats up 42-3. He went 19 of 21 for 256 yards and five touchdowns. He's the first quarterback ever with with a 90% completion rate, 250+ pass yds and five or more passing touchdowns in a game, according to the CBS Sports research department. He certainly bolstered his MVP candidacy today. He entered second in MVP odds behind Matthew Stafford.
This was Indianapolis' first pass play from under center of the game. The Colts had previously run the ball on all eight under center snaps. No wonder the play-action fake worked and resulted in a score.
Look at Cody Ford out in Cincinnati!
Seattle took advantage of a Carolina turnover and a short field for the second drive in a row and now holds a two-score advantage.
It's the second takeaway in as many drives for the Seahawks defense, and it sets up Seattle with a chance to take a two-score lead.
Shortly after the Darnold interception, the Seahawks forced a fumble and recovered it deep in Panthers territory. It didn't take long for Seattle to take advantage and score the game's first touchdown.
Jacksonville has battled back from the early deficit to finally step out in front of the Colts thanks to Trevor Lawrence's second rushing score of the game.
Seattle and Carolina are locked in a defensive battle, and this Mike Jackson interception was upheld on review. The Seahawks are fighting to hang onto the No. 1 seed in the NFC while the Panthers are trying to maintain their hold on the NFC South lead.
