The Baltimore Ravens and the Cincinnati Bengals are set to face off on Sunday in Week 17 of the NFL 2015 regular season. The game has a scheduled start time of 1 p.m. ET and takes place from Paul Brown Stadium in Cincinnati, Ohio. The game can be watched on TV on the Fox network or online through live stream via the link below.
The Bengals have already clinched their Playoff berth, however, seed position and home field advantage are still a concern, meaning they have every reason to go all out for the win today.
They were in command in the race for a bye in the Wild Card round of the Playoffs just weeks ago, however, since then they have let things slip and are not looking in from the outside in the race for the top two seed positions in the conference.
They need to claim a home win today against the Baltimore Ravens to stand a chance to sneak back into the first round bye spots at the last hurdle. However, they will also need some help from the San Diego Chargers.
The Bengals will need to win and rely on the Chargers defeating the Denver Broncos today for them to leapfrog Denver into a top two spot and a first round bye.
Coming into this final weekend of the NFL 2015 regular season, most of the Playoff picture appears resolved already. Looking at the postseason picture and the games taking place today, only the Pittsburgh Steelers have a realistic chance of leapfrogging another team into the Playoff spots.
The Indianapolis Colts are not yet eliminated technically, but they need so much help from other results that only the most optimistic of Colts' fans still believe they can make the postseason.
The Colts need to beat the Titans today, and hope the Texans lose to the Jaguars for a start. However, in addition to those two basic results going their way they need seven other games to go exactly as below for them to sneak through:
1) Steelers beat the Browns
2) Broncos beat the Chargers
3) Falcons beat the Saints
4) Bills beat the Jets
5) Dolphins beat the Patriots
6) Ravens beat the Bengals
7) Raiders beat the Chiefs
Meanwhile, the Steelers don't need a long check list of results to go their way for them to sneak their way into the Playoffs. Pittsburgh simply need to defeat the Cleveland Browns for the second time this season today, and hope that the Buffalo Bills can defeat the New York Jets.
The Jets have been in excellent form this season though, so the Steelers will be feeling anxious about that game. However, they must focus today on their own task at hand and make sure they do their bit by besting the Browns. After that, then they can look at the Bills vs Jets game.
The Jets come into this weekend on the back of five straight wins, however, they did lose to the Buffalo Bills in Week 10, and they themselves need to go on the road to Buffalo today to level the series and guarantee their own Wild Card place for the postseason.
Apart from the Indianapolis Colts and Pittsburgh Steelers trying to overthrow the Houston Texans and New York Jets from the postseason berths, the other 10 places have already been snapped up, meaning that most of the tension around the league's other games today will be on who will shuffle to which seeding spot ahead of the Playoff starting.
The Denver Broncos and the Green Bay Packers both have yet to confirm their division titles, and have a lot to play for today; they need wins to guarantee themselves home postseason games.
The Broncos need to defeat the San Diego Chargers at home to earn themselves a first round bye. However, there is a massive game between the Green Bay Packers and the Minnesota Vikings for the NFC North title later on Sunday Night Football.
If the Vikings win that one, then they will host the Seattle Seahawks in the NFC Wild Card round. But if the Packers win then the Seahawks may have to go on the road to Lambeau Field, or there could be an instant rematch with the Vikings.
Coming into Sunday's games the Playoff Picture looks like below:
AFC
1. (z) New England Patriots (12-3)
2. (x) Denver Broncos (11-4)
3. (y) Cincinnati Bengals (11-4)
4. Houston Texans (8-7)
5. (x) Kansas City Chiefs (10-5)
6. New York Jets (10-5)
In The Hunt
Pittsburgh Steelers (9-6)
Indianapolis Colts (7-8)
NFC
1. (z) Carolina Panthers (14-1)
2. (z) Arizona Cardinals (13-2)
3. (x) Green Bay Packers (10-5)
4. (y) Washington (8-7)
5. (x) Seattle Seahawks (10-5)
6. (x) Minnesota Vikings (10-5)
(z) - First-round bye
(y) - Division winner
(x) - Playoff berth
Today's big game between the Baltimore Ravens and the Cincinnati Bengals has a scheduled start time of 1 p.m. ET and can be watched on TV on the Fox network or online through live stream by clicking here.
