NFL Week 18: Playoff schedule is set, so plan accordingly

The 2023 NFL regular season is complete and it's on to the playoffs!

Here were some of the most important developments from Week 18:

• The playoff field and schedule for wild-card weekend is set after the events of the regular-season finales.
• The NFC has two juicy, narrative-filled wild-card matchups to look forward to. The Green Bay Packers and Dallas Cowboys will renew their historic playoff rivalry, while Matthew Stafford returns to Detroit when the Lions host the Los Angeles Rams.
• The Detroit Lions will host their first playoff game since the 1993 season.
• For the 19th time in the last 21 seasons, at least one team has won a division title the season after finishing in last place (or a share of last place). This year's team is the Houston Texans, who did so with a rookie head coach (DeMeco Ryans) and quarterback (C.J. Stroud). In an NFL playoff tradition unlike any other, the Saturday afternoon wild-card game will feature the Texans, who host the Cleveland Browns.
• The AFC North became the first division since the 1970 AFL-NFL merger to have all its teams finish above .500 after the Bengals defeated the Browns.
• How bad was the Jaguars' late-season collapse? They became just the sixth team in the last 25 seasons to start 8-3 or better and miss the playoffs.
• By owning top-five picks in the 2024 NFL draft, the Bears, Commanders, Patriots, Cardinals and Chargers will be mock draft relevant for the next four-plus months.

➤ PHOTOS: NFL cheerleaders, celebrities and fans

NFL Week 18 key storylines

• Winners and losers: The Eagles are in the playoffs, but nobody in Philadelphia should feel good about this team's postseason chances amid rampant issues.
• 32 things we learned: At least four new teams have reached the playoffs (compared to the previous year’s field) in every season since 1990 – when the Super Bowl tournament expanded to 12 teams.
• How scary will Bills be in playoffs? Over the course of a month, the Bills went from playoff afterthought to AFC East winners and holders of the conference's No. 2 playoff seed.
• Jaguars complete stunning late-season collapse: Talk about your "trap" games. Turns out that win-and-you're-in was too good to be true for the Jaguars, Jarrett Bell writes.
• Falcons fire coach Arthur Smith: Atlanta was embarrassed by New Orleans in its season finale, and the team followed that up with firing its head coach.
• 2024 NFL draft first-round order: The Commanders, Patriots, Cardinals and Chargers joined the Bears (via Panthers) in mock draft relevancy.

NFL Week 18 results

• Buffalo Bills 21, Miami Dolphins 14: Buffalo completed its second-half turnaround by winning this AFC East division title game.
• Kansas City Chiefs 13, Los Angeles Chargers 12: Even with Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce sitting out, the Chiefs still managed to continue their dominance over the Chargers.
• Los Angeles Rams 21, San Francisco 49ers 20: Puka Nacua set a rookie receiving record as the Rams earned a trip to Detroit for Super Wild Card Weekend.
• Seattle Seahawks 21, Arizona Cardinals 20: The Seahawks rallied to win, but it came after the Packers' victory had eliminated Seattle from playoff contention.
• New York Giants 27, Philadelphia Eagles 10: If it weren't for the Jaguars, the Eagles would be frontrunners for the season's biggest late collapse. Instead, Philly is in the postseason despite losing five of its last six games.
• Las Vegas Raiders 27, Denver Broncos 14: The Raiders earned an eighth straight win over their longtime nemesis, the Broncos.
• Dallas Cowboys 38, Washington Commanders 10: This win assured a home playoff game for the Cowboys, who have won 16 straight at AT&T Stadium.
• Green Bay Packers 17, Chicago Bears 9: Jordan Love did something his predecessors Aaron Rodgers and Brett Favre could not ... help lead the Packers to the playoffs in his first season as starting quarterback.
• Cincinnati Bengals 31, Cleveland Browns 14: This Bengals win meant that the the AFC North became the first division since the 1970 merger to have all its teams finish above .500.
• Tampa Bay Buccaneers 9, Carolina Panthers 0: The Buccaneers won the NFC South division title for the third consecutive season.
• New York Jets 17, New England Patriots 3: The Jets ended a 15-game losing streak against the Patriots in what may have been Bill Belichick's final game as New England's head coach.
• New Orleans Saints 48, Atlanta Falcons 17: The Saints seemed to run up the score on their division rival, which infuriated Falcons head coach Arthur Smith, who was fired late into the night.
• Detroit Lions 30, Minnesota Vikings 20: The Lions' decision to play their starters in a relatively meaningless game might have cost the team their breakthrough rookie tight end.
• Tennessee Titans 28, Jacksonville Jaguars 20: The Jaguars lost five of their last six games to complete one of the all-time late-season collapses and miss the playoffs.
• Houston Texans 23, Indianapolis Colts 19: The Jaguars' collapse earned the Texans the AFC South division title and a home playoff game against the Browns.
• Pittsburgh Steelers 17, Baltimore Ravens 10: The Jaguars' collapse, coupled with this win, vaulted the Steelers into the AFC playoff field.

➤ Complete 2023 NFL schedule and results

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