While some teams have already clinched playoff spots and division titles before a lick of Christmas weekend football was even played, the postseason picture became even clearer after the cookies were put out, presents unwrapped, and turkey coma induced. While we’re having leftovers tonight, another piece of the playoff puzzle could be matched, but before we get there, let’s clean up the family dinner football feast from this holiday weekend.
Christmas Clincher
No Lamar Jackson, no problem. Well, let’s not go that far, as the Baltimore Ravens will surely need their star quarterback to make good on the playoff spot they just clinched. Despite having Tyler Huntley and not Jackson under center, Baltimore was able to get by the Atlanta Falcons and punch their ticket to the postseason.
The Ravens are still in play for the division title but will have to do so from the underdog spot, sitting at +200 on FanDuel Sportsbook. The Cincinnati Bengals hold higher ground at -250 to grab the AFC North crown.
Ghosts of Playoffs Past Resurrected
Things could not have gone better for the Green Bay Packers this weekend. While it looked like Aaron Rodgers’s squad was dead and buried after losing five straight, a second-half comeback at Miami over the Dolphins on Christmas Day helped breathe life into the Pack.
Everyone that Green Bay needed to lose this weekend lost, as the New York Giants, Washington Commanders, Seattle Seahawks, and Detroit Lions fell. Green Bay is in if the Packers run the table and Washington loses once. The Packers host the Vikings and Lions to close out the season and sit at +184 to make the playoffs and -230 to head home early.
While the Jacksonville Jaguars don’t have the postseason resume the Packers have, they are another team back from the dead. Jacksonville also dropped five straight midseason, but the Jags sit atop the AFC South thanks to a three-game win streak coupled with a Tennessee Titans collapse.
The division will come down to Week 18 when Jacksonville hosts the Titans for a winner take all clash. Tennessee has fallen to underdog status after dropping five straight and sits with +200 odds to win the division, while Jacksonville is at -250.
Clinch of Christmas Future
The last team that can make their post-Christmas weekend merrier is the Los Angeles Chargers. LA controls its own destiny, as it is a win-and-your-in situation in Indianapolis tonight. The Chargers may very well be -3.5-point favorites and -198 on the moneyline against the Colts tonight, but they own slim chances to come out of the AFC. Los Angeles sits with the fifth-longest odds at +1500 to win the conference.
All odds courtesy of FanDuel Sportsbook
