Wild Card | Atlanta Falcons Tickets

N.F.L. Playoff Races Entering the Final Week

A.F.C. East

WHAT HAPPENED It was a very, very good day for the New England Patriots, who showed resilience in a second-half comeback victory over the Miami Dolphins and saw their archrival, the Jets, pushed to the brink of elimination with a loss to the Giants. The Patriots’ defense and offensive line will be concerns going into the playoffs, but they secured a first-round bye, which will be critical for the health of left tackle Matt Light and safety Patrick Chung.

NOW WHAT? A Patriots victory next week secures the A.F.C.’s top seed and home-field advantage throughout the playoffs. To get the wild card, the Jets need to win, and need losses by Cincinnati and Tennessee combined with a loss by Oakland or Denver.

A.F.C. North

WHAT HAPPENED Big wins for the entire division. The Steelers won without Ben Roethlisberger. The Ravens and the Bengals won with everybody. The division title comes down to the final weekend, and the Bengals, with the victory over the Cardinals, combined with the Jets’ loss, are now in a wild-card spot.

NOW WHAT? Baltimore plays at Cincinnati next week. Pittsburgh plays at Cleveland. If the Steelers and the Ravens wind up with the same record, Baltimore wins the division and Pittsburgh is a wild card, because the Ravens swept the Steelers this season. Baltimore should have the tougher game, because the Bengals will grab a wild-card spot with a victory. Whoever wins the division has a first-round bye.

A.F.C. South

WHAT HAPPENED The Titans’ victory over the Jaguars keeps them in the wild-card race, but the more significant game happened Thursday. The Texans have already clinched the division, but they played their worst game of the season against the Colts.

NOW WHAT? The real intrigue will be at the game between the Jaguars and the Colts. If the Colts win, they could lose their shot at the first overall draft pick and Andrew Luck. There are multiple possibilities for the Titans to get a wild-card spot. The Texans are locked into the third seed even if they lose to the Titans, but after a bad loss to the Colts, they could use a victory to get some momentum going into the playoffs.

A.F.C. West

WHAT HAPPENED The wheels came off the Tim Tebow train. He was awful in Denver’s loss to Buffalo, blowing a chance to win the division. Oakland’s overtime victory over Kansas City eliminated the Chiefs and pulled the Raiders into a tie atop the division. The Chargers’ loss to the eliminated them from contention and probably doomed Norv Turner.

NOW WHAT? If the beat the Chiefs next Sunday, they win the division, no matter what else happens. But if they lose and the Raiders beat the Chargers, the Raiders win the division. If Denver and Oakland both lose, Denver wins the division.

N.F.C. East

WHAT HAPPENED The Giants’ victory over the Jets eliminated the Eagles from the playoff race, but set up a winner-take-all game against the next Sunday. The Eagles may have given the Giants a bit of help anyway. Dallas quarterback Tony Romo hurt his right hand when it smashed against Jason Babin’s helmet. He was ready to return, though, until the Cowboys realized the Giants had won and they did not need him.

NOW WHAT? The game of the year is next Sunday: Cowboys at Giants for the division. An ancillary consideration is whether Tom Coughlin’s job also hangs in the balance.

N.F.C. North

WHAT HAPPENED The Lions completed their renaissance by clinching a wild-card spot, their first playoff trip since 1999.

NOW WHAT If the Packers beat the Bears on Sunday night, they wrap up the top seed in the N.F.C. and have home-field advantage throughout the playoffs.

N.F.C. South

WHAT HAPPENED Buccaneers Coach Raheem Morris took another step toward the unemployment line and Cam Newton served notice he was going to terrorize the league for the next decade in Tampa Bay’s 48-16 loss to the Carolina Panthers. The Falcons play the on Monday night.

NOW WHAT? A Saints victory Monday secures the N.F.C. South, but the Falcons are still in good position for the wild card.

N.F.C. West

WHAT HAPPENED Not a whole lot. San Francisco’s defeat of Seattle puts the 49ers in position to get a first-round bye, but their struggle to score touchdowns will give them a lot to think about heading into the playoffs.

NOW WHAT? If the Saints lose to the Falcons on Monday, San Francisco clinches a first-round bye.

