NFL Playoff Picture, Final Week: Can CJ Stroud & Houston Texans Clinch Berth?
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00:00 And now we've got ourselves a playoff picture heading into week 18, last week of the NFL season.
00:08 I'm Mike Fisher reporting on the NFL-NFC playoff picture first.
00:12 And of course the Cowboys are a centerpiece here.
00:14 The 49ers have clinched the number one overall seed.
00:17 The Cowboys are 11-5.
00:18 They've clinched a playoff berth, of course.
00:20 And they own the tiebreakers over the Lions, controversy,
00:24 and over the Eagles, who are flopping badly, having lost four of their last five.
00:30 The Lions have clinched the NFC North.
00:33 The Buccaneers are working to clinch the NFC South,
00:36 even though they have just an 8-8 record.
00:38 The Falcons, at 7-9, still clinging to the remote possibility that they might leapfrog everybody.
00:46 That makes the Eagles a wild card, likely in the number five spot.
00:50 They've clinched that playoff berth.
00:51 They're 11-5.
00:52 But there are issues.
00:53 The Rams, at 9-7, and this is one of the great turnarounds.
00:57 The Rams, after the Super Bowl win, they were prepared to have this be,
01:01 to use their term, a remodeling year.
01:03 And instead, here they are, right back in the playoffs, at 9-7, with a wild card.
01:08 The Packers are in play here, and the Packers could end up being the Cowboys'
01:12 first opponent in the postseason.
01:14 The Cowboys, if they get business done at Washington,
01:17 they need to win at Washington or have the Eagles lose against the Giants.
01:21 The Cowboys will lock in that number two slot.
01:24 That's very impressive.
01:25 You're the second best team in the NFC, if you're the Dallas Cowboys,
01:28 and you get that done.
01:29 And then you have home playoff games.
01:32 We were getting ready to book a flight to Tampa Bay a couple days ago.
01:35 Now the Cowboys will be at home if they get their business done here in the first round.
01:40 And they could, in theory, continue to be at home,
01:43 depending on how the other teams do in the playoffs.
01:45 Outside looking in, the Seahawks are still at 8-8 involved in a chase.
01:49 They need big help.
01:50 The commanders have been eliminated.
01:52 That is a 4-12 disaster.
01:55 I don't have to tell Washington fans how painful this has been,
01:59 trying to get this thing turned back around, and now they'll try it again,
02:03 almost certainly under a new regime, working for the new owner, Josh Harris.
02:08 And thank you, the Cowboys say to the Cardinals.
02:11 Yes, Arizona spanked Dallas earlier this year, and that was supposed to be a problem.
02:15 But now that Arizona has spanked the Eagles, all is even, all is fair.
02:19 In the AFC, the Baltimore Ravens are 13-3.
02:22 They clinch the AFC number one slot.
02:24 The Dolphins, they're in the playoffs at 11-5, and they'll win the AFC East,
02:29 but they've got to play the Bills, and Miami has injury issues.
02:34 The Chiefs are in.
02:35 The Jaguars, they own the head-to-head tiebreaker over the Colts and the Texans
02:39 in the AFC South.
02:40 Texans at 9-7, still in this thing, though.
02:43 The Browns are a wild card, locked in at number five.
02:46 The Bills, again, at 10-6, are right now the sixth seed.
02:50 But if they go to Miami and win, and Miami is limping,
02:53 then for the fourth straight year, the Bills win the AFC East.
02:58 The Colts have that showdown with the Texans, of course.
03:01 The Patriots, about as bad as it gets, trying to figure out now, maybe,
03:07 how do we divorce coach Bill Belichick and have it not look like an ugly divorce?
03:12 Cowboys clinch the NFC East with a win or an Eagles loss.
03:17 Cowboys play at Washington.
03:19 Dolphins, Bills winner, clinches the AFC East.
03:22 And the Texans, if they beat the Colts, they also clinch a playoff berth
03:27 and have a chance, depending on what the Jaguars do, of winning the division.
03:31 There's a quickie roundup.
03:32 Cowboys and Eagles and Dolphins and Bills and Seahawks and Falcons
03:37 and Texans and Patriots and Commanders.
03:40 I think we've got it all covered.
03:41 covered. Oh and the Ravens too. Fish out!