Dolphins and Seahawks occupy the last two playoff spots

The NFL regular season drew the curtain this past Sunday, and it did so with a exciting day of American football in which the picture of some playoffs that start this coming weekend was clarified. Of the 14 available playoff spots, 12 had already been awarded before this last week of competition, so on matchday 18 the last two available slots and the order of the seedings were decided. The cat in the water was taken by two teams that did not depend on themselves, the Miami Dolphins and the Seattle Seahawks, who took advantage of other people’s gifts to access the postseason.

The Bills honor Hamlin and Miami enters the playoffs

In the American Conference (AFC)the mystery of first place was resolved on Saturday. The Kansas City Chiefs defeated the Las Vegas Raiders (13-31) and certified to be the first seed, whose benefit is to skip the Wild Card round and always play at home. The same day, the Jacksonville Jaguars beat the Tennessee Titans (20-16) in an all-or-nothing duel for the AFC South: those from Florida took the division and entered the playoffs as fourth seeds, while those from Nashville were eliminated. the jaguars They are already waiting in Wild Card for the Los Angeles Chargers, a team that did not play anything in this final week and that was able to dose its starters in the defeat against the Denver Broncos (31-28). The rest of the AFC was decided on Sunday in a day of transistor, and that is that the decisive matches were played simultaneously.

Much of the limelight was taken by the Buffalo Bills, who reappeared less than a week later Damar Hamlin’s cardiac arrest. On a day packed with tributes to the defender from across the league, his team gave him a victory against the New England Patriots (35-23) that assured them second place in the AFC. Precisely the Bills did a favor to what will be their rivals in the Wild Card, the Miami Dolphins. The Patriots were reliant on themselves, and with a win they would occupy the seventh and final seed in the conference. It was not so, and from it some Dolphins who suffered took advantage to overcome the New York Jets (11-6). Another side effect of this combination is that the Pittsburgh Steelers, who came with options to the last day and did their homework by beating the Cleveland Browns (28-14), were also eliminated.

The third game of the playoffs in the American Conference will be the one that against the Cincinnati Bengals and Baltimore Ravens, two franchises that, curiously, met yesterday with victory for the former (27-16). The stakes were high in this tense matchup, with whoever won taking over the AFC North division. The Bengals, who have won eight straight to close the season, took advantage of the attacking weakness of the Ravens without Lamar Jackson. Cincinnati, which had expected a Buffalo loss to move up, had to settle for the third seed. of the AFC, while Baltimore fell to sixth place.

Seahawks take advantage of Lions gift

The battle in the National Conference (NFC) I was focused on the first position and the last one. The Philadelphia Eagles, thanks to a less than brilliant victory against a New York Giants full of substitutes (22-16), clinched the NFC East and be the first seed in the playoffs, thus having a week off. The Giants, already classified in sixth place, were not playing anything and their mind was set on the Wild Card game against the Minnesota Vikings. Those from Minneapolis, third, beat the Chicago Bears (13-29) who won first place in the next Draft thanks to the victory of the Houston Texans over the Indianapolis Colts (31-32).

Those who threatened the divisional title of the Eagles were the Dallas Cowboys, although they were unable to beat the Washington Commanders (26-6) and settled for the fifth seed in the NFC. His rival this weekend will be the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, rooms, a team that did not play anything this past Sunday. For this reason, the presence of their starters in the defeat against the Atlanta Falcons (30-17) was testimonial, although Tom Brady had time to break one more record: he became the quarterback with the most passes completed in the same season. (490). Those who finished in style were the San Francisco 49ers, who got their tenth straight win by sweeping the Arizona Cardinals (38-13) in the farewell to JJ Watt, a defender soon to be in the Hall of Fame. They missed out on the top spot in the NFC, but they enter the playoffs as one of the fittest teams in the league and seeded second.

The great excitement on Sunday was brought by the fight for the seventh place in the NFC, which would entitle them to face the 49ers in the Wild Card. There were three teams in the fight: Seattle Seahawks, Detroit Lions and Green Bay Packerswith the last two facing each other in full prime-time and being those of Wisconsin who depended on themselves. The Seahawks did their homework first by winning, not without tons of drama and suffering, the Los Angeles Rams (19-16) in overtime. This win eliminated the Lions without ever playing and theoretically paved the way for a must-win Packers. Nevertheless, Those from Detroit were not intimidated at Lambeau Field, and with a daring game they embittered the night of Aaron Rodgers and his Packers (16-20). The capricious fate meant that the beneficiaries of this result were the Seahawks, guilty hours before the elimination of Detroit. Thus ended an exciting final day of the regular season, although the NFL usually saves the best for last. The countdown to the playoffs is already on.