Week 16 of the 2024/25 National Football League (NFL) regular season began last week Thursday, with two teams in the American Football League (AFC) — the Los Angeles Chargers and Denver Broncos — who are still fighting for their playoff lives, and ended on Monday night with the Green Bay Packers defeating the New Orleans Saints 34-0, in the first shutout of the season, thereby clinching their presence in the postseason.

In between those two games were a number of results that proved significant in the playoff race, none more so than the come-from-behind 36-33 victory of the Washington Commanders over the Philadelphia Eagles, which not only put them in a favourable position for the final playoff spot in the National Football Conference (NFC), but automatically eliminated the Dallas Cowboys and San Francisco 49ers from playoff contention. The Detroit Lions remain the No 1 seed in the NFC after their 34-17 win over the Chicago Bears, along with the Philadelphia loss, and with the Minnesota Vikings getting the better of the Seattle Seahawks, 27-24, Detroit and Minnesota are still tied (13-2) for the NFC North Division, but the Lions hold the head-to-head tiebreaker.

In the American Football Conference (AFC), the Baltimore Ravens clinched a playoff berth after a dominating 34-17 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers last Saturday, which resulted in a tied record (10-5) for both teams atop the AFC North Division, with Pittsburgh having the conference-record tiebreaker over Baltimore. This set up a very interesting start to Week 17, the penultimate week of the regular season, on Christmas Day, with two ground-breaking games, involving four AFC teams that are already in the playoffs but are battling for positioning.

In the first year of a reported three-year deal, Netflix was home to a Yuletide double-header: The reigning, back-to-back Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs tackled the Steelers in Pittsburgh, and the Ravens visited the Houston Texans for a showdown in the Lone Star State. The Chiefs bettered the Steelers 29-10, raising their record to 15-1, thereby clinching the No 1 seed in the AFC, and tight end Travis Kelce set the record for most touchdown catches in Chiefs’ history (77), surpassing Hall of Fame tight end Tony Gonzalez’s mark by one. The Steelers fell to 10-6 and are second in the AFC North following Baltimore’s 31-2 crushing of Houston, who dropped to 9-7 but had already clinched the AFC South Division a couple of weeks ago.

The Ravens improved to 11-5 and now lead the AFC North outright. They only have the division-trailing and already eliminated Cleveland Browns (3-12) to face next week, while the Steelers have a tougher task against another division rival and (long shot) play-off aspirant, the Cincinnati Bengals (7-8) to face before the play-offs begin. The race to the finish in the AFC North Division should be one for the ages.

The Bengals find themselves in a very precarious position and need to win the two remaining games, along with significant help from other results, to make the postseason. They are involved in one of three games in Week 17 where both combatants still have playoff ambitions, and they welcome the Denver Broncos into Paycor Stadium tomorrow, Saturday, afternoon for a do-or-die scenario. The Broncos are just a win away from clinching a playoff spot and they face the Chiefs to close the regular season, so this will be the one they will more than likely circle to book their ticket.

The Bengals have won three-straight games, but they are in danger of missing the play-offs for a second-straight year, while the Broncos had their four-game win streak stopped, and their opportunity to clinch a playoff berth prevented, following a heartbreaking 27-34 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers last week, but are only a win away from extending their season. JustBet offers the desperate home team as favourites but the Broncos will likely book their playoff ticket this weekend.

The Green Bay Packers (11-4) travel to US Bank Stadium to take on the Vikings (13-2) in a mammoth NFC North Division Battle. Both teams are already in the playoffs with Minnesota sharing the division lead with Detroit, and the best record in the NFC, but Green Bay is still capable of equaling that record if they win this weekend and beat the Chicago Bears next weekend. The Vikings defeated the Packers 31-29 in Week 4, in Wisconsin, but Green Bay has gone 9-2 since then and enter this weekend with even odds offered by JustBet to win. There is no telling what can happen when division rivals meet, especially when everything is at stake, so the expectation is for a thrill ride.

The Commanders (10-5) welcome the Atlanta Falcons (8-7) into Northwest Stadium on Sunday night for another anticipated dogfight. The Falcons moved back into the lead in the NFC South Division due to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers losing to the Dallas Cowboys last weekend, and if they can get past the Commanders this weekend, then overcome any challenge from the lowly Carolina Panthers in Week 18, they win the division. Washington can clinch a playoff berth with a win this weekend before finishing the regular season against NFC East Division rivals Dallas next week. However, Washington could book an automatic playoff spot before a snap is played on Sunday Night Football if the Panthers can somehow beat the Buccaneers in the early afternoon.

Atlanta recently benched former Washington quarterback Kirk Cousins, who still holds at least nine Washington franchise records, in favour of rookie Michael Penix Jr, who will make his second career start this weekend. Penix Jr. made his first NFL start last weekend in a home game against the New York Giants, which finished in an overwhelming 34-7 win, with the rookie having a quiet but effective outing — 202 passing yards and an interception.

The difficulty level will be raised a few notches for Penix Jr under the bright lights this Sunday, plus this will be the first prime-time game in NFL history between two rookie quarterbacks selected in the first round — Washington had the No 2 pick in Jayden Daniels and Penix Jr landed at No 8. A lot is riding on this game, and it could come down to the rookies under center. Daniels has a lot more experience at this level and he is playing before the Washington crowd, therefore they are offered favoured odds by JustBet and there is no reason to think the bookmakers got it wrong.

There are two available playoff spots in the AFC, with five teams in contention, while there are three available slots in the NFC, with four teams contending, and even the eliminated teams can have a say in how the race ends. Following this weekend, there is only one week left in the regular season and teams can ill-afford to leave it up to Week 18 to grab hold of the scarcely available spots. Are you ready for some football?

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Super Bowl LIX Champion – February 9, 2025

Team Odds

Kansas City Chiefs 4.70

Detroit Lions 4.90

Buffalo Bills 5.80

Philadelphia Eagles 7.00

Baltimore Ravens 7.60

Minnesota Vikings 11.00

Green Bay Packers 13.00

Los Angeles Rams 28.00

Houston Texans 45.00

Pittsburgh Steelers 45.00

*Only Top 10 odds are shown (see website for full list)

Note: Odds are subject to change