VITO'S VIEWS

The NFL’s last weekend of the regular season looked like it might be a lackluster weekend because so many teams had already clinched playoff spots or were heavily favored to clinch them.

But things changed when Jacksonville stunned the Colts, who would have made the playoffs if they had won.

Pittsburgh then stayed alive with a 16-13 overtime victory over the Ravens. Ben Roethlisberger completed a fourth-and-nine pass to keep the field-goal drive alive. If he missed it, it probably would have been the last pass of his career since a tie would have knocked both the Steelers and Ravens out.

So the Steelers victory ended the playoff hopes of both the Colts and Ravens, and all the Steelers needed was the Raiders and Chargers not to play for a tie for them to make it.

The Steelers’ chances seemed good when the Raiders took a 15 point lead in the fourth quarter. Then the Chargers rallied for two touchdowns and a two-point conversion to send the game into overtime.

And the game remained tied as the teams traded field goals, the game was tied in the final minutes. Suddenly the Steelers looked like they could get knocked out by a tie.

Then things changed again. On the Raiders final drive, they appeared to be running out the clock to take the tie. They had a third-and-four at the Chargers 39 when the Chargers called timeout with 38 seconds left.

It may have been the most controversial move of the season after Josh Jacobs ran for 10 yards to put the Raiders in good field goal territory. They ran the clock down and Daniel Carlson kicked game-winner on the final play.

The Chargers said they called a timeout to get their run defense in but the real mistake by the Chargers was giving up the 10-yard run. If they had stuffed the Raiders, the Raiders probably would have punted and the game would have ended in a tie and both teams would be in the playoffs.

Instead, the Raiders and Steelers were in as the Chargers joined the Colts and Ravens on the outside looking in.

The Ravens started out 8-1 and lost their last six, five by a total of eight points. Twice coach John Harbaugh went for two at the end of games and the Ravens didn’t convert and lost both games.

Another surprise was San Francisco’s win over the Rams that knocked the Saints out of the playoffs and gave the 49ers a wild card berth. The Rams had already clinched the division title but are now the fourth seed.

Tennessee, as expected, clinched the top seed by beating the Texans and Buffalo clinched AFC East by beating the Jets. That relegated New England to a wild card spot although they lost to Miami anyway and limped into the playoffs, losing three of last four.

Miami fired Coach Brian Flores despite the victory. They were eliminated last week. He became the first coach to win seven in a row after losing seven in a row and wound up winning eight of his last nine games and was still fired.

Green Bay had clinched a bye and lost a meaningless game to Detroit and that cost the Lions the No. 1 pick since the Jaguars clinched it despite the win over Indianapolis.

So the Packers and Titans will be home this weekend enjoy a bye while the other six division winners will host the six wild card teams. Now the question is whether any of the six wild card teams, including the two seventh seeds – Pittsburgh and Philadelphia.

They wouldn’t be in the postseason if they had added a seventh team in each conference to the playoffs. They get a chance to show they deserved to be playoff teams.

The NFL added a 17^th game this year, but it didn’t add much drama to the final weekend of the season.

The only game where the winner makes the playoffs and the loser goes home is the Sunday night game between the Chargers and Raiders.

In the unlikely event that Jacksonville would upset the Colts, they could both get in with a tie. The game was shifted to Sunday night because it has the most at stake.

The Colts can not only clinch a wild card spot with a win in Jacksonville, but they would eliminate the Pittsburgh-Baltimore winner.

Green Bay has already clinched the top seed in the NFC and Tennessee can clinch top seed in AFC by beating Houston.

Buffalo is expected to clinch the AFC East title with a victory over the Jets. If the Jets pulled off an upset, the Patriots can win the division with a win at Miami. If Buffalo wins, the Patriots get a wild card spot.

The Rams can clinch the NFC West by beating the 49ers. If Rams lose, Arizona can win the division by beating Seattle. If 49ers lose to Rams, New Orleans can win the final NFC wild card spot by beating Atlanta.

