NFL 2024 playoffs: What to watch in Week 18 as Detroit Lions and Minnesota Vikings battle for top seed | NFL news
The final week of the 2024 NFL regular season has arrived, with division titles up for grabs and playoff seeds to be decided in the final stretch heading into Super Bowl LIX in New Orleans. Here’s what to watch in week 18…
NFC no. 1 seed
While the Super Bowl winners Kansas City Chiefs finished with the No. 1 seed in the AFC, the NFC race will continue on the final day of the regular season.
The Minnesota Vikings kept their hopes of a first-round berth alive on Sunday as they withstood a late fight against the Green Bay Packers for a 27-25 win to move to 14-2, stay in the hunt along with the Detroit Lions and continue their stunning season behind running back Sam Darnold and Coach of the Year candidate Kevin O’Connell.
It leaves Week 18 perfectly poised as the Vikings and Lions battle it out once again, knowing the winner will secure the No. 1 seed while the others head into the Wild Card game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers or Atlanta Falcons.
Detroit won a thriller between the NFC North rivals earlier this season when Jared Goff threw for 280 yards and two touchdowns on two rushing touchdowns by Jahmyr Gibbs to neutralize Brian Flores’ rushing defense en route to a 31-29 victory.
Goff’s career resurgence is already old news as he pilots the league’s most prolific and innovative offense as part of a Detroit team among Super Bowl favorites after years of injury. He threw for 4,095 yards and 33 touchdowns with just 10 interceptions while surrounded by a group of explosive young 1,000-yard talents in Gibbs and Amon-Ra St Brown and the secondary of Jameson Williams and Sam LaPorta.
Darnold, meanwhile, refuses to fade as one of the stories of the season, riding a Geno Smith-esque resurgence as he threw for 4,153 yards, 35 touchdowns and 12 picks to lead Minnesota to the playoffs by securing the starting spot thanks to an offseason injury to JJ McCarthy. The Vikings reaching the postseason felt like a stretch after the departure of Kirk Cousins; securing first place would be unthinkable.
Rodgers and Wentz have the final say?
Some familiar faces could still play a role in making or breaking the season for three teams as the Denver Broncos, Miami Dolphins and Cincinnati Bengals battle for the final wild card spot in the AFC.
The Denver Broncos remain in pole position to secure a playoff spot at 9-7 and as the current owners of the seventh seed, knowing they will advance if they beat the Chiefs. With nothing to play for, Kansas City is expected to rest its starters heading into January, which could mean a certain Carson Wentz will have the final say in the playoffs as Patrick Mahomes’ backup quarterback.
Miami is 8-8 and will advance if they can beat Aaron Rodgers’ New York Jets and the Broncos lose to the Chiefs, while the Bengals, also 8-8, will advance with a win over the Pittsburgh Steelers on Saturday night and losses to both the Broncos and Dolphins. If all three teams lose, Denver will secure last place.
Somehow, even in the midst of a tumultuous season with the Jets, Rodgers still has a role in shaping the NFL playoff picture as he continues his quest for his 500th career touchdown pass. And it’s a funny time in the world when the Dolphins and Bengals are leaning on former Philadelphia Eagles man Wentz.
Who will win the NFC South?
Only three division titles are still up for grabs heading into the final weekend of the regular season: The Vikings and Lions are poised to battle for the NFC North, the Baltimore Ravens and Steelers are battling for the AFC North, and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Atlanta Falcons are battling for the NFC South. honors.
Oddly enough in the AFC North, the Ravens might not mind settling for second since that would leave them in position to face an unconvincing Houston Texans team that they just defeated on Christmas Day. Meanwhile, the loser of the Vikings-Lions clash on the final day will face the NFC South champions.
Tampa Bay is currently on top at 9-7 after a 48-14 victory over the Carolina Panthers on Sunday before the Falcons fell in a 30-24 overtime loss to the Washington Commanders, leaving Raheem Morris’ team at 8 -8. The Falcons finish their campaign at home against Bryce Young’s Panthers, while the Bucs host Darren Rizzi’s New Orleans Saints in a three-game set at Raymond James Stadium.
The Bucs will be the division champs if they beat the Saints, but a Tampa loss and an Atlanta win would see the Falcons clinch the title after beating Todd Bowles’ team twice this season and controlling the individual head-to-head matchup.
Who wins the NFL MVP?
