Playoff spots on the line in final week of regular season

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The NFL is resuming, little than a week aft Hamlin collapsed and was rushed to the infirmary during the Bills vs. Bengals game.

CNN —

The NFL household has waited connected tenterhooks this past week connected the wellness of Damar Hamlin arsenic helium continues to retrieve successful hospital, but this play the amusement goes connected and the last crippled week of the regular play inactive holds plentifulness of thrilling football.

Hamlin collapsed during the archetypal 4th of the Bills crippled astatine Cincinnati connected Monday, a contention that was postponed, past canceled by the NFL connected Thursday night.

The canceled crippled leaves the Bills (12-3) – a triumph down the Chiefs (13-3) successful the hunt for the No. 1 effect and a bye successful the adjacent round.

The Bills volition person to play their crippled against the Patriots (8-8) Sunday knowing that with a triumph and a Chiefs nonaccomplishment they could inactive clinch that apical spot successful the AFC acknowledgment to a higher triumph percentage.

Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow says helium “probably wants to play” his team’s adjacent crippled but besides understands that others don’t successful the aftermath of Hamlin’s illness connected Monday.

“I’m definite if you polled the locker country determination would beryllium mixed votes connected that,” helium told reporters. “Personally, I deliberation playing is going to beryllium tough, but there’s radical that privation to play, too, and there’s radical that don’t.

“Personally, I astir apt privation to play. I deliberation getting backmost to arsenic mean arsenic you tin arsenic accelerated arsenic you tin is personally however I benignant of woody with these kinds of things. But similar I said, everyone has a antithetic mode of dealing with it.”

The Bengals person nary accidental of topping the AFC. At best, they could bargain the Bills’ 2nd spot if they bushed the Ravens and the Bills lost.

The flip broadside is that adjacent if the Ravens bushed the Bengals, acknowledgment to a higher triumph percent the Bengals volition stay apical of the AFC North.

The Ravens person looked toothless these past fewer weeks successful the lack of backmost Lamar Jackson, but with an imperious defence and the Bengals perchance struggling to flooded the daze of Monday, determination is an accidental for the Ravens to determination into the playoffs with immoderate momentum

The crippled gets underway astatine 6:00 p.m. ET connected Sunday.

Joe Burrow volition instrumentality to enactment aft featuring successful the crippled wherever Hamlin collapsed.

For Tennessee and Jacksonville, the playoffs person travel early.

The victor takes a playoff spot and apical spot successful the AFC South, meantime the loser comes distant with perfectly nothing.

And it’s not looking large for the Titans, who mislaid a sixth crippled connected the spell erstwhile they were beaten 27-13 astatine location by the Cowboys.

Things person been made worse by their concern astatine quarterback. Starter Ryan Tannehill is retired injured. His replacement Malick Willis threw lone 99 yards and was turned implicit doubly against Houston, earlier helium was replaced successful their past crippled by Josh Dobbs.

The 2017 draught prime has lone played 7 vocation NFL games and started a crippled for the archetypal clip against the Cowboys.

The teams played against each different conscionable 4 weeks ago, with the Jaguars coming retired 36-22 connected apical connected Tennessee soil. Quarterback Trevor Lawrence was connected fire, throwing 368 yards and 3 touchdowns.

Tune successful astatine 8:15 p.m. ET connected Saturday.

Another crippled with everything to play for arsenic the Packers, Lions and Seahawks each person an identical 8-8 grounds going into the last game.

Because of erstwhile results against each other, if the Packers win, they are done to the playoffs; if the Lions win, they volition request a down-and-out Rams squad to bash them a favour and halt the Seahawks winning connected location soil.

This is besides a crippled of 2 teams that person recovered from unspeakable starts (Packers were 3-6 and the Lions were 1-6) to decorativeness the regular play successful apical form.

The Packers person built their occurrence connected 1 of the meanest defenses successful the NFL. They person won their past 4 games connected the rotation without conceding much than 20 points successful immoderate of them.

Against the Packers is simply a Lions squad scoring for fun. Detroit enactment 41 past Chicago past week with Jared Goff hitting apical form, throwing 255 yards, 3 touchdowns and zero interceptions.

The Packers volition beryllium praying for a Seahawks triumph arsenic this is the last crippled connected Sunday, meaning that the Lions could already beryllium knocked retired erstwhile they footwear disconnected successful Wisconsin.

But if the Rams propulsion disconnected an upset, this crippled could person everything riding connected it for some teams.

Tune successful astatine 8:20 p.m. ET connected Sunday.

The Lions bushed the Packers 15-9 the past clip the 2 met this season.

A fewer weeks agone the Philadelphia Eagles looked unstoppable. They had lone mislaid 1 game, had the champion grounds successful the NFL and practically sown up apical spot successful the NFC.

Fast guardant to this play and the Eagles could perchance extremity the play successful the five-seed aft losing their past 2 games.

The Cowboys are lone 1 crippled down the Eagles successful the NFC East aft beating them 2 weeks agone and could leapfrog them successful the playoff table.

Their destiny is inactive successful their hands however, but Philadelphia volition beryllium hoping that the Giants bash them a favour by resting their starters.

The Giants clinched an improbable playoff spot past week erstwhile they bushed the Colts but, careless of results, volition travel successful six-seed and truthful look the property aged question of whether to play oregon remainder their champion players.

That bye is peculiarly important to an Eagles squad who are hopeless to springiness a afloat remainder to prima backmost Jalen Hurts, who has been sensational for the Eagles but missed the 2 caller losses due to the fact that of a enarthrosis injury.

With the Cowboys facing comparatively casual crippled against the Commanders, each eyes volition beryllium connected the Eagles to spot if they tin crook astir their mini-slump to extremity the play connected a high, oregon suffer each the momentum they person built up this season.

The crippled gets underway astatine 6:00 p.m. ET connected Sunday.