Week 14 begins tonight with Cleveland at Pittsburgh. The Steelers are in the thick of the AFC playoff picture as one of four teams tied with a 9-3 record. Then there's five other teams tied at 7-5. This is an excellent opportunity to brush up on the NFL tiebreakers.
The winner in this mess could very well be the Ravens. Baltimore ends the season with a soft patch of Indianapolis, San Diego, Cleveland and Cincinnati. The Ravens would win the common opponents tiebreaker over New England (assuming both teams win this weekend) and the head-to-head tiebreaker over Houston. In a three-way tie it would come down to strength of victory where Baltimore holds a huge lead thanks to wins over the 49ers, Jets, Texans and the Steelers twice.
Of course the NFC is not as hairy. The Packers need a win or a Saints loss (or the less likely Packers tie and Saints tie or lose) this weekend to clinch a first round bye. From there the Packers can zero in on homefield advantage throughout with a two game lead on San Francisco with three to play.
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