A host of teams can start 2023 on a high note by clinching an NFL playoff place in an eagerly awaited Week 17.
There are also divisional titles to be won on New Year's Day, with Tom Brady's Tampa Bay Buccaneers within touching distance of winning the NFC South ahead of a clash against the Carolina Panthers.
The Seattle Seahawks and the New York Jets lock horns scenting a spot in the postseason, while the Miami Dolphins could seal a playoff berth when they do battle with the New England Patriots.
Here Stats Perform used its data to preview the biggest games with plenty at stake at the beginning of a new year.
SUNDAY (all times EST)
Panthers (6-9) at Buccaneers (7-8) 1pm
The Buccaneers can clinch the NFC South title for a second straight season if they beat the Panthers, a feat they have never previously achieved.
After a 21-3 win in Week 7, the Panthers are going for the season sweep of the Buccaneers for the first time since 2017. That was also the last season they made the playoffs.
Tampa Bay beat the Arizona Cardinals 19-16 in their final game of 2022. The Buccaneers have scored 21 or fewer points in all seven of their wins this season.
Carolina overcame the Detroit Lions 37-23 in Week 16 behind 320 yards rushing and 250 yards passing. They were the first NFL team with 300 rush yards and 250 pass yards in a game since the San Francisco 49ers in Week 12, 2012.
Jets (7-8) at Seahawks (7-8) 4.05pm
The Seahawks have dominated the Jets in recent years, winning all four games against them since 2005 and conceding only 30 points in the process. That is just 7.5 points per game, which is the fewest allowed by any NFL team against a single opponent over that time.
Pete Carroll is in his 17th season as an NFL head coach and has never missed the playoffs in consecutive seasons. The Seattle boss is the only head coach in NFL history to coach at least 15 seasons in the league and never have consecutive seasons in which he did not lead his team to the playoffs.
DK Metcalf has had at least five receptions in eight straight games, tied with John L. Williams (1989-90) and Brian Blades (1995) for the longest streak in Seahawks franchise history.
The Jets are allowing 10.8 fewer points per game than they did last season (29.6 to 18.8), on pace to be the second-largest season-to-season improvement in the NFL in the past 40 years behind the 2000-01 Rams (29.4 to 17.1, -12.3).
Dolphins (8-7) @ Patriots (7-8) - 1pm
New England are due a win over the Dolphins, who have beaten them in four consecutive games - the last of which was a 20-7 success in Week 1.
Miami are the only team to beat the Patriots four times in a row since Bill Belichick took over as head coach of the Patriots in 2000. With a loss this week, Miami would join Tennessee as the only teams this season with a winning streak of at least five games and a losing streak of at least five games.
Tua Tagovailoa posted a career-high 12.4 yards per pass attempt in last week's loss to the Green Bay Packers. It was the highest yards-per-attempt in a loss by a starting Dolphins quarterback in team history. He misses out this week due to concussion, though, so Teddy Bridgewater steps in.
New England’s comeback bid fell short in a 22-18 loss to the Bengals last week. The Patriots have lost nine straight games when trailing after three quarters, with only the Panthers (41 straight losses) and Seahawks (13 straight) having longer active streaks.
MONDAY
Bills (12-3) @ Bengals (11-4) - 8.30pm
The Bills know they will get a first-round bye in the playoffs if they see off the Bengals and the Kansas City Chiefs lose to the Denver Broncos. Following Cincinnati's win over the Bills in the 1988 AFC Championship Game, the Bills won 10 straight in this series. Since then, Cincinnati are 4-2 against Buffalo, with the most recent meeting resulting in a 21-17 Buffalo win in Week 3, 2019.
The Bills beat the Bears 35-13 in Chicago last week, extending their winning run to six games. Buffalo have scored at least 20 points in each of those wins – they have just two longer streaks of wins with 20+ points – a nine-game streak in 1964 and a seven-game streak in 1990.
The Bengals' road win over the Patriots extended their winning streak to seven games, one shy of tying the franchise record of eight – achieved in the first eight games of the 2015 season (also an eight-game streak spanning the 1970 and 1971 seasons).
Joe Burrow had 375 passing yards last week, his second-highest total of the season. It was his seventh career game with at least 350 passing yards, fourth most in the NFL since 2020 behind Tom Brady (13), Patrick Mahomes (12) and Josh Allen (9).
Elsewhere...
The Denver Broncos start life after Nathaniel Hackett with a tough trip to take on the Kansas City Chiefs in their first game since the head coach's firing. The Chiefs have won 14 straight games against the Broncos dating back to the 2015 season. Just five teams in NFL history have beaten another team 15 times in a row, with the last team to do so being the Patriots against the Bills from 2003 to 2010.
The Philadelphia Eagles host the New Orleans Saints knowing they can clinch the NFC East and the number one seed in their conference with a win.
The Eagles are 11-3 (.786) all-time at home against the Saints, which includes an active three-game winning streak. That is the Eagles' third-best home record against any opponent all-time (3-0 versus the Texans and 6-1 versus the Broncos).
A playoff place is in the New York Giants' sights as they prepare to take on the Indianapolis Colts.
The Colts have won four straight games against the Giants, with the most recent win coming in Week 16 of 2018 with a 28-27 home victory.
There appears to be no stopping the San Francisco 49ers, who can win a ninth game in a row when they take on the Las Vegas Raiders. The 49ers are the only NFL team in the Super Bowl era to win eight straight games in a single season while holding their opponents to fewer than 80 rushing yards in each victory.
