2024 NFL playoff race: What to watch in Week 18 as Detroit Lions and Minnesota Vikings battle for top spot

The final week of the 2024 NFL regular season is here, when division titles will be won and playoff seedings will be determined in the final stretch toward Super Bowl LIX in New Orleans. Here's what to watch in Week 18…

NFC No. 1 seed

While the Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs finished as the top seed in the AFC, the NFC race will continue until the final day of the regular season.

The Minnesota Vikings kept their first-round playoff hopes alive on Sunday, withstanding a late attack from the Green Bay Packers to pull out a 27-25 win and move to 14-2, staying in the hunt along with the Detroit Lions as they continue their incredible season behind their quarterback. Sam Darnold and Coach of the Year candidate Kevin O'Connell.

It leaves Week 18 in a perfect position as the Vikings and Lions square off again knowing the winner will secure the No. 1 seed while others head to a Wild Card game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers or Atlanta Falcons.

Detroit prevailed in a thrilling matchup between the NFC North rivals earlier this season as Jared Goff threw for 280 yards and two touchdowns along with two rushing scores from Jahmyr Gibbs to neutralize Brian Flores' top-heavy defense en route to a 31-29 victory.

Goff's career resurgence is old news now as he leads the league's most prolific and innovative offense as part of a Detroit team that is among the Super Bowl favorites after years of hurt. He threw for 4,095 yards and 33 touchdowns to just 10 interceptions while surrounded by a group of explosive young talent in 1,000-yard big men Gibbs and Amon-Ra St. Brown and a supporting cast of Jameson Williams and Sam LaPorta.

Meanwhile, Darnold refuses to fade as one of the stories of the season, riding a Geno Smith revival while throwing for 4,153 yards, 35 touchdowns and 12 picks to lead Minnesota to the playoffs after earning a starting spot via JJ McCarthy's offseason injury. . The Vikings' run to the postseason was a stretch when Kirk Cousins left. To secure the No. 1 seed would have been unthinkable.

Do Rodgers and Wentz have the final say?

Some familiar faces could still play a role in making or breaking the season for three teams, as the Denver Broncos, Miami Dolphins and Cincinnati Bengals compete for the final spot in the AFC.

The Denver Broncos remain in first place to secure a playoff spot at 9-7 and as the current occupant of the seventh seed, knowing they will advance if they beat the Chiefs. Kansas City, which has nothing to play for, is expected to rest its key players in January, which could mean Carson Wentz has the final say in playoff proceedings as the backup quarterback to Patrick Mahomes.

Miami is 8-8 and will advance if they can beat Aaron Rodgers' New York Jets and the Broncos lose to the Chiefs, while the Bengals, also 8-8, will advance with a win over the Pittsburgh Steelers on Saturday night and defeats to both the Broncos and Dolphins. If all three teams lose, Denver will be the one to secure last place.

Somehow, even amid a torrid season with the Jets, Rodgers still has a role to play in how the NFL playoff picture shapes up as he resumes his quest for the 500th touchdown pass of his career. It's a funny time in the world when the Dolphins and Bengals are relying on former Philadelphia Eagles big man Wentz.

Who will win the NFC South?

There are only three division titles left up for grabs before the final weekend of the regular season: the Vikings and Lions are scheduled to compete for the NFC North, the Baltimore Ravens and Steelers are scheduled to compete for the AFC North, and Tampa Bay is scheduled to compete. The Buccaneers and Atlanta Falcons are fighting for NFC South honors.

Oddly enough in the AFC North, the Ravens might not mind settling for second place since it would leave them in a position to face an unconvincing Houston Texans team they just beat on Christmas Day. Meanwhile, waiting for the loser of the final day's matchup between the Vikings and Lions will be the NFC South champions.

Tampa Bay currently sits in first place with a 9-7 record after defeating the Carolina Panthers 48-14 on Sunday before seeing the Falcons fall behind in a 30-24 overtime defeat to the Washington Commanders that leaves Raheem Morris' team 8-8. The Falcons wrap up their campaign at home against Bryce Young's Panthers, while the Bucs welcome Darren Rizzi's New Orleans Saints, in a three-game skid, to Raymond James Stadium.

The Bucs will be division champions if they beat the Saints, but a Tampa defeat and an Atlanta win would see the Falcons clinch the title after beating Todd Bulls' team twice this season to dominate the head-to-head matchups.

