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USA Today Sports Media Group
USA Today Sports Media Group
Sport
Glenn Erby

NFL playoff picture: Early AFC-NFC clinching scenarios for Week 16

The Eagles clinched a playoff berth win a 48-22 win over the Giants two weeks ago.

On Sunday after a win at Chicago and a Dallas loss at Jacksonville, they moved one step closer to the ultimate goal in each conference.

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With just a handful of teams still competing in the NFC, Philadelphia has a clinching scenario that involves the overall No. 1 seed for Week 16.

NFL research released the clinching scenarios for the AFC and NFC, excluding any tiebreaker scenarios.

NFL Communications will release the official list on Tuesday, but we have a good idea of what teams from both conferences need to do.

Here are the Week 16 clinching scenarios across the league.

AFC

Bills quarterback Josh Allen rolls away from pressure.

CLINCHED:
Buffalo Bills — playoff berth
Kansas City Chiefs — AFC West

Buffalo Bills (11-3) (at Chicago (3-11), Saturday, 1 p.m. ET, CBS)

Bills quarterback Josh Allen rolls away from pressure.

Buffalo clinches AFC East division title with:

BUF win OR
MIA loss

Cincinnati Bengals (10-4) (at New England (7-7), Saturday, 1 p.m. ET, CBS)

Mandatory Credit:Sam Greene-USA TODAY Sports

Cincinnati clinches a playoff berth with:

CIN win OR
NYJ loss

Baltimore Ravens (9-5) (vs. Atlanta (5-9), Saturday, 1 p.m. ET, FOX)

Mandatory Credit: Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports

Baltimore clinches a playoff berth with:

BAL win + NYJ loss + NE loss OR
BAL win + NYJ loss + MIA loss OR
BAL win + NE loss + MIA loss

Los Angeles Chargers (8-6) (at Indianapolis (4-9-1), Monday, 8:15 p.m. ET, ESPN, ESPN Deportes)

Mandatory Credit: Orlando Ramirez-USA TODAY Sports

Los Angeles clinches a playoff berth with:

LAC win + NYJ loss + NE loss + LV loss

NFC

Mandatory Credit: Daniel Bartel-USA TODAY Sports

CLINCHED:
Philadelphia Eagles — playoff berth
Minnesota Vikings — NFC North
San Francisco 49ers — NFC West
Dallas Cowboys — playoff berth

Philadelphia Eagles (13-1) (at Dallas (10-4), Saturday, 4:25 p.m. ET, FOX)

Mandatory Credit: Daniel Bartel-USA TODAY Sports

Philadelphia clinches NFC East division title and No. 1 seed with home-field advantage in NFC playoffs with:

PHI win

New York Giants (8-5-1) (at Minnesota (11-3), Saturday, 1 p.m. ET, FOX)

Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports

New York Giants clinch a playoff berth with:

NYG win + DET loss + SEA loss OR
NYG win + DET loss + WAS loss OR
NYG win + SEA loss + WAS loss

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