The early slate of games on the final Sunday of the NFL season settled some playoff races, and more answers are still to come in the late games.
Here is how the playoff matchups look after the 1 p.m. ET games:
AFC
Locked in
No. 1 (bye): Kansas City Chiefs (15-1, playing Denver)
No. 2: Buffalo Bills (13-4, lost to Patriots)
No. 3: Baltimore Ravens (12-5, beat Browns)
No. 4: Houston Texans (10-7, beat the Titans)
Up in the air
A win by the Los Angeles Chargers over the Las Vegas Raiders would clinch the No. 5 seed. A loss and the Pittsburgh Steelers will be the No. 5 seed and the Chargers will drop to No. 6.
The Denver Broncos, Cincinnati Bengals and Miami Dolphins are competing for the No. 7 seed. The Broncos will clinch with a win over the Chiefs, the Dolphins will clinch with a win over the Jets and a loss by the Broncos and the Bengals (who defeated the Steelers on Saturday) will clinch if both the Broncos and Dolphins lose.
NFC
Locked in
No. 2: Philadelphia Eagles (14-3, beat the Giants)
No. 6: Washington Commanders (12-5, beat the Cowboys)
No. 7: Green Bay Packers (11-6, lost to Bears)
Up in the air
The Detroit Lions and Minnesota Vikings (both 14-2) go head to head on Sunday night to determine the top seed in the NFC. The winner of the game will win the NFC North, be the No. 1 seed and get a bye. The loser will fall to the No. 5 seed and open the playoffs on the road.
The Los Angeles Rams will clinch the No. 3 seed with a win over the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday. If the Rams lose, they will drop to the No. 4 seed and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (who beat the New Orleans Saints on Sunday) will be the No. 3 seed.
BUCCANEERS 27, SAINTS 19
TAMPA, Fla. — Baker Mayfield used his legs and arm to help the Tampa Bay Buccaneers clinch their fourth straight NFC South title while putting Mike Evans over 1,000 yards receiving.
Mayfield fired a 32-yard touchdown pass to Jalen McMillan for the go-ahead score and then scrambled 28 yards for a crucial first down on the next drive, leading the Buccaneers to a 27-19 victory over the New Orleans Saints on Sunday.
Evans caught a 9-yard pass on the final play of the game to surpass 1,000 yards for the 11th straight season, tying Jerry Rice for the most in NFL history. After Mayfield’s long scramble on third-and-14 from the Tampa 12, the Buccaneers drove to the Saints 11. Mayfield looked for Evans but flipped the ball backward to Bucky Irving, who ran 11 yards for a TD that made it 27-19.
The Saints turned the ball over on downs and the Buccaneers got one more chance to get Evans the milestone.
Mayfield tossed a short pass to Evans, who ran upfield for a 9-yard gain. He got up, spiked the ball and was mobbed by teammates in a wild celebration.
The Buccaneers will be the NFC’s No. 3 seed if the Los Angeles Rams lose to Seattle. If the Rams win, they’ll be the fourth seed.
PATRIOTS 23, BILLS 16
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — Joe Milton III passed for a touchdown and ran for another in his NFL debut, and the New England Patriots cost themselves the No. 1 overall pick in the NFL draft with a 23-16 win over the AFC East champion Buffalo Bills on Sunday.
The Patriots (4-13) snapped a six-game skid when a loss would have guaranteed them the top draft pick. Instead, they fell to No. 4 behind Tennessee, Cleveland and the New York Giants.
Milton finished 22 of 29 for 241 yards in relief of rookie Drake Maye, who played only one series. Kayshon Boutte had seven catches for 117 yards and TD, and Joey Slye kicked three field goals.
With coach Jerod Mayo’s future in question, he ended up playing some starters and resting others.
Mayo took a preseason-style approach with franchise quarterback Maye. New England also had four healthy scratches and rested other key players, including running back Rhamondre Stevenson. Tight end Hunter Henry was inactive with a foot issue.
Mitchell Trubisky was 15 of 21 for 101 yards for the Bills (13-4), who had already wrapped up the No. 2 seed in the AFC playoffs and rested most of their starters.
Quarterback and MVP candidate Josh Allen played one snap, handing off to James Cook to extend his streak of consecutive starts to 115 games, including the playoffs. Trubisky played until late in the third quarter, when he was replaced by Mike White.
PANTHERS 44, FALCONS 38 (OT)
ATLANTA — Bryce Young passed for three touchdowns, ran for two scores and led a 70-yard drive capped by Miles Sanders’ 1-yard TD run on the opening possession of overtime to give the Carolina Panthers a 44-38 win over the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday.
The Falcons’ playoff hopes had already ended minutes earlier when Tampa Bay rallied past New Orleans.