DIVISIONAL MATCHUPS

American Football Conference

6. JETS (Wild Card) at1. NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS (East)

This is the first time in N.F.L. history that both divisional-round games in a conference feature matchups ofdivision rivals. But Jets versus Patriots is the N.F.L.’snastiest current feud, and its third installment this seasonis a fitting reprise.The Jets say they wanted this game. They shouldprobably be careful what they wish for. They were humiliatedby the Patriots a month ago, 45-3, a demolitionthat Jets Coach Rex Ryan will need all of his motivationalskills to get his players to erase from their memories.The problem for the Jets is that the Patriots’ multifacetedoffense has not slowed since then, and the Jets’ offense is stillstruggling to score. The Patriots have not scored fewer than 31points since Nov. 7, slicing up the vaunted defenses of the Jets,the Packers and the Bears in that stretch. Danny Woodheadand the Patriots’ tight ends present tough matchups for theJets’ defense.Given Mark Sanchez’s shaky passing for much of the Coltsgame, it is reasonable to assume the Jets will try to runthrough the Patriots. They rushed for 169 yards against theColts and they averaged 4.9 yards a carry against the Patriotsin December. But the Patriots held three of their last four regular-season opponents under 4 yards a carry, and if they getout to a quick lead, the game will be forced into Sanchez’shands — exactly where the big-play Patriots defense wants it.Ryan got the hype started last week with a swipe at Bradywhen he unfavorably compared his study habits with PeytonManning’s. The Jets will need their most complete game –balanced offense, a defense that forces turnovers — to staywith the Patriots.PLAYER TO WATCH Don’t overthink this. Watch Brady, whoprobably heard about Ryan’s slight within minutes of its utterance.His passing has been staggeringly accurate (no interceptionssince Oct. 17, four over all). The Patriots go as Bradygoes, and for most of the last two months it has looked as if that would be to the A.F.C. championship game.

5. BALTIMORE RAVENS (Wild Card) at2. PITTSBURGH STEELERS (North)

Can they please stage this game inside a steel cage? Themost bruising rivalry in football is played by two teams builtaround pounding defenses and a preference for the runninggame. The fascinating thing, as in the Jets-Patriotsgame, is how the teams will change their approachesbecause they are so familiar with each other.The Ravens came out throwing against the Chiefson Sunday, before leaning on Ray Rice. They will probablyhave to try to throw against the Steelers, too, becauseif the Steelers’ defense has a weakness, it’s atthe corners. Much about the Steelers will depend onthe health of safety Troy Polamalu. In the final twomonths of the regular season, the Steelers allowed anopponent to score more than 16 points only once — theJets, in a game that Polamalu did not play.The Steelers’ Rashard Mendenhall rushed for morethan 1,200 yards this season, but his yards per attemptwas just 3.9, and he will have little running room againstthe Ravens. So it will fall to Ben Roethlisberger to attackthe Ravens’ secondary — also their weakness, exceptfor safety Ed Reed. The Ravens will have to be vigilantbecause Roethlisberger’s ability to extend plays by scramblingout of the pocket, and by avoiding interceptions (just fivethis season), makes him dangerous.But the Ravens forced five turnovers against the Chiefs, andthe Steelers will have to guard against that, too. These teamssplit their season series, although the Ravens’ victory came inSeptember, when Roethlisberger was suspended. When theyplayed in December, it was exactly what is expected now: alow-scoring, penalty-laden affair. The Ravens have won five ina row since.PLAYER TO WATCH Make it players — Polamalu and JamesHarrison. Joe Flacco was poised and accurate against theChiefs, but these two have a way of unnerving quarterbackswith their relentless pressure and speed.DIVISIONAL MATCHUPSBy JUDY BATTISTAAmerican Football Conference National Football Conference

National Football Conference

6. GREEN BAY PACKERS (Wild Card) at1. ATLANTA FALCONS (South)

Sixth Seeds of N.F.L. Playoffs Again Illustrate League’s Parity

When the Atlanta Falcons and the lost in the divisional round over the weekend, they proved.

While the won the N.F.C. West with a sub-.500 record, the rest of the playoff field was stacked with top-tier teams. In the A.F.C., the wild-card teams had 11 regular-season victories () and 12 (). In the N.F.C., the wild-card teams had 10 () and 11 ().

“These teams with double-digit wins, they’re pretty close,” said Herm Edwards, the former Jets and coach, who was one of the few analysts who picked the Jets to upset the Patriots on Sunday. “This team won 12, this team won 10 — it’s who you play on the day you play.”