The NFL’s hotly contested MVP race will continue into the final weekend of the regular season, with Josh Allen and Lamar Jackson seemingly the two front-runners with potential competition in Joe Burrow and Saquon Barkley.
Allen is unlikely to appear when the Buffalo Bills take on the New England Patriots who have already helped Sean McDermott solidify the No. 2 spot in the AFC, leaving Mitchell Trubisky ready to start in his place. He recently became the first player in NFL history to record five consecutive 40-touchdown campaigns after totaling 18 touchdowns to just one turnover in five games in December.
Jackson can make his latest case for a third career MVP award when the Baltimore Ravens face the Cleveland Browns on Saturday night with hopes of wresting the AFC North title from Pittsburgh. He enters the final week after throwing for 3,955 yards and 39 touchdowns with just four interceptions, as well as rushing for 852 yards and four touchdowns after just breaking Michael Vick’s record for most rushing yards by a running back in NFL history.
Burrow, meanwhile, thrust himself into the conversation with a phenomenal individual season to keep Cincinnati’s slim playoff aspirations alive with a four-game winning streak that moved them to 8-8 heading into the final game. The former No. 1 overall pick completed a league-high 423 passes for a leading 4,641 yards and 42 touchdowns to eight interceptions, collecting the league’s best quarterback mark in the process. Can he save a campaign that looked dead in the water?
Who is the first pick in the draft?
The Giants face the possibility of not only watching Barkley break the rushing record against them, but also missing out on the No. 1 pick in the draft. Brian Daboll’s team was the No. 1 pick prior to Week 17 before finally deciding to come on offense as it crushed the Indianapolis Colts’ playoff hopes in a 45-33 victory, improving to 3-13, but falling to No. 4 as a result .
The New England Patriots are currently in first place and will face the Bills in Week 18 after falling to 3-13 with a 40-7 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers, followed by the Tennessee Titans (3-13) in second place as Team Brian Callahana prepares to face the Houston Texans and Cleveland Browns at No. 3 ahead of their matchup with the Ravens.
Colorado’s Shedeur Sanders and Miami’s Cam Ward are projected to be the top two running backs in the draft, while two-time Heisman Trophy winner Travis Hunter is also expected to be among the first players off the board.
Saquon is chasing history… or not
It looked like Saquon Barkley would have a chance to make history on the final day after closing in on Eric Dickerson’s all-time NFL single-season rushing record. Barkley rushed for 167 yards to help the Philadelphia Eagles win the NFC East title with a win over the Dallas Cowboys in Week 17, becoming the ninth player in NFL history to pass for 2,000 yards in a season.
In doing so, he left himself needing just 101 against the New York Giants last game to surpass Dickerson’s record of 2,105, which he has held since 1984. Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni, however, acknowledged this week that Barkley will likely be among the best. starters who are rested ahead of the playoffs.
“It’s a very special record that a great player has held for a very long time,” Sirianni said. “It’s a team record that everybody’s involved in, so you weigh all those things.
“But at the end of the day, you’re just trying to do what’s best for the team. Again, when there was a bye, how are the guys feeling, the bumps and bruises that we can take care of. We put ourselves in a position to be able to be in this situation and our goals are to succeed and play well in the next game we play, but whoever we play after that.
“It’s not easy. It wasn’t the easiest decision to make, but we’ve got great people in this building and we’ve had a lot of input from a lot of different people, including the players.”
When do the playoffs start?
The Wildcard weekend will take place from Saturday January 11 to Monday January 13 before the playoffs enter the Divisional Round on Saturday January 18 and Sunday January 19, when the respective No. 1 seeds will join the action after their byes.
Then comes the AFC and NFC Championship Games on Sunday, January 26, before Super Bowl LIX takes place at Caesars Superdome in New Orleans on February 9.
Who would meet in the playoffs if the season ended today?
Wild Card weekend:
AFC
Denver Broncos (Without 7 seeds) @ Buffalo Bills (no. 2)
Los Angeles Chargers (No. 6) @ Baltimore Ravens (No. 3)
Pittsburgh Steelers (No 5) @ Houston Texans (No. 4)
NFC
Green Bay Packers (Without 7 seeds) @ Philadelphia Eagles (No. 2)
Commanders from Washington (No. 6) @ Los Angeles Rams (No. 3)
Minnesota Vikings (No. 5) @ Tampa Bay Buccaneers (No. 4)