Rookie Michael Penix Jr. capped his late-season introduction as Atlanta’s starting quarterback with a strong game, passing for 312 yards and two touchdowns — both to Drake London, who had 10 catches for a career-high 187 yards. Bijan Robinson ran for 170 yards and two scores, but the impressive offensive performance wasn’t enough to extend the Falcons’ season.
The Falcons (8-9) and Panthers (5-12) each missed the playoffs for a seventh straight season.
COMMANDERS 23, COWBOYS 19
ARLINGTON, Texas — Marcus Mariota threw a 5-yard touchdown pass to Terry McLaurin with 3 seconds left, lifting Washington to a 23-19 victory over the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday and clinching the sixth seed in the NFC playoffs for the Commanders.
Mariota threw for two scores and ran for a TD after replacing Jayden Daniels. The Commanders (12-5) sat their dynamic rookie quarterback at halftime since playoff seeding was the only thing on the line, and the move ended up sparking an offense that produced just 64 yards before the break.
It turned out Washington didn’t need the rally to keep the sixth seed because Green Bay lost to Chicago on a late field goal.
The Commanders will visit either Tampa Bay or the Los Angeles Rams in the wild-card round next weekend. The Packers will visit NFC East champion Philadelphia, the No. 2 seed, in the wild-card round.
BEARS 24, PACKERS 22
GREEN BAY, Wis. — Caleb Williams drove Chicago to Cairo Santos’ 51-yard field goal as time expired and the Bears snapped a 10-game skid with a 24-22 victory over the playoff-bound Green Bay Packers, who lost quarterback Jordan Love and wide receiver Christian Watson to injuries on Sunday.
The Bears (5-12) beat the Packers for the first time since 2018 and ended an 11-game losing streak in this rivalry. It was redemption for Santos, who had a 46-yard field goal blocked by Karl Brooks on the final play of a 20-19 loss to the Packers on Nov. 17.
Brandon McManus had put Green Bay ahead by making a 55-yard field goal with 54 seconds left. Williams got the Bears into field-goal range by throwing an 18-yard completion to DJ Moore, whose fumble had set up the McManus kick.
Green Bay (11-6) is the No. 7 seed in the NFC playoffs and will play at Philadelphia in the wild-card round.
TEXANS 23, TITANS 14
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — C.J. Stroud completed all six of his passes for 50 yards and a touchdown Sunday on the Texans’ opening drive before going to the bench as Houston snapped a two-game skid going into the AFC playoffs with a 23-14 victory over the Tennessee Titans.
The Texans (10-7) also avoided being swept by the team they replaced in Houston. The Texans won for the first time since clinching their second straight AFC South title Dec. 15 with a win over Miami.
Now Houston waits to see if the Texans are hosting either the Los Angeles Chargers, who played at the Raiders later Sunday, or Pittsburgh in an AFC wild-card game.
With the loss combined with New England’s win over Buffalo, the Titans ‘ season of misery at least landed them the No. 1 pick overall in the NFL draft in April. Their 3-14 finish matches 2014 for the most losses in a season since relocating from Texas to Tennessee in 1997.
EAGLES 20, GIANTS 13
PHILADELPHIA — Tanner McKee threw for 269 yards and two touchdowns in a game full of backups to help the Philadelphia Eagles tune up for the post-season with a 20-13 victory over the New York Giants on Sunday.
The NFC East champion Eagles (14-3) are the No. 2 seed in the conference and will host Green Bay next weekend in a wild-card game.
With making a run at the Super Bowl a priority, the Eagles rested their core starters, notably running back Saquon Barkley, quarterback Jalen Hurts, wide receivers A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith and offensive linemen Landon Dickerson and Lane Johnson.
Barkley lost his shot at breaking Eric Dickerson’s NFL single-season rushing record. Barkley finished the season with 2,005 yards rushing, 101 yards shy of breaking Dickerson’s record of 2,105 yards set with the Los Angeles Rams in 1984.
COLTS 26, JAGUARS 23
INDIANAPOLIS — Jonathan Taylor ran for 177 yards, including 33 yards on six consecutive carries in overtime to set up Matt Gay’s game-ending 38-yard field goal, and the Indianapolis Colts beat the Jacksonville Jaguars 26-23 on Sunday.
Taylor closed the season by matching a career-best streak with four straight 100-yard games. He also rushed for a touchdown Sunday to reach six scores during that span.
Joe Flacco was 23 of 40 for 263 yards, including a 40-yard TD pass to Alec Pierce, in his 105th career victory — perhaps the last of the 39-year-old former Super Bowl MVP’s 17-year career.
Indy (8-9) won its final two home games to finish 5-3 at Lucas Oil Stadium, although the Colts missed the playoffs for the fourth consecutive year.
The Jags (4-13) lost three of their final four, eight of 10 and finished 1-8 on the road as they head into an offseason that may include changes at general manager and coach.
