[HPF Bob]

Congratulations to the Texans for winning the AFC South again and taking their familiar spot as the 4th seed. They are almost guaranteed to be hosting the Buffalo Bills in the first round of the playoffs.

Tennessee, meanwhile, lost and became the front-runner for the final wild card berth. How did that happen? Well, Pittsburgh did have an edge in conference record over the Titans but Pittsburgh's loss to a conference opponent while Tennessee lost to an NFC opponent means they are now tied. The tiebreaker goes all the way down to strength of schedule where playing the Bengals twice drags down the Steelers' SOS giving the final spot to the Titans.

Oakland, meanwhile needed four games to break their way just to still have an outside chance of making the playoffs and all four happened! Next week, they will need at least three games to break for them and if these happen too, the Raiders ought to head for Las Vegas. Oh, wait. They are.

Heading into the final week (opponent in parentheses):

Baltimore 13-2 (vs PIT)
New England 12-3 (vs MIA)
Kansas City 11-4 (vs LAC)
Houston 10-5 (vs TEN)
Buffalo 10-5 (vs NYJ)
Tennessee 8-7 (@ HOU)
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Pittsburgh 8-7 (@ BAL)
Oakland 7-8 (@ DEN)

Congrats, also, to the Bengals who won the Joe Burrow sweepstakes.