With 3 weeks left in the 2024 routine season, the NFL playoff image is uncommonly settled. 7 groups have actually clinched postseason berths– 3 in the NFC and 4 in the AFC– leaving 7 areas up for grabs.
Which groups will fill those areas? Based upon 10,000 simulations utilizing ESPN's Football Power Index (FPI) to mimic the surface to the season, there were 4,393 distinct mixes of playoff groups and seeds. The focus listed below, nevertheless, is on one particular situation: chalk.
The ESPN FPI design produced the accurate set of groups and seeds probably to happen. This circumstance isn't all that likely as the precise seeds for the 14 groups listed below took place in 73 simulations. That's less than 1% however is most likely than any other mix. Separately, the AFC seeds listed below have an 11% possibility to take place, and the NFC seeds have a 6% possibility.
From the set of simulations that yielded the chalk playoff field, I selected one at random to demonstrate how everything played out– in the routine season and beyond. When I did this workout a year back, the simulation properly recognized the individuals and result for both championship game video games and the Super Bowl.
Can this situation match that? Invite to simulation No. 812. This is how the remainder of the 2024 NFL season might unfold:
Dive to:
Ratings forecasts by week: 16|17|18
Last standings: AFC|NFC
The playoffs: Who will win Super Bowl LIX?
Projected Week 16 ratings
DEN-LAC: Chargers 22, Broncos 20
HOU-KC: Chiefs 28, Texans 24
PIT-BAL: Steelers 30, Ravens 24
NYG-ATL: Falcons 33, Giants 30
NE-BUF: Bills 19, Patriots 8
DET-CHI: Lions 28, Bears 22
CLE-CIN: Browns 33, Bengals 30
TEN-IND: Colts 24, Titans 9
LAR-NYJ: Jets 16, Rams 13
PHI-WSH: Commanders 20, Eagles 17
ARI-CAR: Panthers 17, Cardinals 16
MIN-SEA: Seahawks 30, Vikings 20
JAX-LV: Jaguars 24, Raiders 16
SF-MIA: 49ers 24, Dolphins 14
TB-DAL: Buccaneers 21, Cowboys 14
NO-GB: Packers 27, Saints 24
What took place: The most essential lead to Week 16 was available in the AFC North competition video game in between the Steelers and Ravens. Fresh off a loss to the Eagles, Pittsburgh left the mat and removed Baltimore. Steelers quarterback Russell Wilson when again produced dynamite plays downfield, securing the AFC North for Pittsburgh and relegating the Ravens to a wild-card berth.
In a fight in between most likely AFC wild-card groups, the Chargers directly topped the Broncos, providing Los Angeles the head-to-head tiebreaker over Denver. That might show essential in preventing the Bills (or Chiefs) in the playoffs.
Somewhere else, the Commanders made complex the Eagles' mission for the NFC's No.
