The NFL’s 14-team playoff field is officially set

The GIST: The Week 18 NFL slate can sometimes be a buffet of meaningless football, with the playoff field often set and teams resting their top talent — but not this year. There was plenty to play for in the regular-season finale, from division titles to all-important playoff seeding. Let’s dig in.

🤯 Pittsburgh Steelers secure AFC North crown, No. 4 seed in thrilling divisional showdown: Only one superstar quarterback (QB) could return to the postseason, but both Steelers QB Aaron Rodgers and Baltimore Ravens QB Lamar Jackson were electric in the fourth quarter of last night’s 26–24 Steelers win, swapping scoring drives until the bitter end. Hug a kicker today.

• As for the rest of the conference, the 14-3 Denver Broncos took care of business to secure the No. 1 seed (and a coveted first-round bye), edging out the No. 2 New England Patriots, who finished with an identical record, and the 13-4 No. 3 Jacksonville Jaguars.

💚 Seattle Seahawks lock in NFC’s No. 1 seed: Defense wins division titles, earns home-field advantage, and sets franchise win records, apparently. Just ask the stifling Seahawks’ D, who silenced a red-hot San Francisco 49ers offense — a unit that had put up at least 37 points in three straight games — in Saturday’s 13–3 win. Now that’s how you make the Legion of Boom proud.

🩵 Carolina Panthers win NFC South in unique fashion: Tampa Bay Buccaneers QB Baker Mayfield had a case of the Sunday Scaries — and for good reason. The NFC’s final playoff spot came down to yesterday’s divisional game between two long-eliminated teams: the Atlanta Falcons and New Orleans Saints. And the 19–17 Falcons win sent the Panthers to their first postseason since 2017, eliminating Mayfield’s Bucs.

☝️ One more thing: Cleveland Browns defensive end Myles Garrett capped off one of the most impressive individual seasons in NFL history by breaking the league’s sack record, a mark that had stood for more than two decades. Garrett said hello to Cincinnati Bengals QB Joe Burrow for his record-clinching 23rd sack of the season. Picture perfect.