NFL playoff picture: Eagles lock up the No. 2 seed, Lions-Vikings scenarios

The Eagles (13-3) clinched the NFC East and the NFC’s No. 2 playoff seed with their blowout win against the Dallas Cowboys (8-8) Sunday.

The Birds won without Jalen Hurts, who was out due to the lingering effects of a concussion that knocked him out of last week’s loss to the Washington Commanders. Instead, Kenny Pickett — a South Jersey native who grew up rooting against the Cowboys — made his first start since landing in Philadelphia during the offseason.

The win means the Birds will avoid the same disappointing finish they suffered last year. The Birds entered Week 17 in the driver’s seat in the NFC East. But two losses later Philly limped into the playoffs as the No. 5 seed and were eliminated in an uncompetitive wild-card game by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

The Washington Commanders (11-5) secured a playoff spot by defeating the Atlanta Falcons (8-8) in overtime on Sunday Night Football.

Both the Cowboys and Giants have already been eliminated from the playoffs.

The Eagles are locked in at the No. 2 seed and will face either the Commanders or Green Bay Packers (11-5) in the first round of the playoffs.

The Commanders will end up with the No. 7 seed if they lose Sunday against the Dallas Cowboys or if the Green Bay Packers win against the Chicago Bears. In that case, it’d be the Commanders traveling to the Linc to face the Birds in the wild-card round.

If the Commanders win or the Packers lose, Green Bay will be the No. 7 seed and face the Eagles in the first-round of the playoffs.

While the Eagles locked up the No. 2 seed in the NFC, they no longer have a chance of landing the top seed after the Minnesota Vikings (14-2) defeated the Green Bay Packers (10-5) Sunday.

There are no scenarios where the Eagles could drop to the No. 3 or No. 4 seed, so the Birds can treat their final game against the Giants as a bye.

Because of the Vikings’ win, the Detroit Lions (13-2) can no longer clinch the NFC North and the No. 1 seed. Lions-Vikings in Week 18 will decide both, with the winner landing the NFC’s top playoff seed and the loser dropping to the No. 5 seed.

The Los Angeles Rams (10-6) clinched the NFC West Sunday night thanks to the Commanders’ victory against the Falcons. As a result, the Rams would win a strength-of-victory tiebreaker against the Seattle Seahawks, who were eliminated from playoff contention.

There’s not much playoff drama remaining in the AFC, with just one remaining wild card spot up for grabs.

The Kansas City Chiefs (15-1) have already locked up the division’s No. 1 seed, and the Buffalo Bills (13-3) locked up the No. 2 seed with a win Sunday against Aaron Rodgers and the lowly New York Jets (4-12).

The Los Angeles Chargers (10-6) locked up a playoff spot with their win against the New England Patriots (3-13) Saturday.

The Denver Broncos (9-7) could have also clinched a playoff spot, but were defeated by the Cincinnati Bengals (8-8), who still remain mathematically in the hunt for the AFC’s final wild-card spot entering Week 18.

The Broncos have the easiest path — a win against a Chiefs team with nothing to play for in Week 18 and they’re in the playoffs.

The Miami Dolphins (8-8) also remained in the playoff hunt after defeating the Cleveland Browns (3-13) Sunday. For the Dolphins to get into the postseason:

The Indianapolis Colts (7-9) were eliminated from the playoffs Sunday after being defeated by the Giants.

The NFL playoffs begin with the wild-card round on Saturday, Jan. 11, which will feature six games airing on Fox, CBS, NBC, and ESPN/ABC.

For the second straight season, one wild-card game will stream exclusively on Peacock, NBC’s subscription service.