So if the favorites all win, Buffalo wins the AFC East, the Rams win NFC West, and the Colts get and Saints get wild card spots.

And winner of the Chargers-Raiders game gets a wild card spot.That means unless there are some upsets, there won’t be much drama in the last weekend of the season.

The road to the Super Bowl in the NFC now goes through Green Bay.

The Packers clinched the top seed in the NFC with a 13-3 record with the easy win over Minnesota, which was playing without Kirk Cousins. He was sidelined by a positive Covid test.

It is the third year in a row the Packers have gone 13-3 although this year they have one game left that is meaningless for them because the NFL is now playing a 17-game schedule.

But having home playoff games is no guarantee of success for the Packers. They are only 7-6 in their last 13 home playoff games since 2002.

And they have lost the conference title game two years in a row, including last year’s home loss to Tampa Bay. Two years ago they lost the title game at San Francisco.

Five more NFC teams – Dallas, Tampa Bay, Rams, Cardinals and Eagles – have clinched playoff spots. Dallas was the only one of the five teams to lose as the Cowboys lost to Arizona, which broke a three-game losing streak.

The Rams at least have a wild card spot and can win the division by beating the 49ers or if the Cardinals lose to the Seahawks. If Rams lose and Cardinals win, the Cardinals will win the division. And Rams will be a wild card team.

The 49ers and Saints are vying for the last wild card spot. The 49ers get it if they beat the Rams. If they lose to the Rams, the Saints can grab the spot by beating the Falcons.

There was a change at the top of the AFC when Tennessee moved into the No. 1 seed by ending the Dolphins’ seven game winning streak while the Chiefs were upset by Cincinnati. Tennessee can now clinch the No 1 seed by beating Houston in its finale. The bye is especially important for the Titans because it gives Derrick Henry another week to heal.

The Bills, Patriots, Chiefs and Bengals have also clinched playoff spots and the Colts figure to get a wild card spot by beating the Jaguars.

That would leave the Chargers and Raiders – two old rivals with new homes in recent years – fighting for the last spot. If the Jaguars pull the upset of the year and beat the Colts, the Chargers and Raiders could both get in by playing to a tie. That is also unlikely.

NFL teams are now going down the home stretch … playoff spots – six in the AFC – are still up for grabs going into the final two weeks of the regular season.

Kansas City, which plays Cincinnati in the early game on CBS Sunday, is the only AFC team to clinch a division title. The Chiefs at 11-4 are only playing for the top seed while Cincinnati is playing for a division title or a playoff spot if they don’t win the AFC North.

The game will match Patrick Mahomes vs. Joe Burrow in what is likely to be only the first of many matchups they will play over the coming years. They could play again in the playoffs this year.

The Bengals are 9-6 with a lead over the 8-7 Ravens, who host the Rams, and the 7-7-1 Steelers, who host the 7-8 Browns Monday night in what is likely to be Ben Roethlisberger last home game.

Buffalo and New England are 9-6 in a tie for the AFC East lead and both are expected to win with the Bills hosting Atlanta and the Patriots hosting Jacksonville. Since the Bills have the tie-breaker, they clinch the division by winning their last two against the Falcons and Jets. The Patriots would then be the wild card team.

Tennessee at 10-5 has a one-game lead over the 9-6 Colts in the AFC South with the Titans hosting Miami and the Colts hosting Las Vegas. Miami is at 8-7 with seven wins in a row. The Raiders are also at 8-7. Neither can afford another loss if they are to stay in the playoff hunt.

The Chargers at 8-6 are fighting for wild card when the host Denver.

The NFC picture is a big clearer with five teams in the playoffs. Three of them – the Packers, Cowboys and Bucs– have clinched division titles and two more – Rams and Cardinals – have clinched playoff spots. One will win the division title and the other will be the wild card team.

