The NFL has been in shock this week, following the terrible scenes in Monday's game between the Cincinnati Bengals and the Buffalo Bills.
Damar Hamlin's cardiac arrest on the field has sent shockwaves through the sport, though it appears the 24-year-old is making progress in his recovery.
While Hamlin's health remains the league's priority over the rescheduling of that game from Week 17, there is also focus on the final round of fixtures.
There's plenty still be decided in Week 18, and Stats Perform has used Opta data to preview some of the key matchups.
SATURDAY (all times EST)
Chiefs (13-3) at Raiders (6-10) - 4:30pm
With the Bills and the Bengals having yet to finish the game that was rightly suspended on Monday, the AFC picture is not entirely clear. As things stand, a Kansas City Chiefs win in Las Vegas would mean they remain in with a chance of claiming the top seed, pending a decision on the Bengals-Bills game and the outcome of Buffalo's Week 18 clash against the New England Patriots.
The Chiefs have scored 28 or more points in nine consecutive games against the Raiders. The only longer streak of such games against a single opponent in NFL history is 10 by the Los Angeles Rams against the Green Bay Packers, and that came way back in 1949 to 1953.
Jerick McKinnon caught two touchdowns in Kansas City's 27-24 win over the Denver Broncos and has seven touchdown catches in the Chiefs' last five games. That is the most receiving touchdowns by a running back over a span of five team games in the Super Bowl era.
The Chiefs have scored 264 points on the road this season, averaging 33.0 points per game. If they hit their average on Saturday, they will finish with the third-most road points in a single season in NFL history, behind only the 2007 New England Patriots (314) and their own effort in 2018 (306).
Patrick Mahomes has 5,000 passing yards (5,048) and 250 rushing yards (329) in a single season for the second time in his career, also doing so in 2018.
Titans (7-9) at Jaguars (8-8) - 8:15pm
It will be winner-take-all in the AFC South when the Jacksonville Jaguars and the Tennessee Titans face off. The victor will clinch the division and become the fourth seed in the playoffs. While Jacksonville would still be able to make the postseason via a wild card should they lose, Tennessee must win if they are to avoid elimination.
The Jaguars are looking to sweep the season series with the Titans for the first time since 2005. The only other NFL teams that have gone that long since they last swept a current divisional opponent are the Cleveland Browns, who last swept the Pittsburgh Steelers in 1988, and New York Jets, who last swept the Patriots in 2000 (the Browns also have a chance to end their drought this week).
Jacksonville could become the first team in NFL history to make the playoffs immediately following back-to-back 14-loss seasons.
Meanwhile, the Titans are looking to avoid joining the 1994 Eagles as the only teams in league history to have at least seven wins before ending the season on a seven-game game losing streak.
SUNDAY
Giants (9-6-1) at Eagles (13-3) - 4:25pm
The Philadelphia Eagles have been the team to beat in the NFC all season, yet after successive defeats in the absence of Jalen Hurts, they now need a win to clinch the top seed.
Should they lose to the New York Giants, both the Dallas Cowboys and the San Francisco 49ers will have to suffer defeats in order for the Eagles to be guaranteed home advantage in the playoffs.
The omens are good for the Eagles, who have won eight straight home games against the Giants, tied for the second-longest home win streak against a single opponent in team history. It trails only their active 10-game home win streak against the Steelers that started in 1966.
A win against the Eagles would give the Giants 10 wins after having just four last season. It would be the first time New York earned double-digit wins in a season after having four or fewer wins since doing so in 1933 (11 wins after a 4-6 record in 1932).
Lions (8-8) @ Packers (8-8) - 8.20pm
Given the NFC East will get two of the conference's three wild cards, matters are relatively simple for the Detroit Lions and the Green Bay Packers. A Packers victory sends them through to the playoffs, while Detroit need to win and hope the Los Angeles Rams defeat the Seattle Seahawks.
The Packers are coming off a 41-17 win over the Vikings in which they had four takeaways and no giveaways. Green Bay are now 50-0-1 in the Super Bowl era (including playoffs) with a turnover margin of +4 or better in a game.
Green Bay's record at home against the Lions is 61-27-4, the most home wins by any team against a single opponent.
With another win, Aaron Rodgers would be the first QB in NFL history to have two seasons where his team was multiple games under .500 immediately before going on a five-or-greater game winning streak to end the regular season.
But the Lions have scored at least 20 points while throwing no interceptions in eight straight games, tied for the longest streak in NFL history (regular season) with the 2005 Broncos, 2010 Patriots and 2018-19 Ravens.
Elsewhere...
New England will clinch a playoff spot should they defeat the Bills, who are of course recovering from that incident involving Hamlin. The Bills have won their last two games against the Patriots and are looking for three straight wins in the series for the first time since 1999-2000.
The Miami Dolphins have lost five in a row but can make the playoffs should they beat the Jets. The matchup is perfectly balanced all-time at 56 wins apiece with one tie entering this game.
A run of five wins from six games has put the Steelers in playoff contention. They will have to beat the Browns and need results elsewhere go their way. Cleveland won against the Steelers in Week 3 this season. The Browns have not won multiple games against Pittsburgh in a season since the 1988 season.
