Sunday, January 4, 2026

And Sunday of Week 18...

  • The Packers were taking no chances.  Third quarterback Clayton Tune did the honors today, and the Packers fell 13-3 to Minnesota, but, even with four losses in a row, they're in the playoffs as the 7.
  • Jacksonville now gets to wait for Denver and New England.  They routed Tennessee 41-7.
  • Houston holds it's position in the wild-card chase with a 38-30 win over Indianapolis.
  • And Carolina is back in the playoffs at 8-9, winning the three-way tiebreaker after Atlanta joined it with a 19-17 win over New Orleans, a Saints turnover with about three minutes left dooming Tampa Bay. 

And now at halftime... 

  • Detroit is leading Chicago 13-0.
  • Washington is leading Philadelphia 10-7 -- both on the road.  Scores hold, it'll be as if Chicago had won -- Chicago the 2, Philly the 3, Chicago faces the Packers.   
  • Rams are up 16-6 on the Cardinals. Rams get the #5 if they win, the #6 to San Francisco's #5 if they lose.   
  • Denver is up 10-3 on the Chargers.  Denver gets the #1 if they win.   
  • New England is 17-10 up on Miami.
  • Buffalo is 21-0 up on the Jets.  Scores hold, it's Houston, then Buffalo, then the Chargers for the three AFC wildcards.

And here are the results...  Yeah, it's a liveblog no one will read, but...

  • Chicago loses to Detroit, 19-16, on a last-minute field goal.  After, in rapid succession, going from 16-0 down 16-16 in the fourth quarter.
  • Rams win 37-20.  They're the #5, San Francisco the #6 -- The Rams go to Carolina next week.  
  • New England destroys Miami.
  • Buffalo destroys the Jets.
  • But I think we have a live one here in Philadelphia.  So you either get to face a badly-undermanned Green Bay team, or you face (The Rams, at the beginning of the day, or) San Francisco.
  • So you start Tanner McKee as your quarterback at home against the Commanders, and you lose 24-17.
  • That means Philadelphia gets San Francisco and the Bears get Green Bay -- two wildly superior matchups to the NFL than if you invert the wildcard teams.
  • And Denver basically neuters San Diego. 

So:

Denver and Seattle are the #1s.

NFC:

Green Bay at Chicago

San Francisco at Philadelphia

LA Rams at Carolina

AFC:

LA Chargers at New England

Buffalo at Jacksonville

Houston at the Pittsburgh/Baltimore winner tonight 

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