NFL Playoff Scenarios 2017: Latest AFC, NFC Wild Card Picture and Vegas Odds

As we head into the final week of the 2017 regular season, we have a good idea of which teams are going to be in the postseason. While there are plenty of seeding issues that need to be sorted out, there is only one wild-card slot up for grabs between the two conferences.

What we don’t know is which teams have a realistic shot at winning the Super Bowl—and seeding could certainly play a role here.

Now, we’re going to examine the playoff landscape as it currently stands. We’ll also examine the latest Super Bowl odds—courtesy of OddsShark—and look at some storylines to follow over the final week of the season.

Week 17 Playoff Picture

Super Bowl Odds

Storylines to Watch

Battle at the Top of the AFC

The field for the AFC postseason has already been set. However, the seeding has not. The New England Patriots control the No. 1 seed, but they can drop out of that slot with a loss to the Miami Dolphins in Week 17.

If the Patriots do lose, the Oakland Raiders will have an opportunity to claim the No. 1 seed. However, they’ll have to beat the Denver Broncos and their vaunted defense—rated first by Pro Football Focus—with backup quarterback Matt McGloin in order to do so.

If the Raiders fall to Denver, they also risk falling out of the No. 2 slot in the AFC. The Kansas City Chiefs can claim that spot—and the AFC West title—with a win over the San Diego Chargers and a Raiders loss.

Kansas City has already beaten the Raiders twice, so they would leap ahead of Oakland in the standings if the two finish with identical records.

If the Chiefs lose, however, there’s a chance they could fall from the fifth seed to the sixth seed in the conference, as ESPN.com’s Jeff Darlington explained:

Because the Dolphins hold the tiebreaker over the Chiefs, if the Dolphins win next week and the Chiefs lose, Miami gets the five …

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