The Rams have a one-game lead and play the Ravens while the Cardinals have a tougher task against Dallas.

San Francisco and Philadelphia are both 8-7 and have the inside track on the final two wild card spots. The Eagles go to Washington and San Francisco hosts Houston so they should both with win.

Who are the real Buffalo Bills?

Are they the team that started off 4-1 and then fell to 8-6 including losses to Jacksonville and a home loss to New England in the wind when the Patriots threw just three passes?

Or are they the team that crushed New England last Sunday and didn’t have to punt once. That has never happened to a Bill Belichick team.

The Bills are now tied for first place in the AFC East with New England but they have the tie breaker and can win the division title by beating the Falcons and Jets in their final two regular season games.

Meanwhile, the Kansas City Chiefs clinched the AFC West title for the sixth consecutive year with a 36-10 rout of Pittsburgh and are 11-4 with the top seed in the AFC. The Chiefs are aiming for their third consecutive Super Bowl appearance.

The Steelers, meanwhile, fell to 7-7-1 and are in full rebuilding mode. Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger may have reached the end of the line.

Cincinnati took a one-game lead over the Ravens at 9-6 in the AFC North as Joe Burrow passed for 525 yards and four touchdowns in a 41-21 over the Ravens. They made no apologies for continuing to throw with a big lead. We find out how good the Bengals are when they take on the Chiefs.

The Ravens are still in the playoff hunt at 8-7 but those two costly decisions to go for two instead of playing for overtime may come back to haunt them.

The Chargers fell to 8-7 with a stunning loss to the Texans and now face two division games against 8-7 Las Vegas and 7-8 Denver to finish the season.

The Raiders beat the Broncos 17-13 to stay in the wild-card race, although Denver hasn’t been eliminated. Kansas City is the only AFC team to clinch a playoff spot but the Bills, Bengals, Titans, Colts and Patriots are in good position to make it.

That just leaves one spot likely open with the Chargers, Raiders and Dolphins all at 8-7. The Dolphins are the first team to win seven in a row after losing seven in a row.

Green Bay has the top seed in the NFC at 12-3 while four other NFC teams — Cowboys, Bucs, Rams and Cardinals — have clinched playoff spots. The Cardinals clinched despite a loss to the Colts.

The 49ers and Eagles, both 8-7, have the inside track on the final two spots while three 7-8 teams –Falcons, Saints and Vikings — have their playoff hopes hanging by a thread. The 49ers have the Texans and Rams left, while the Eagles have Washington and Dallas.

The NFL’s premiere attraction of this holiday weekend won’t be played in primetime.

The 9-5 Patriots and the 8-6 Bills will battle for control of the AFC East at 1 p.m. Sunday.

Although it will be shown to much of the country, there will be three other games being shown on CBS at the same time including the Ravens at Cincinnati. Both teams are 8-6, and the winner will take the lead in the AFC North at 9-6.

The other two games being played at the same time are the Chargers at Houston and the Jaguars at the Jets.

The 8-6 Chargers, who trail the 10-4 Chiefs by two games, need a victory to stay in the wild-card race.

The significance of the Pats-Bills game is that a Pats victory would give them a two-game lead over the Bills with two left and would likely mean they will win the division and resume their dominance of the division without Tom Brady. Since the Patriots play the Jaguars next week, it is almost a certainty that they will win the division if they beat the Bills.

Kansas City and Green Bay, currently the top two seeds, will both be home and favored. The Packers host Cleveland on Christmas afternoon and the Chiefs host Pittsburgh Sunday.

Tennessee remained on top of the AFC South by rallying to beat San Francisco Thursday night. The Titans are 10-5 with a game lead over the Colts, who play at Arizona Christmas night. They are 8-6 and can remain a game behind the Titans.

The AFC wild card race is wide open with only three of the 16 teams having losing records going in the Christmas games. They are the Jaguars, Jets and Texans.

