2 NFL division titles on the line in Week 18 after crucial losses tighten playoff picture

Three different Week 17 games in the NFL set up two extremely important matchups for the regular-season finale across the league next week.

The NFC South and AFC North divisions will both be decided by who wins, as the Carolina Panthers, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and Pittsburgh Steelers all lost on Sunday.

The first two teams, the Panthers and Bucs, are division rivals who both knew what was at stake when they entered their contests against the Seattle Seahawks and Miami Dolphins respectively.

For the Panthers, a win at home against the Seahawks meant winning the NFC South. But Seattle had already clinched their playoff berth and owned the top seed in the NFC with a 12-3 record entering the game.

Bryce Young and company were unable to get anything going against a suffocating Seattle defense, which has been one of the best units in the league all season long. Young scored a meaningless touchdown in the fourth quarter, but the Seahawks came away with the 27-10 victory on the road to help their own No. 1 seed status.

Meanwhile, the Bucs knew they would definitely like Carolina to lose against the Seahawks, but they had to take care of the Dolphins to get a better chance at winning the division.

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Instead, Baker Mayfield had trouble again being consistent on offense, throwing two interceptions as well as two touchdowns in the 20-17 loss to Quinn Ewers and the Dolphins. The seventh-round pick by Miami was 14-of-22 for 172 yards with two touchdown passes in the victory that put the Dolphins at 7-9, though their playoff hopes were already done.

When looking at the NFC South standings, the Bucs are sitting at 7-9 after losing their fourth straight game, while the Panthers are at 8-8.

So, how would the Buccaneers win the division if they both have the same record at the end of Week 18 (8-9)? When you view the NFL tiebreaker rules, it begins with a head-to-head matchup. The Panthers took their first meeting, a 23-20 victory, so it would be split if Tampa Bay wins in Week 18.

Then, the tiebreaker would be division record, but a Buccaneers win would mean the same divisional record for both themselves and the Panthers (3-3). The next on the list is record in common games, meaning those contests where they’ve faced the same opponent. The Buccaneers have the Panthers beat in that category considering their win over the Arizona Cardinals in Week 13, while the Panthers lost in Week 2 to the same Arizona squad.

Moving on to the AFC North, Aaron Rodgers and the Steelers would’ve wrapped the division title up with a bow if they could take care of business against the Cleveland Browns on the road. But the Browns’ defense had other things in mind in the end.

It all came down to the final play of the game, where Rodgers led his Steelers squad down the field into the red zone in hopes they could secure their first touchdown of the game, and perhaps go for two points to win 14-13.

But a controversial ending on fourth-and-goal occurred when Rodgers tried lofting a pass to Marquez Valdes-Scantling in the end zone, and it appeared Browns cornerback Denzel Ward committed pass interference, as he hit him before making contact with the ball. However, no flags were thrown, and the Browns celebrated at home as they perhaps spoiled their rival’s chances at winning the division.

The Steelers still control their own destiny, though the Baltimore Ravens now have a chance to do the same.

The Ravens started the year 1-5 in mind-boggling fashion, and it appeared the playoffs were not in the cards. That all changed in recent weeks, and Derrick Henry’s best game of his career came at the perfect time on Saturday night in Green Bay, as he scored four touchdowns to help the Ravens beat the Packers and move to 8-8.

Everyone supporting the Ravens were watching intently to see if the Browns could pull off the upset at home, and they did just that.

Whoever wins the Week 18 bout at Acrisure Stadium between the Ravens and Steelers will be crowned AFC North champions and earn a spot in the playoffs.

Week 18 was looking like an NFL slate without these sorts of matchups, with many teams already punching their tickets to the playoffs.

Now, two key rivalry games have everything at stake with division titles on the line.

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