Bellamy wants more from Wales after extending unbeaten start
Craig Bellamy insists there is still room for improvement for Wales after seeing off Montenegro 1-0 to make it four games without defeat.
Harry Wilson's 36th-minute penalty earned Wales all three points in Monday's Nations League Group B4 clash at Cardiff City Stadium.
Bellamy, who succeeded Rob Page in July, is the first Wales head coach to avoid defeat in his first four games in charge of the senior men's side.
As well as beating Montenegro home and away, Wales have also drawn 0-0 at home to Turkiye and 2-2 in Iceland.
Reflecting on his side's latest win, Bellamy told S4C: "I was impressed by us being able to control the tempo of the second half, but we still need improvement on it.
"You will get breaks and it feels like you can score because they have players forward, but it's also dangerous then for the counter.
"That transitional game becomes a little complicated, whereas in the first half they sat a lot deeper which allows us to really control the tempo of the game. Of course at the moment that really suits us.
"But we have got to stay calm, in transition but even when we have knockdowns and balls in and around.
"You secure the ball and pass to your team-mates and there are still bits for improvement we need, but we were better than last time."
Match-winner Wilson has now been directly involved in nine goals in his past 11 appearances for Wales, as many as in his previous 41 matches.
The Fulham forward kept his place in a much-changed Wales side on the back of Friday's draw in Iceland, which showed seven alterations in all.
Wilson was the star performer in a game Wales dominated for large parts, with Montenegro failing to register a single shot on target.
It means the Dragons have avoided facing an effort on target in two of their past seven matches across all competitions, matching the tally from their previous 34 games.
For all Wales' dominance, though, Montenegro substitute Andrija Radulovic fired a 20-yard drive against the crossbar.
"There were a lot of changes, and a lot of players who all definitely deserved the opportunity to play as well," Bellamy added. "The Nations League is so good and so competitive."
Wales trail leaders Turkiye by two points heading into next month's contest in Kayseri, before the Dragons round off their Nations League campaign at home to Iceland.
Montenegro, bottom of the table without a point and on a record run of six losses in a row, host Iceland and Turkiye in their final two matches.
Germany 1-0 Netherlands: Leweling marks senior debut with winning goal
Jamie Leweling netted the winner on his senior international debut as Germany beat the Netherlands 1-0 in Monday's Nations League clash at the Allianz Arena.
The Stuttgart forward, in for the injured Deniz Undav, had a goal within two minutes of his first cap ruled out after a VAR check showed Serge Gnabry was offside in the build-up.
However, there was no denying Leweling in the 64th minute as the 23-year-old thumped a loose ball inside the box into the bottom corner past Bart Verbruggen to give the hosts a deserved lead in Munich.
Verbruggen had undoubtedly been the busier of the two goalkeepers up until that point, making four saves prior to the breakthrough from Leweling, who also had a goal-bound shot blocked near the line by Stefan de Vrij.
The Netherlands twice went close to equalising in the final 15 minutes, but Oliver Baumann got a faint touch to a long-range Xavi Simons drive to help it onto the crossbar and then superbly helped Donyell Malen's powerful effort wide.
The win moves Germany to 10 points from their first four Group A3 matches, five points clear of the Netherlands and Hungary - 2-0 winners away at Bosnia-Herzegovina - who each have five points with two games remaining.
Data Debrief: Debutants decide the game
Leweling was a threat throughout on his debut as he scored one, had another disallowed and had an effort blocked off the line, generating an expected goals (xG) value of 0.35 - the highest of any player on the field.
Just as key to the victory was fellow Germany debutant Baumann, who produced two big saves in the second half.
Aged 34 years and 131 days, he became the second-oldest Germany debutant (after Matthias Mauritz) in the post-war era and the oldest goalkeeper to make his debut in the country's history.
Italy 4-1 Israel: Di Lorenzo double keeps Azzurri in control of qualification
Italy moved within touching distance of the Nations League quarter-finals after Giovanni Di Lorenzo's double powered them to a 4-1 triumph over Israel on Monday.
Luciano Spalletti's side will need just a point from either of their last two matches in November to secure progression after a convincing victory in Udine that pushed Israel further towards relegation.
Israel goalkeeper Omri Glazer provided stern resistance in the first half before Mateo Retegui's penalty, awarded for a foul by Dor Peretz on Sandro Tonali, broke the deadlock four minutes before the interval.
Captain Di Lorenzo doubled his side's advantage before the hour, powering a header in from close range after Giacomo Raspadori's inviting free-kick, though Israel halved the deficit with 24 minutes remaining.
Mohamed Abu Fani's corner sneaked past all inside the area, including Guglielmo Vicario, whose appeals for a foul by Dor Peretz were ignored by the officials.
That visiting hope was short-lived, however, as Davide Frattesi swept home a first-time finish from Federico Dimarco's low cross just six minutes after Abu Fani's bizarre goal.
Di Lorenzo capped the scoring 11 minutes from time, profiting from Destiny Udogie's powering run before receiving possession on the edge of the area and drilling into the bottom-left corner.
Data Debrief: Superior finishing the difference
Spalletti will be delighted by his side finishing the game when in control, unlike what they were able to do in Thursday's 2-2 draw with Belgium, largely thanks to the excellence of Di Lorenzo.
The Italy captain scored twice from just two attempts that were worth 0.28 expected goals (xG), suggesting Di Lorenzo's quality of finishing far exceeded the chances on offer.
Since his first goal with the Azzurri, in September 2021 against Lithuania, Di Lorenzo's five goals are also the most by an Italy defender in that period with Dimarco next on three.
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