By Tiffany Williams –
The NFL didn’t wait for Week 18 to separate the bullies from the pretenders. It’s already happening.
Denver and the Rams punched their playoff tickets first, and now they’re dragging the rest of the league into a Week 16 pressure cooker. The Broncos are 12-2, riding an 11-game winning streak, hosting Jacksonville. The Rams are 11-3, rolling into Seattle on Thursday night with the NFC West hanging in the balance. These aren’t “interesting matchups.” These are litmus tests.
Everywhere you look, divisions are tightening, streaks are cracking, and reputations are on the line.
In the AFC East, New England and Buffalo are in a full-blown knife fight. The Patriots are 11-3, the Bills are right behind at 10-4, and Buffalo just erased a 21-point deficit to punch New England in the mouth last week. Now the Patriots head to Baltimore on Sunday night knowing one win or tie sends them back to the playoffs for the first time since 2021. Buffalo? They just keep stacking wins like it’s a habit, chasing their seventh straight playoff berth.
The AFC North is the usual steel-cage brawl. Pittsburgh leads Baltimore by one game, and Mike Tomlin is sitting on 199 career wins. One more and he joins the 200-win club while staring down NFL history with his streak of non-losing seasons. The Steelers and Ravens still have Week 18 looming, so nobody’s blinking yet.
Down south, Jacksonville is suddenly dangerous. Five straight wins, first place in the AFC South, and Trevor Lawrence coming off a video-game stat line that has never existed before. The Jaguars walk into Denver on a collision course with the hottest team in football. Houston is lurking, too, winners of six straight, still refusing to die after an 0-3 start. Indianapolis? Still alive, but the margin for error is gone.
Out west, Denver owns the AFC West, but the Chargers aren’t fading quietly. Ten wins in back-to-back seasons for the first time since the mid-2000s, and they’re hunting another playoff trip. The Broncos, meanwhile, are chasing their first 13-win season since Peyton Manning was still running the show.
The NFC is just as messy.
The NFC East continues its annual tradition of chaos. No repeat champion in two decades, and Philadelphia is trying to break the curse. One win in Washington puts the Eagles on the doorstep of history. Dallas is hanging around, but barely breathing.
In the NFC North, Chicago has a real shot to end years of irrelevance. The Bears lead the division, host Green Bay on Saturday night, and can lock up their first division title since 2018. The Packers want it back. Detroit is still alive. Nobody’s safe.
The NFC South looks like a coin flip. Carolina and Tampa Bay are tied at 7-7 and see each other twice in three weeks. Tampa wants five straight division titles. Carolina wants relevance.
Then there’s the NFC West, the league’s heavyweight division. The Rams, Seahawks, and 49ers are all in playoff spots. The Rams-Seahawks Thursday night matchup feels like a playoff game in December. Seattle hasn’t won the division since 2020. San Francisco is still lurking. Someone’s getting burned.
And hovering over all of it are the milestones. Tomlin chasing 200. Sean McVay hunting win No. 100 before he turns 40. Sean Payton flirting with history in Denver. Myles Garrett stalking the single-season sack record. Josh Allen racing toward 300 career touchdowns. Stafford, Goff, Burrow, Bo Nix all stacking numbers that demand attention.
This is the week where resumes get stamped and excuses get shredded. Week 16 doesn’t care about projections, narratives, or preseason hype. It exposes you.
Win now, or start explaining yourself.
Sports Insider Daily 