Who wins the NFL MVP award?

The hotly contested MVP race in the NFL will continue into the final weekend of the regular season, with Josh Allen and Lamar Jackson appearing to be the front-runners with some potential competition from Joe Burrow and Saquon Barkley.

Allen is unlikely to be involved when the Buffalo Bills face the New England Patriots after already helping Sean McDermott's team secure the No. 2 seed in the AFC, leaving Mitchell Trubisky ready to start in his place. He recently became the first player in NFL history to record five consecutive 40-touchdown campaigns after scoring 18 total touchdowns on just one turnover across five games in December.

Jackson could punctuate his final case for a third MVP award when the Baltimore Ravens take on the Cleveland Browns on Saturday night in hopes of wresting the AFC North title from Pittsburgh. He entered the final week having thrown for 3,955 yards and 39 touchdowns to just four interceptions, as well as rushing for 852 yards and four touchdowns having just broken Michael Vick's record for most rushing yards by a quarterback in NFL history.

Meanwhile, Burrow inserted himself into the conversation by way of an exceptional individual season to keep Cincinnati's slim playoff aspirations alive with a four-game winning streak that moved them to 8-8 heading into the final. The former No. 1 overall pick completed a league-high 423 passes for 4,641 yards and 42 touchdowns to eight interceptions, earning the league's best quarterback rating in the process. Can he save a campaign that seemed dead in the water?

Who grabs the No. 1 draft pick?

The Giants face the prospect of not only watching Barkley break his record against them, but also losing the No. 1 pick in the draft. Brian Daboll's team held first place heading into Week 17 before finally deciding to attack as they dashed the Indianapolis Colts' playoff hopes with a 45-33 win, improving to 3-13 but falling to fourth place as a result. .

The New England Patriots currently sit in first place and will face the Bills in Week 18 after falling to 3-13 following their 40-7 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers, followed by the Tennessee Titans (3-13) in second place. Brian Callahan's team is set to face the Houston Texans and Cleveland Browns for third place before their showdown with the Ravens.

Colorado's Shedor Sanders and Miami's Cam Ward are both expected to be the top quarterbacks in the draft, while Heisman Trophy winner Travis Hunter is also expected to be among the first players off the board.

Will I be chasing history… or not?

It looked as if Saquon Barkley would have a shot at history on final day after he left himself within reach of Eric Dickerson's all-time NFL single-season rushing yards record. Barkley rushed for 167 yards to help the Philadelphia Eagles clinch the NFC East title with a win over the Dallas Cowboys in Week 17, making him the ninth player in NFL history to surpass 2,000 rushing yards in a single season.

In doing so he left himself needing just 101 against the New York Giants in the last game to surpass Dickerson's record of 2,105, which he has held since 1984. However, Eagles coach Nick Sirianni admitted this week that Barkley was likely to be among the players. Rookies who are rested in light of the playoffs.

“It is a very special record that has stood for a long time by a great player,” Sirianni said. “It's a team record that everyone is involved in, so you have to weigh all those things.

“But at the end of the day, you just have to try to do what's best for the team. Again, when it was the bye, how guys are feeling, the bumps and bruises that we can take care of. We've put ourselves in a position to be able to be in that position and our goals are It's about being successful and playing well in the next game we play, not just in New York, but with whatever team we play next.

“It's not easy. It wasn't the easiest decision, but we have great people in this building and we have a lot of input from a lot of different people, including the players.”

When do the qualifiers start?

Wildcard Weekend will take place from Saturday, January 11 to Monday, January 13 before the playoffs enter the divisional round on Saturday, January 18 and Sunday, January 19, at which point the No. 1 seeds will join the action after the bye.

It will then move on to the AFC and NFC Championship games on Sunday, January 26, before Super Bowl LIX takes place at Caesars Superdome in New Orleans on February 9.

Who would they meet in the playoffs if the season ended today?

Wild Card Weekend:

Asian Federation
Denver Broncos (No. 7) @ Buffalo Bills (No. 2)
Los Angeles Chargers (No. 6) @ Baltimore Ravens (No. 3)
Pittsburgh Steelers (No. 5) @ houston texas (No. 4)

NFC
Green Bay Packers (No. 7) @ Philadelphia Eagles (No. 2)
Washington leaders (No. 6) @ Los Angeles Rams (No. 3)
Minnesota Vikings (No. 5) @ Tampa Bay Buccaneers (No. 4)