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There's good news, and there's bad news for the Minnesota Vikings. The good news? They won the NFC North in improbable fashion by going on the road and upsetting Green Bay in Week 17.The bad news? Their reward is a home game against the one team in the league that no one wanted to see at this juncture, the Seattle Seahawks.... 

You like that? The Washington Redskins are the most improbable of all of the playoffs teams in the 2016 field, but the emergence of Kirk Cousins has put them into a position where they're basically a coin flip to beat the Green Bay Packers, who were once assumed to be the cream of the crop in the NFC.... 

This is what the top two teams in each conference play for, the right to host a divisional round game while the others battle in the wild card round. The Denver Broncos and New England Patriots will host the AFC games while the Arizona Cardinals and Carolina Panthers will entertain their NFC opponents.... 

There isn't a team which made the playoffs in the AFC that was happy when the Jets lost on Sunday.No one wanted the Pittsburgh Steelers in the playoffs, not the least of which are the Cincinnati Bengals, who will have a tough road to sow if they're going to exorcize their postseason demons on Saturday.... 

Seven games into the 2015 season, the Kansas City Chiefs and Houston Texans were both 2-5. In fact, the Chiefs were 1-5, and their only win to that point had come against these same Texans right here at NRG Stadium. Both teams went on improbable charges full of upsets at home and away against teams which were always perceived to be better, and now, the two will fight for a spot in the last eight standing to kick off the 2016 playoffs.... 

The 2016 postseason kicks off on Saturday, as eight teams look to take the first of four necessary steps to win the Super Bowl.It's tough for teams to come out of the opening round to ultimately win it all, but we've seen it happen before, and you never know who the next team will be to go on a magical run through the postseason.... 

The last game of the 2015 regular season is a beauty with the NFC North title at stake in a winner-take-all matchup in primetime. The Packers are the kings of the division and until another team knocks them from that perch, they will continue to rule. The Vikings have an opportunity, but winning in Lambeau is something they’ve had a hard time doing.... 

Seattle’s last trip to University of Phoenix Stadium didn’t turn out so well for them as their bid for back-to-back Super Bowl wins was foiled by New England.Their last two visits when playing the venue’s main tenant have been much sweeter with a pair of wins over the Cardinals by a combined score of 59-28.... 

There is still a chance the Bengals can get a first-round bye in the playoffs, but things got much more complicated with their overtime loss in Denver Monday night. The Ravens are feeling good about their chances of upsetting a division rival for the second straight week, but there shouldn’t be any doubt these Bengals at home can shut up a Ryan Mallet-led offense.... 

Just 16 games remain on the regular season schedule in the NFL, and for some teams, there won't be any moment in their campaign bigger than this. Tons of line movement is the norm in Week 17, and this year is no exception.Note: All current NFL odds listed as of Wednesday morning. Check up-to-the-minute odds at BookMaker.eu.... 

The Chip Kelly era is over in Philadelphia, less than three seasons after it started. Following two 10-win campaigns, the Eagles under-achieved after some questionable moves by GM Chip, which led to the downfall of coach Chip. The Tom Coughlin era could come to an end in New York after 12 seasons and two Super Bowl titles.... 

The Chargers haven’t beaten an AFC West opponent in over a year, going 0-7 SU and 2-5 ATS since their last victory over a division rival. They’ll likely have to wait until next season to get another crack because the Broncos are staring at a division title with a win.... 

Former coach Mike Holmgren would have a tough time fixing the 49ers mess. The Super Bowl-winning coach and former Niners assistant many moons ago, has expressed an interest in the job. A half-empty jewel of a stadium, the most losses since 2007 and an apathetic fan base likely has the Niners brass seriously considering a move.... 

Oh my, it’s the battle for third place in the NFC North when the Lions visit the Bears in the regular season finale. Chicago offensive coordinator Adam Gase has been mentioned in a few reports to be a candidate for Detroit’s head coaching job. He could be auditioning against current coach Jim Caldwell, trying to break the Bears five-game skid against their division rival.... 

The Colts probably have a better chance at winning the lottery than making the playoffs, but there is a chance. First of all they must beat the Titans, which would be easier to do if they had even a third-string quarterback to take snaps. Indy is 8-0 SU and 7-1 ATS in the last eight meetings, but they had a guy named Andrew Luck starting the last seven of those.... 

All the Steelers had to do to make the playoffs was beat a couple of bottom feeders in the AFC North. Knock off Baltimore and Cleveland, teams with double-digit losses, and Pittsburgh was back in the dance. But after an embarrassing loss to a ravaged Ravens club last week, the Steelers enter the final weekend needing help to play beyond this weekend.... 

Following a six-game skid that took them out of playoff contention, the Falcons were closer to making history as the first team to start a season with five straight wins and finish below .500. That all changed with last week’s stunning upset of Carolina, and Atlanta now has a chance to end the season with three consecutive victories. The Saints are just 2-5 SU and 3-4 ATS on the road.... 

Anyone who said they saw this coming is lying. That the Redskins have eight wins is quite good; the NFC East title just happened to come with those wins. Sure it’s a poor division, but somebody had to win it and the Skins stepped up. Locked into the No. 4 seed in the conference, the Redskins can rest some of their starters and still hold the Cowboys to six points.... 

Only one team since 1970 had ever started a season 1-5 and qualified for the postseason. Make that two, thanks to the Chiefs’ franchise record-tying nine-game winning streak. The Raiders were victim number six in the run, with Kansas City posting a 34-20 win in Oakland one month ago.... 

It’s Houston that has emerged as the Brandon Weeden-led team based in Texas that is primed for a playoff bid. Weeden did his part last week, inching the Texans closer to the AFC South title and could be headed to the bench if Brian Hoyer is cleared. It won’t matter against a Jags defense that is regularly torched.... 

The Dolphins’ final game of the season will be meaningful ... just not for them. The New England Patriots enter the regular season finale with a chance to secure home-field advantage throughout the AFC playoffs and face a Miami club that failed to beat the Colts, who were playing with their third-string quarterback.... 

New York was given a late Christmas gift by the Patriots on the overtime coin flip, which the Jets turned into six points and a victory while never letting Tom Brady touch the football in the extra session. The Jets can now turn that into their first playoff appearance since 2010, but standing in their way is former boss Rex Ryan, who already has one win over his former team this season.... 

The perfect season is over. Now the Panthers have to focus on making sure the NFC playoffs run through Charlotte. The pressure is off Carolina after their 14-0 start and 18-game regular season win streak ended in an uneventful loss at Atlanta. A bounce-back win gets the Panthers home-field advantage and puts them back on track for their ultimate goal.... 

The NFC North title and home field advantage in the first round of the playoffs will be on the line for the Green Bay Packers and the Minnesota Vikings in Game 256 of the NFL season.

NFL Odds at BookMaker.eu... 

The season really changed for the Arizona Cardinals back on November 15 when they went on the road and beat the Seattle Seahawks. They haven't lost a game since, and they're a win over the Seahawks parlayed with a Carolina loss to Tampa Bay away from having home field advantage in the NFC playoffs as a result....