Believe it or not, the Detroit Lions can punch their ticket to the playoffs in Week 13. Here are six postseason scenarios.
The Detroit Lions are 10-1, lead the division, and have a share of the best record in football. If that isn’t surreal enough for you, how about this?
The Detroit Lions could clinch a playoff spot this week… in Week 13… Thanksgiving week.
It’s true. With the Lions holding a 10-1 record and the current holder of the final Wild Card spot (Washington Commanders) at 7-5, it’s possible the Lions can create enough distance between NFC competitors that they’ve punched their ticket to the postseason with five weeks still remaining.
Here are the six different scenarios for the Lions to clinch a spot:
- Lions win + 49ers loss/tie + Cardinals loss/tie + Seahawks loss + Buccaneers loss/tie
- Lions win + 49ers loss/tie + Cardinals loss + Seahawks tie + Buccaneers loss/tie
- Lions win + 49ers loss/tie + Cardinals loss/tie + Seahawks loss + Commanders loss/tie + Falcons loss
- Lions win + 49ers loss/tie + Cardinals loss/tie + Seahawks loss + Commanders loss + Falcons tie
- Lions win + 49ers loss/tie + Cardinals loss + Seahawks tie + Commanders loss/tie + Falcons loss
- Lions win + 49ers loss/tie + Cardinals losss + Seahawks tie + Commanders loss + Falcons tie
Four of those scenarios involve at least one tie, so you really only need to focus on scenarios 1 and 3.
Here are the relevant games and the Vegas line for each game so that there’s some context to these scenario:
- Lions (-10.5) vs. Bears
- 49ers (+6.5) at Bills
- Cardinals (+3.5) at Vikings
- Seahawks (-1.5) at Jets
- Buccaneers (-6.5) at Panthers
- Commanders (-5.5) vs. Titans
- Falcons (+1.5) vs. Chargers
Now, obviously, the Lions have bigger things on their mind than clinching the playoffs. For example, they want to win the division to host a playoff game. So while a Cardinals loss over the Vikings could lead to Detroit clinching a postseason spot earlier, any rational Lions fan is hoping for Arizona to beat the 9-2 Vikings in order increase the Lions’ chances to win the NFC North. Still, it could be a nice silver lining if Minnesota does win.
In addition to the Lions, the Buffalo Bills and Kansas City Chiefs can both clinch playoff spots this week. Their scenarios are a bit less complicated:
First playoff scenarios of the 2024 season! The #Bills, #Chiefs and #Lions can clinch their spots this week. pic.twitter.com/2opFrEMXWq
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) November 26, 2024