The 49ers can still claim the top seed in the NFC by beating the Arizona Cardinals. San Francisco beat Las Vegas in Week 17, 37-34, despite trailing by 10 points in the third quarter. It was the Niners' second-largest comeback victory in the second half under Kyle Shanahan.
It has been a terrible season for the Rams (5-11), but they are 7-3 in their last 10 games against Seattle. The Seahawks got a 27-23 win in Inglewood in Week 13, the closest game between these teams since a 30-29 Seahawks win in Week 5, 2019.
Vikings acquire running back Akers from Rams
The Los Angeles Rams have found a taker for Cam Akers, trading the running back to the Minnesota Vikings.
The deal was completed on Wednesday, with the teams swapping draft picks in 2026.
Akers was a healthy scratch in last Sunday's 30-23 loss to the San Francisco 49ers, and the Rams confirmed this week they were looking for a trade partner.
A trade to Minnesota reunites Akers with Vikings coach Kevin O'Connell, who served as offensive coordinator for the Rams in Akers' first two NFL seasons.
The Vikings' ground game needs some help, averaging a league-low 34.5 rushing yards per game and 2.65 yards per attempt.
Alexander Mattison was given the No. 1 running back job as Minnesota opted to trade Dalvin Cook this offseason, but he's managed just 62 rushing yards on 19 carries.
Akers hasn't been any better this year, finishing with 29 rushing yards on 22 attempts in the Rams' 30-13 season-opening win over the Seattle Seahawks.
He is, however, coming off a career-high 786 rushing yards last season.
Drafted in the second round in 2020, the 24-year-old Akers, who is in the final year of his rookie deal, rushed for 625 yards and two touchdowns as a rookie.
A preseason Achilles tendon tear wiped out nearly all of his second season, but he was able to return for the regular-season finale and rush for 172 yards in four playoff games to help the Rams capture the Super Bowl.
Los Angeles is now moving forward at running back with Kyren Williams.
The second-year back made his first career start last week and ran for 52 yards with a touchdown on 14 carries after rushing for 52 yards with two TDs in Week 1.
New York Giants rule out RB Barkley for Week 3
The New York Giants have ruled out Saquon Barkley for Thursday's game against the San Francisco 49ers due to a sprained right ankle the star running back sustained Sunday against the Arizona Cardinals.
ESPN reported Monday that Barkley was expected to miss around three weeks after injuring his ankle in the latter stages of New York's 31-28 Week 2 win, though Giants coach Brian Daboll told reporters Tuesday the 2022 Pro Bowl selection was feeling better and the team had yet to make a determination on Barkley's status.
With Barkley unavailable, the Giants will have former 49er Matt Breida and Gary Brightwell as their top two running backs for Thursday's matchup.
Breida has spent the majority of his seven-year career as a backup, but did rush for 814 yards in 14 games with San Francisco in 2018. Brightwell's most extensive action came in the 2022 regular-season finale, in which he rushed for 60 yards on 11 carries against the Philadelphia Eagles.
Neither has the credentials of Barkley, who finished fourth in the NFL with a career-high 1,312 rushing yards and scored 10 touchdowns in 2022 to help the Giants to their first playoff appearance in six years. The 26-year-old accounted for 27.7 per cent of New York's total yards from scrimmage last season, the sixth-highest rate of any player for his respective team.
Barkley also played a major role in Sunday's win, in which the Giants overcame a 21-point third-quarter deficit. The 2018 No. 2 overall pick had both a rushing and receiving touchdown in the second half and ended the game with 63 rushing yards on 17 carries along with six receptions for 29 yards.
The two-time Pro Bowler has been slowed by ankle problems in the past, however. Barkley missed three games in 2019 with a high ankle sprain and four in 2021 with an injury to his left ankle.
The Giants will also be without starting left tackle Andrew Thomas for a second straight game due to a hamstring injury he suffered in the team's season-opening 40-0 loss to the Dallas Cowboys.
Browns reunite with running back Hunt after Chubb’s season-ending injury
After losing four-time Pro Bowl running back Nick Chubb for the remainder of the season, the Cleveland Browns decided to bring in a familiar face Wednesday by signing free-agent Kareem Hunt.
Chubb sustained a gruesome knee injury in Monday’s 26-22 loss at the Pittsburgh Steelers after getting off to a solid start to the 2023 season with 28 carries for 170 yards.
Chubb was third in the NFL in 2022 with 1,525 rushing yards and tied for fifth in the league with 12 touchdowns on the ground.
Jerome Ford took over as the No. 1 back at Pittsburgh and will remain in that role, with Hunt serving as his backup.
Ford, a fifth-round pick by Cleveland in the 2022 NFL Draft, ran the ball 16 times for 106 yards against the Steelers and added three receptions for 25 yards and a TD.
The Browns signed Hunt, an Ohio native, in February 2019 after he was released by the Kansas City Chiefs in November 2018 amid an NFL investigation of a video that showed him pushing a woman in the hallway of a hotel.
He was suspended for the first eight games of the 2019 season for violating the NFL’s personal conduct policy.
Hunt, who led the NFL with 1,327 rushing yards as a rookie in 2017 while with the Chiefs, ran for 1,874 yards and 16 TDs in 49 games over the last four seasons with Cleveland while totaling 132 receptions for 973 yards and seven scores.
The Browns (1-1) host the Tennessee Titans (1-1) on Sunday.
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