In some of the highlights of the second to last weekend of the season, the New England Patriots won their first division title since Tom Brady left, the Houston Texans clinched a playoff berth, the Pittsburgh Steelers lost a chance to clinch their division title and now face a prime time showdown next Sunday against the Ravens with the division title on the line and the two No. 1 seeds, Denver and Seattle, have to win their season finales to clinch first round byes.
The Patriots just needed to win their final two games to clinch their division title but they did it a week early when they routed the Jets as Drake Maye had the best quarterback day ever with five touchdown passes, 254 yards passing and a 90.1 percent completion rate as he threw only two incompletions. And then the Patriots clinched with the Bills lost to the Eagles, 13-12, when Josh Allen missed a wide open receiver in the end zone on a two point conversion try in an attempt to win the game instead of kicking an extra point to tie the game and go for overtime. The Bills have clinched a wild-card spot.
–Pittsburgh missed DK Metcalf, who was suspended for hitting a fan a week ago, as they lost to the Cleveland Browns, 13-6, when the Aaron Rodgers final pass from the seven went incomplete. And Baltimore routed Green Bay, 41-24, as Derrick Henry rushed for 216 yards and four touchdowns. So now the Steelers and Ravens will meet Sunday night for the NFC North, the fourth seed and the loser will go home.
–The top seeds, Seattle and Denver, both won as Seattle beat Carolina, 27-10, while holding the Panthers to 140 of offense and Bryce Young passed for only 54 yards and Denver beat the Chiefs, 20-13. Now both can clinch the No. 1 seed by winning their finales. Denver got a break when Chnarger coach John Harbaugh decided to rest Justin Herbert against the Bronnco. The Seahawks have a tough game against the 49ers, who edged the Bears, 42-38, in one of the most entertaining games of the year. The winner of the Seattle-49er game gets the top seed and the loser is a wild card team.
–Jacksonville edged the Colts 23-17 and now can clinch the division title and the third seed by beating the Titans. Houston beat the Chargers 20-16 to clinch a wild card spot and could still win the division if the Jaguars lose and the Texans beats the Colts.
–Carolina lost to the Seahawks but can still win the division title by beating the Bucs in the season finale. They can also win the division title if they lose and the Falcons beat the Saints. So if the Bucs win they have to wait and see which teams wins the Falcons-Saints game to find out if they win the division title.
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