It is also about how the quarterbacks play. Although the final four teams have some of the best defenses in the N.F.L. — the and the Packers allowed the fewest points (232 and 240) and had the most sacks (48 and 47) during the regular season; the are ranked fourth over all and second to the Steelers against the run; and the Jets (third against the run) just shut down the N.F.L.’s top-scoring team — the outcomes were decided by quarterbacks.

The Packers’ Aaron Rodgers , drilling the shell-shocked Falcons from inside and outside the pocket for 366 yards, 3 passing touchdowns and 1 rushing. His 86.1 completion percentage Saturday is a record for a franchise that has also had Bart Starr and at quarterback.

“This probably was my best performance,” Rodgers told reporters. “The stage that we were on, the importance of this game.”

Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan made an awful throw to the sideline on the most important play of his game, leading to an interception that for a touchdown just before halftime.

nailed a 58-yard pass down the deep right side on third-and-19 that landed on receiver Antonio Brown’s shoulder with two minutes to play, setting up the Steelers’ winning touchdown against the Ravens.

“He has a no-blink mentality,” Coach Mike Tomlin said.

The Bears’ Jay Cutler, in his first playoff appearance since high school, was nearly perfect against the Seahawks, and running for two.

And finally, in what appeared to be the most lopsided of quarterback matchups before the game, the Jets used the same formula the Giants employed in the Super Bowl three years ago to batter and frustrate .

The Jets mixed up coverages to confuse him; they pressured him, often without the benefit of a blitz; and they bottled up receivers exceptionally well, leaving Brady to grow jumpy while he waited for something to open up.

In his regular appearance on Boston radio station WEEI, Brady said he wondered what he could have done differently to avoid an interception on the most conservative play in the Patriots’ playbook: a screen pass.

“Brady is a Hall of Fame quarterback, but he made some errors early and then he got hit and he was very uncomfortable,” Edwards said. “Every time Brady couldn’t convert a third down, they were sitting on the sideline for 10 minutes.”

The Packers and the Jets have blown a hole in the seedings. The last time both sixth seeds beat top seeds was the 2008 season, when the and the Ravens did it, only to lose in the conference championship games.

Only 10 nondivision winners have advanced to the Super Bowl since 1969, but six of them won it, the most recent being in the 2007 season with the Giants’ upset of the undefeated Patriots.

The good news for the Packers and the Jets is that one of those 10 teams was a sixth seed: the 2005 Steelers. And they won the Lombardi Trophy.

Now What?

The Patriots underwent an overhaul after last season’s home playoff loss, which made them the best team in the 2010 regular season. Nothing that drastic is expected this year — the Patriots are loaded with young, talented players who got plenty of playing time — but there are a few significant decisions to be made.

Left tackle Matt Light, who has spent 10 years with the Patriots, is a free agent. Late Sunday night, in an indication of just how quickly things shift in the N.F.L., Light was contemplating what might happen this off-season. He said he hoped to play for the Patriots next year and “continue to do what I have done.”

Light’s contract, like that of so many others, will most likely have to wait until a new collective bargaining agreement is reached.

The Patriots have two picks in each of the first three rounds of the April draft, giving Coach wide latitude to fill key spots or to accumulate even more draft picks. The Patriots were thin this year on the defensive line, and the absence of a big, field-stretching wide receiver hurt them against the Jets.

Expect More Seahawks Moves

For the Seahawks, the rebuilding will be more profound after a season that ended with a losing record (8-10) despite a playoff appearance. Coach Pete Carroll made more than 200 roster moves in his first season, but there will be more to come.

The most significant decision will be at quarterback. Matt Hasselbeck is 35 and last week, after he threw four touchdown passes against the Saints, Carroll said he wanted him back. But Carroll also traded away a third-round draft pick, and moved down in the second round, to acquire the backup Charlie Whitehurst.

Favre Retires, Part III

Brett Favre has filed his retirement papers with the N.F.L. office. That move, , would seem to indicate the expected end of his career after an injury- and scandal-marred final season. Favre said repeatedly during the season that 2010 would be his last, and his consecutive starts streak was ended by a shoulder injury he sustained this season.

But wait. Favre has filed papers before, in Green Bay in early 2008. Then, in the summer of 2008, he requested reinstatement, which allowed the Packers to trade him to the Jets.

After one season with the Jets, Favre again said he was retiring. The Jets released him, and he signed with the as a free agent.