NFL Playoff Scenarios 2017: Week 17 Picture and Latest Bracket Predictions

All 32 NFL teams are in action on a jam-packed Sunday of football, but only a handful of those teams are playing in games that will have any bearing on the upcoming playoffs.Only two teams outside the current playoff picture can force their way into the postseason, but among the teams already guaranteed to play beyond Week 17, there is still plenty of opportunity to reshape the landscape. Here’s how the playoff bracket stacks up heading into the final week of the regular season.

The AFC is relatively straightforward, with all six teams listed above guaranteed playoff berths. The NFC has a bit more intrigue. The Washington Redskins and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are both on the outside looking in but are not yet eliminated from contention.The Buccaneers need a win over the Carolina Panthers in Week 17 and a miracle string of results in order to make the postseason. According to ESPN.com, the Bucs will make the playoffs if they beat the Panthers, the Redskins tie with the New York Giants, the Green Bay Packers lose to the Detroit Lions and four other teams—Dallas Cowboys, Indianapolis Colts, San Francisco 49ers and Tennessee Titans—all win in Week 17.So let’s get this first projection out of the way: The Buccaneers are not going to make the playoffs. There’s still a chance, but it’s an infinitesimal one. Washington, by contrast, has a fair shot at the postseason. The Giants are locked into the No. 5 seed in the NFC, which gives head coach Ben McAdoo the luxury of resting key players knowing their play won’t have any impact on their playoff standing.

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He’ll have to choose between keeping his key players in rhythm—they are after all guaranteed to play next week in the NFC Wild-Card round—or protecting them from suffering an injury in a game without any material implications.With everything to play for, Washington would seem a good bet to come out firing and take the game to the Giants. They already have the confidence of a 29-27 win over the G-Men in Week 3, and though Kirk Cousins has been inconsistent over the past few weeks, he’s one of the few quarterbacks to find success against New York this season. Cousins threw for 296 yards and two scores without a pick in Week 3 against New York. 

It’s the biggest game of the season for Washington and a chance for Cousins to put on a show. However, Bleacher Report’s Mike Tanier noted Cousins hasn’t been at his best in some of Washington’s toughest contests this season:

But then there are those “big games.” Cousins delivered a shaky performance on Monday night against the Panthers in Week 15, when a win would have solidified Washington’s playoff chances. He was worse against the Cardinals in Week 13, often looking jittery against that dangerous defense. The Redskins came up short against the Cowboys on Thanksgiving Day, and the stage looked a little too big for Cousins in the Monday night season opener against the Steelers.There was also the London game. There’s something …

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