Which teams can qualify for the playoffs in NFL Week 15?

There are four rounds left in the 2021 NFL regular season, and all the indications are that in Week 15 the first tickets to the playoffs will be handed out.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the Arizona Cardinals and the Green Bay Packers, who all could have booked their postseason spots last weekend, are joined by four more teams - the Dallas Cowboys, the Los Angeles Rams, the New England Patriots and the Tennessee Titans - who are now also within touching distance of the playoffs.

See also:

NFC: five teams can reach playoffs

Arizona Cardinals

The Cardinals will make sure of a place in the playoffs if they win or tie against the Detroit Lions on Sunday. If Arizona lose, they will nevertheless be guaranteed a postseason spot if the New Orleans Saints lose or tie and one of the following four scenarios also occurs:

- the Minnesota Vikings lose or tie

- the Philadelphia Eagles and the Washington Football Team tie

- the Eagles lose, the Atlanta Falcons lose or tie, and the Green Bay Packers win or tie

- the San Francisco 49ers tie and the Los Angeles Rams lose

The Cardinals will likewise go through to the playoffs despite defeat to the Lions if:

- Minnesota lose or tie and Washington-Philadelphia is tied, or

- Minnesota lose or tie and San Francisco lose, or

- the 49ers lose and Washington-Philadelphia is tied, or

- San Francisco tie, the Rams lose, and Philadelphia and Washington tie

Dallas Cowboys

The Cowboys will win the NFC East title if:

- they beat the New York Giants on Sunday and Washington-Philadelphia ends in a tie, or

- they defeat the Giants, Washington lose and Dallas win their strength-of-victory tiebreaker against Philadelphia

Dallas will clinch a playoff spot if:

- they beat the Giants and the New Orleans Saints lose or tie, or

- they win and the San Francisco 49ers lose, or

- they tie with New York and Minnesota, New Orleans and Atlanta lose or tie

Should Mike McCarthy’s team lose to the Giants, they’ll still qualify for the playoffs in the following two scenarios:

- if Minnesota, Atlanta and New Orleans lose and Washington-Philadelphia is tied, or

- if Minnesota, Atlanta and New Orleans lose and the Cowboys win their strength-of-victory tiebreaker against the Eagles

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Green Bay Packers

The Green Bay Packers will win the NFC North if they beat or tie with the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday, or if the Minnesota Vikings lose or tie.

The Packers will guarantee a playoff place if:

- New Orleans lose or tie and the San Francisco 49ers lose, or

- New Orleans lose or tie and Washington-Philadelphia is tied, or

- New Orleans lose or tie, the Los Angeles Rams lose, and the 49ers tie, or

- San Francisco lose and Philadelphia tie with Washington, or

- the Rams lose, San Francisco tie, and Philadelphia and Washington tie

Los Angeles Rams

The Los Angeles Rams will be through to the playoffs if they beat the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday and one of three sequences of results occurs:

- New Orleans and Minnesota lose or tie

- New Orleans lose or tie and Washington-Philadelphia is tied

- Minnesota lose or tie and Washington-Philadelphia is tied

If the Rams tie with the Seahawks, they’ll qualify for the postseason as long as Minnesota and New Orleans both lose, and Atlanta lose or tie.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers will win the NFC South division if they beat or tie with the New Orleans Saints on Sunday.

If they lose to the Saints, the Buccaneers will still make sure of a postseason berth if:

- Minnesota lose or tie and San Francisco lose, or

- Minnesota lose or tie and Washington-Philadelphia is tied, or

- San Francisco lose and Washington-Philadelphia is tied

AFC: two teams can reach playoffs

New England Patriots

The New England Patriots will make the postseason if they beat the Indianapolis Colts on Saturday and one of several combinations of results elsewhere occurs:

- the Miami Dolphins lose or tie and the Cleveland Browns, the Baltimore Ravens, the Cincinnati Bengals and the Kansas City Chiefs all lose

- Miami lose or tie, Cleveland, Baltimore, the Denver Broncos and the Los Angeles Chargers lose

- Miami lose or tie, Cleveland and the Chargers lose, and the Pittsburgh Steelers and Denvers lose or tie

- Miami lose or tie, Cleveland, Baltimore and Cincinnati lose, and Pittsburgh lose or tie

- Miami lose or tie, and Cleveland, Baltimore, Cincinnati and the Chargers lose

- Miami lose or tie, Baltimore, the Chargers and the Las Vegas Raiders lose, and Cincinnati-Denver is tied

Tennessee Titans

The Tennessee Titans will win the AFC South if they beat the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Indianapolis Colts lose to the New England Patriots.