Dallas, which clinched the NFC East title Thursday night, hosts Washington Sunday night. The 10-4 Cowboys went into the Christmas games as one of four NFC teams with 10-4 record along with the Cardinals, Bucs and Rams. Green Bay is on top at 13-3 and those five teams are likely to make the playoffs.

The other two NFC spots are wide open with three teams at 7-7. The 7-7 Vikings face the toughest task against the 10-4 Rams. The 7-7 Eagles host the Giants and the Saints host Miami in a game in which both teams are 7-7. Miami and the Saints will play Monday night in a game that will have a playoff feel since the loser falls to 7-8. Washington goes to Dallas in the Sunday night game and the Washington team falls to 6-9 if it doesn’t pull an upset.

One factor that makes it difficult to handicap the weekend is because so many teams are losing players to Covid. That could have a big impact as teams may not know until Sunday morning which players will be available.

The Green Bay Packers played the Kansas City Chiefs in the first Super Bowl in Los Angeles.

Now they have a chance to meet again in the 56^th Super Bowl next February in Los Angeles.

They almost had a rematch in the 55^th game last year but Green Bay failed to make it when they lost to Tampa Bay in NFC title game.

This year with three games left, the Packers and the Chiefs are the two top seeds. Three more wins and they are in.

And the top seed is more important this year because in the era of seven game playoff formats, only one team gets a bye.

Kansas City took over the top seed with its overtime victory over the Chargers and losses by the Patriots to the Colts and the Titans to the Steelers. The Chiefs are now 10-4 and the Titans and the Patriots are 9-5. The Chiefs have the Steelers, Bengals and Broncos in their last three games.

The Packers are now the only team with an 11-3 record in the NFL after their victory over Baltimore, which went for a two-point conversion at the end for second time in three weeks instead of kicking an extra point and going to overtime.

The Ravens didn’t convert either time and are now 8-6. Cincinnati, which beat Denver, is also at 8-6 in the division but has the tiebreaker over Baltimore. The two teams meet Sunday in Cincinnati. If the Bengals win, they can lose to Kansas City the following week and still wrap up the division title with a win in the finale over Cleveland.

There is another AFC division game in which first place is on the line. The 9-5 Patriots face the 8-6 Bills in that game.

Tennessee has a one game lead over Indianapolis, which beat the Patriots, in the AFC Central but faces a tough Thursday night game against San Francisco.

In the NFC, Dallas has a four-game lead in its division and is a game behind Green Bay in the race for the top seed. The Cowboys beat the Giants to boost their record to 10-4.

Arizona also is 10-4 after being stunned by Detroit and the Rams improved to 10-4 to tie Arizona for first place with the Tuesday night win over the Seahawks.

Tampa Bay was blanked by New Orleans but is still 10-4 and leading the division by three games over the Saints. Tampa Bay has two games left with Carolina and a game the Jets so it is likely to finish at 13-4 and have a shot at top seed if the Packers falter. The Packers finish with the Browns, Vikings and Lions so they are likely to finish 14-3.

The Packers Cowboys, Bucs, Cardinals and Rams figure to get five of the seven NFC playoff spots. San Francisco at 8-6 is likely to get the sixth slot and Eagles, who beat Washington Tuesday night, Saints and Vikings at 7-7, will battle for the final spot. Three of the four NFC West teams – Cardinals, Rams and 40ers — could get playoff spots.

The only NFC division title up for grabs is in the West where the Cardinals and Rams are 10-4.

They don’t play each other rest of the way. Cards play Colts, Cowboys and Seahawks and the Rams play the Vikings, Ravens and 49ers.

The NFL race down the homestretch began Thursday night. And it could have an unusual twist.

The 32 teams head into the final four games of the regular season now that there are no byes left, and it appears that the road to the Super Bowl may be decided by which teams can find ways to stay a step ahead of the virus.

The NFL switched three games Friday because teams were hit by so many positive tests.

