Thanksgiving, Black Friday impacting NFL playoff standings

Four games over two days with the top team in each conference on the docket.

The Detroit Lions and Kansas City Chiefs lead the NFC and AFC, respectively, and both are playing over the course of Thanksgiving and Black Friday. There are also ways the Lions, Chiefs, and Buffalo Bills can clinch a playoff spot this week, and the outcomes will play major roles there, too.

The Lions face the Chicago Bears early, then the Dallas Cowboys vs New York Giants will happen without playoff implications, before the Green Bay Packers host the Miami Dolphins.

Here are the standings as of right now:

AFC standings after Week 12

1. Kansas City Chiefs (10-1)
2. Buffalo Bills (9-2)
3. Pittsburgh Steelers (8-3)
4. Houston Texans (7-5)
5. Baltimore Ravens (8-4)
6. Los Angeles Chargers (7-4)
7. Denver Broncos (7-5)
8. Miami Dolphins (5-6)
9. Indianapolis Colts (5-7)
10. Cincinnati Bengals (4-7)
11. Cleveland Browns (3-8, 3-3 AFC)
12. New York Jets (3-8, 3-5 AFC, win over TEN)
13. Tennessee Titans (3-8, 3-4 AFC, loss to NYJ)
14. New England Patriots (3-9)*
15. Jacksonville Jaguars (2-9, 2-4 AFC)
16. Las Vegas Raiders (2-9, 2-7 AFC)*

NFC standings during Week 14

1. Detroit Lions (11-1)
2. Philadelphia Eagles (9-2)
3. Seattle Seahawks (6-5, win over ARI, win over ATL)
4. Atlanta Falcons (6-5. loss to SEA)
5. Minnesota Vikings (9-2)
6. Green Bay Packers (8-3)
7. Washington Commanders (7-5)
8. Arizona Cardinals (6-5, loss to SEA)
9. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (5-6, 5-3 NFC)
10. Los Angeles Rams (5-6, win over SF, 3-5 NFC)
11. San Francisco 49ers (5-6, loss to LAR)
12. New Orleans Saints (4-7, 3-4 NFC)
13. Dallas Cowboys (4-7, 2-5 NFC)
14. Chicago Bears (4-8)
15. Carolina Panthers (3-8)
16. New York Giants (2-9)*

Teams with an asterisk have been eliminated from their divisional races.

How the Kansas City Chiefs can clinch a playoff spot in Week 13

With 10 wins, the worst record KC could end up with is 10-7. The eighth-place Miami Dolphins have six losses, so they can finish 11-6 at best. The Chiefs need to get to 11 wins and have the Dolphins at seven losses in order to clinch a better overall record, so here are the outcomes Kansas City needs to clinch a playoff spot:

• Chiefs win AND Dolphins loss/tie

Kansas City has another path, as well. If they win on Sunday to get to 11 wins and the Denver Broncos lose to get to 6 losses, they could finish with the same 11-6 record and Kansas City would win the common games tiebreaker.

• Chiefs win and Broncos loss
• Chiefs win and Chargers loss and Broncos tie

How the Buffalo Bills can clinch the AFC East in Week 13

The Bills can clinch the AFC East in Week 13. Buffalo has nine wins to the Miami Dolphins’ five, but the Bills have the head-to-head tiebreaker over the Dolphins thanks to two wins. If Miami loses, the best they can finish is 10-7. The Bills win any tiebreaker at 10-7, so Buffalo getting to 10 wins by winning on Sunday gets them over the finish line to a home playoff game and their fifth straight AFC East title.

• Dolphins loss AND Bills win

The Detroit Lions playoff clinching scenarios in Week 13 are more extensive

With the Detroit Lions at 10-1, you might expect easy clinching scenarios like in the AFC, but that’s not the case. The second-place Minnesota Vikings are only one game behind the Lions in the NFC North, so they can’t win the division for a while.

In the Wild Card race, the Cardinals are 6-5 and three teams sit at 5-6. A disaster for the Lions could see them fall to 10-7, so they need multiple games to go their way to clear hurdles.

Lions win + 49ers tie or loss PLUS one of these:

• Cardinals loss/tie + Seahawks loss + Buccaneers loss or tie
• Cardinals loss + Seahawks tie + Buccaneers loss or tie
• Cardinals loss/tie + Seahawks loss + Commanders loss or tie + Falcons loss
• Cardinals loss/tie + Seahawks loss + Commanders loss + Falcons tie
• Cardinals loss + Seahawks tie + Commanders loss or tie + Falcons loss
• Cardinals loss + Seahawks tie + Commanders loss + Falcons tie

NFL Division Standings

AFC East standings

1. Buffalo Bills, 9-2
2. Miami Dolphins, 5-6
3. New York Jets, 3-8
4. New England Patriots*, 3-9

AFC North standings

1. Pittsburgh Steelers, 8-3
2. Baltimore Ravens, 8-4
3. Cincinnati Bengals, 4-7
4. Cleveland Browns, 3-8

AFC South standings

1. Houston Texans, 7-5
2. Indianapolis Colts, 5-7
3. Tennessee Titans, 3-8
4. Jacksonville Jaguars, 2-9

AFC West standings

1. Kansas City Chiefs, 10-1
2. Los Angeles Chargers, 7-4
3. Denver Broncos, 7-5
4. Las Vegas Raiders*, 2-9

NFC East standings

1. Philadelphia Eagles, 9-2
2. Washington Commanders, 7-5
3. Dallas Cowboys, 4-7
4. New York Giants*, 2-9

NFC North standings

1. Detroit Lions, 11-1
2. Minnesota Vikings, 9-2
3. Green Bay Packers, 8-3
4. Chicago Bears, 4-8

NFC South standings

1. Atlanta Falcons, 6-5
2. Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 5-6
3. New Orleans Saints, 4-7
4. Carolina Panthers, 3-8

NFC West standings

1. Seattle Seahawks, 6-5
2. Arizona Cardinals, 6-5
3. Los Angeles Rams, 5-6
4. San Francisco 49ers, 5-6