NFL Playoffs: Who's in, who's out as regular season wraps up
The 2020-21 NFL playoff picture is finally clear for all to see. Sunday's full slate of regular season finales settled all of the pending races for the remaining available playoff spots.
Several teams faced must-win scenarios to get into the playoffs, and some of them took care of business and won -- but not all of them got into the playoffs.
The New York Giants, for example, beat the Dallas Cowboys 23-19 on Sunday afternoon to keep their playoff hopes alive. But the Giants were eliminated on Sunday night when Washington defeated the Philadelphia Eagles 20-14 to clinch the NFC East division title.
The Baltimore Ravens, Cleveland Browns, Indianapolis Colts, Los Angeles Rams and Washington won the games they needed to in Week 17 to punch their postseason ticket. The Chicago Bears clinched a playoff spot despite losing to their rival Green Bay Packers on Sunday.
Now the 14-team playoff field is set and the schedule for next week's wild-card round is finalized.
Here are the NFL's playoff teams:
NFL playoff teams
Baltimore Ravens (11-5): The Ravens are the No. 5 seed in the AFC and will face the Tennessee Titans on the road in the wild-card round. It will be a rematch of last year's divisional round game, which the Titans won.
Buffalo Bills (13-3): The Bills are the No. 2 seed in the AFC and will host the Indianapolis Colts in the wild-card round.
Chicago Bears (8-8): The Bears are the No. 7 seed in the NFC and will play the New Orleans Saints on the road in the wild-card round.
Cleveland Browns (11-5): The Browns are the No. 6 seed in the AFC and will play the Pittsburgh Steelers on the road in the wild-card round. The Browns beat the Steelers on Sunday to clinch a playoff berth, however, the Steelers were not playing with starting QB Ben Roethlisberger.
Green Bay Packers (13-3): The Packers are the No. 1 seed in the NFC and have a bye for the wild-card round. The Packers will have homefield throughout the NFC playoffs.
Indianapolis Colts (11-5): The Colts are the No. 7 seed in the AFC and will play the Buffalo Bills on the road in the wild-card round. Colts head coach Frank Reich used to play quarterback for the Bills and led Buffalo to one of the franchise's most memorable playoff wins -- coming back from a 35-3 deficit to defeat the Houston Oilers in 1993.
Kansas City Chiefs (14-2): The Chiefs are the No. 1 seed in the AFC and have a bye for the first round. The defending Super Bowl champions will have homefield advantage throughout the AFC playoffs.
Los Angeles Rams (10-6): The Rams are the No. 6 seed in the NFC and will face the Seattle Seahawks on the road in the wild-card round.
New Orleans Saints (12-4): The Saints are the No. 2 seed in the NFC and will host the Chicago Bears in the wild-card round.
Pittsburgh Steelers (12-4): The Steelers are the No. 3 seed in the AFC and will host the Cleveland Browns in the wild-card round. The Steelers split their season series with the Browns, but in one of those games Pittsburgh rested starting quarterback Ben Roethlisberger.
Seattle Seahawks (12-4): The Seahawks are the No. 3 seed in the NFC and will host the L.A. Rams in the wild-card round.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers (11-5): The Bucs are the No. 5 seed in the NFC and will face Washington on the road in the wild-card round.
Tennessee Titans (11-5): The Titans are the No. 4 seed in the AFC and will host the Baltimore Ravens in the wild-card round.
Washington (7-9): Washington is the No. 4 seed in the NFC and will host the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the wild-card round. Washington is the only playoff team with a losing record, but because they won the NFC East division, they still earned a top-four seed and a home game in the wild-card round.