Saturday’s game between the Browns and Raiders was moved to Monday, while the Washington-Philadelphia and the Seattle-Rams games were moved to Tuesday.

There will now be just one game on Saturday, the night game featuring the Patriots at Indianapolis in what was once a great rivalry in the Peyton Manning-Tom Brady era.

The Raiders-Browns game will be shown Monday at 5 p.m.on NFL Network, while the Washington-Philadelphia and Seahawks-Rams games will be shown at 7 p.m. on FOX.

The big question is how many quarterbacks will be affected by the positive tests. For example, Cleveland’s two quarterbacks — Baker Mayfield and Case Keenum – have tested positive. If they aren’t back, the Browns will have to go with Nick Mullens, who was activated Thursday.

Cleveland at 7-6 can stay in midst of the wild card race with a win and even tie the Ravens for the lead if they win and Ravens lose to the Packers. Cleveland, Baltimore and Cincinnati could all be tied at 8-6 if the Ravens lose and Cleveland and Cincinnati win. The Bengals play Denver. The Raiders at 6-7 need a victory to stay in the wild card hunt and Raider owned Mark Davis was unhappy his game was switched.

The New England-Indianapolis game on Saturday night will be one of the two best games of the weekend. New England goes to Indianapolis and a victory would keep the Patriots at least two games in front of the Bills going into their rematch the day after Christmas.

The Bills are playing Carolina Sunday. Indianapolis needs a victory to go to 8-6 and stay within striking distance of Tennessee and remain in wild card race. Tennessee goes to 6-6-1 Pittsburgh, which is desperate for a win to stay in wild card race.

The other key game is Green Bay at Baltimore Sunday. If the Packers win their next six games – four in regular season and two playoff games – they will be in the Super Bowl. But since Tampa Bay figures to beat New Orleans and Arizona is likely to beat Detroit, the Packers need to win to stay in the lead in the battle for the bye.

Denver’s game against Cincinnati is critical for the Broncos, who are 7-6 and can remain in the wild card race with a victory over the Bengals.

Kansas City took control of the AFC West Thursday nightwith the overtime win over San Diego, which three times went for it on fourth down in field goal range and missed it all three times.

The Chiefs now have 10-4 record and a two game lead over the 8-6 Chargers.

Dallas, which plays the Giants, and Green Bay, which plays Baltimore, and Tampa Bay, which plays New Orleans Sunday night, have virtually locked up three of the four NFC division races.

The only undecided NFC race is in the West where Arizona, which has a two game lead over the Rams, figures to beat Detroit. The Rams are playing Seattle.San Francisco at 7-6 figures to beat Atlanta to stay in the wild card race.

Then there are five 6-7 teams fighting for the final NFC wild card spot — Philadelphia, Washington, Minnesota, Atlanta and the Saints. Two of them – Washington and Philadelphia – play each other in the game switched to Tuesday so one will fall to 6-8.

Atlanta, which plays San Francisco, and the Saints, who play Tampa Bay, also figures to lose to also fall to 6-8. Minnesota figures to beat Chicago to go to 7-7.

So by the end of the 15^th week, the Rams, 49ers and Vikings should be in place to get the three NFC wild card spots with three games left. There is only one game – the 49ers at the Rams in the finale — left involving those three teams the rest of the way..

It turns out the Arizona Cardinals apparently aren’t ready for primetime.

They brought a 10-2 record into their second prime time game of the season Monday night and lost to the Los Angeles Rams as Kyler Murray threw two picks. They lost their other primetime game to Green Bay, so they are 0-2 in primetime and 10-1 in the rest of their games.

The loss cost the Cardinals a chance to take a three-game lead in their division. Instead they are now only one game ahead of the Rams with four left.

Five of the eight division leaders–Tampa Bay, Green Bay, Dallas, Tennessee and Kansas City — posted victories while Arizona and Baltimore lost and New England had a bye.

Now all teams have played 13 games and it is a four week sprint to the end of the season now that there are no byes the rest of the way.

