NFL Has Two Games With Major Playoff Ramifications Saturday
The final week of the 2022 NFL regular season is finally here and the playoff field is far from settled with just one game remaining for each of the league’s 32 teams. With plenty left to be decided, Week 18 will kick off on Saturday with two AFC games on the slate: Chiefs vs. Raiders and Titans vs. Jaguars.
Chiefs at Raiders, 4:30 p.m. ET (ABC)
Las Vegas (6–10) is already eliminated from playoff contention but still has a chance to play spoiler to Kansas City (13–3), which enters the day in possession of the No. 1 seed in the AFC. The Chiefs have won four games in a row since losing to the Bengals back on Dec. 4 and Patrick Mahomes has emerged as a frontrunner to win his second MVP award, as the Super Bowl LIV champs seem to be hitting their stride at the right time.
Though a win will give Kansas City a bye and home-field advantage through the divisional round, the Chiefs aren’t guaranteed to play the AFC championship game at home after the league’s owners passed a resolution to alter the conference playoff format to account for the NFL declaring the Week 17 game between the Bengals and Bills a no contest. Mahomes and co. will have to await the outcome of Sunday’s game–and of course still earn a spot in the AFC title game–before determining where exactly they’ll be during each week of the postseason.
Jaguars at Titans, 8:15 p.m. ET (ABC)
Saturday’s primetime matchup is more or less a winner-take-all game between the two top teams in the AFC South. Though Jacksonville (8–8) still has a chance to earn a Wild Card spot with a loss and some help, Tennessee (7–9) will be eliminated with a loss, making the Week 18 division rivalry game all the more meaningful.
The Jaguars and the Titans enter Saturday’s game on vastly different trajectories. Jacksonville has won four games in a row to play itself into playoff contention, while a banged-up Tennessee squad has dropped six straight and is now narrowly holding on. Titans third-string quarterback Josh Dobbs will look to pull off the improbable and take down Trevor Lawrence when the AFC South contest gets underway from TIAA Bank Field.