In the AFC three teams – New England, Kansas City and Tennessee — are all 9-4 in the battle for the top seed and a bye in the playoffs. Since the three teams don’t play each other in the final four weeks, the schedules will be important.

Tennessee figures to beat Pittsburgh, Miami and Houston but has a tough one against San Francisco. New England plays Indianapolis this week and is a slight underdog on the road and then has a rematch with Buffalo before finishing with Miami and Houston. Kansas City has three of its last four on the road including a trip to the Chargers Thursday night. Its other three games are against Pittsburgh Cincinnati and Detroit.

In the NFC, Arizona is now tied with Tampa Bay and Green Bay for the top seed at 10-3. The Cards have their second primetime game in two weeks, a Saturday night game in Indianapolis. They also play the Lions, Cowboys and Seattle.

Green Bay takes on Baltimore and Cleveland the next two weeks and finishes with division games against Minnesota and Detroit.

Tampa Bay may have the easiest road with two games against Carolina plus games with Saints and Jets.

The Buffalo Bills lost to the Bucs, falling to 7-6, two games behind the Patriots. And Baltimore’s loss to the Browns dropped them to 8-5, just a game ahead of the Browns and Bengals. The Bengals could have tied for first if not for the overtime loss to the 49ers.

Dallas virtually wrapped up the division title with the victory over Washington. It has a three-game lead over Washington and Philadelphia, but it is behind three other division leaders in the race for the bye so the Cowboys have an uphill climb in the battle for the bye.

Green Bay has a four game lead over the Vikings after the victory over the Bears so it is only playing for a bye the rest of the way.The Chiefs at 9-4 only have a one-game lead over the Chargers. The two teams play Thursday night in a pivotal game for both teams.

The Bucs have a four game lead over the Falcons and Saints after beating the Bills in overtime and like the Packers are only playing for a bye.

Twenty six teams are no worse than home game out of playoff picture with four games left.

The NFL likes to schedule division games late in the season, so it isn’t surprising that six division leaders will play division games this week.

One of them, Green Bay at Chicago in the Sunday night game, won’t have much significance because the Packers are 9-3 with a four-game lead in the loss column over Minnesota while Chicago is 4-8.

But the other five games will give division leaders a chance to solidify their leads. New England is the only division leader with a bye.

Baltimore, 8-4 in the AFC North, takes on 6-6 Cleveland. The Ravens have a one-game lead over 7-5 Cincinnati, which plays San Francisco, which is fighting for an NFC wild card spot at 6-6.

Tennessee at 8-4 in the AFC South figures to beat 2-10 Jacksonville to maintain its two-game lead over 7-6 Indianapolis, which has a bye.

Kansas City is 8-4 in the AFC West and meets the Raiders, who are tied for third with Denver at 6-6. The Chargers, who are second at 7-5, figure to beat the Giants and can tie the Chiefs if the Raiders pull off an upset.

Dallas leads the NFC East at 8-4 and can virtually wrap up the division title with a victory over Washington, which is second at 6-6.

Arizona, with the best record in the NFL, leads the NFC West and meets the Rams, who are second at 8-4. An Arizona victory would all but wrap up the division title. This is the Monday night game.

Tampa Bay, which is 9-3 in the NFC South, has a four-game leads over Carolina, Atlanta and New Orleans, who are all 5-7. So they are only playing for a bye.

But they take on Buffalo, and it is a critical game for the Bills. After their loss to New England Monday night, the Bills trail the Patriots by a game and will fall two games if they lose this game.

For the TV fans, CBS has the doubleheader with the Raiders-Chiefs and the Bills-Bucs game being shown to most of the country. Fox has a single game and will feature the Cowboys-Washington game.

So wins by Dallas and Arizona would enable them to join Tampa Bay and Green Bay that have virtually wrapped up their titles with four games left.

This is the last week of byes so all 32 teams will be playing the final four week of the regular season.