BREAKING NEWS: Week 13 NFL Playoff Picture 2024-25: Standings, Bracket Scenarios After Thanksgiving.giang

The Detroit Lions, Dallas Cowboys and Green Bay Packers will enjoy their Thanksgiving turkey just a little bit more, as they all won their respective games Thursday.

Detroit survived a late charge from the Chicago Bears in part because of clock mismanagement by the visitors, while the Dallas Cowboys defeated the New York Giants behind a strong defensive performance against Drew Lock.

With the loss, New York became the first team to be mathematically eliminated from the postseason race.

Green Bay also defended home-field advantage in the cold weather against the Miami Dolphins with relative ease.

Everyone is still chasing the Lions in the NFC standings after Thursday’s action, while the Kansas City Chiefs will put their AFC-best 10-1 record on the line during Friday’s game against the division-rival Las Vegas Raiders.

With that in mind, here is a look at the updated standings.

Division Leaders

1. Kansas City Chiefs (10-1)

2. Buffalo Bills (9-2)

3. Pittsburgh Steelers (8-3)

4. Houston Texans (7-5)

Wild-Card Race

5. Baltimore Ravens (8-4)

6. Los Angeles Chargers (7-4)

7. Denver Broncos (7-5)

8. Indianapolis Colts (5-7)

9. Miami Dolphins (5-7)

10. Cincinnati Bengals (4-7)

11. Cleveland Browns (3-8)

12. New York Jets (3-8)

13. Tennessee Titans (3-8)

14. New England Patriots (3-9)

15. Jacksonville Jaguars (2-9)

16. Las Vegas Raiders (2-9)

There are some intriguing races in the AFC, including the one on the top between the Chiefs and the Buffalo Bills.

Kansas City has the one-game cushion, although Buffalo earned a head-to-head win and the tiebreaker that comes with it. If Patrick Mahomes and Co. slip up even once down the stretch, Josh Allen’s club could be waiting to seize the first-round bye in the conference.

The Chiefs likely won’t slip up against the 2-9 Raiders, but they still have challenging games against the Los Angeles Chargers, Houston Texans, Pittsburgh Steelers and Denver Broncos.

All four of those teams are in playoff positioning at this stage, so the two-time reigning champions aren’t going to cruise to the No. 1 seed.

That the Steelers are on there is also interesting, as they are just a half-game ahead of the Baltimore Ravens in the AFC North. Unlike the Chiefs with the Bills, the Steelers have a head-to-head win over the Ravens.

Yet the two division rivals still face each other one more time, so Baltimore will have a chance to make up some ground. It also helps the challengers that the Steelers face the Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles down the stretch, which will be anything but easy.

While Baltimore and Pittsburgh are looking up at the Chiefs and Bills in the race for the No. 1 seed, the AFC North battle could come down to the final week of the season.

Division Leaders

1. Detroit Lions (11-1)

2. Philadelphia Eagles (9-2)

3. Seattle Seahawks (6-5)

4. Atlanta Falcons (6-5)

Wild-Card Race

5. Minnesota Vikings (9-2)

6. Green Bay Packers (9-3)

7. Washington Commanders (7-5)

8. Arizona Cardinals (6-5)

9. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (5-6)

10 Los Angeles Rams (5-6)

11. San Francisco 49ers (5-6)

12. Dallas Cowboys (5-7)

13. New Orleans Saints (4-7)

14. Chicago Bears (4-8)

15. Carolina Panthers (3-8)

16. New York Giants (2-10)

For the first time in ages, the Lions didn’t look invincible Thursday.

They still won their 10th game in a row, but they nearly blew a 16-0 halftime deficit against a 4-8 Bears team. Caleb Williams threw three touchdowns in the second half, two of which came in the fourth quarter, and moved Chicago into position to potentially win at the end.

However, he took a sack with 32 seconds remaining that knocked his team out of field-goal range.

Instead of calling his final timeout, head coach Matt Eberflus let the clock run as the offense struggled to get into position. The visitors didn’t snap the ball again until there were just a few seconds remaining, meaning Williams had to heave a long-shot throw to the end zone that fell incomplete.

While they were still victorious, it felt different than the Lions’ stretch where they had more wins of 38 or points (three) than single digits (two) in the previous eight.

The Eagles were surely cheering for the Bears to pull off the stunning upset, as they have won seven in a row and haven’t made up any ground on Detroit.

The Minnesota Vikings are also playing well but are still looking up at the one-loss Lions in the NFC North standings. Detroit also defeated them in their first head-to-head matchup, so Minnesota will likely have to beat the conference’s best team on the road to win the division.

Best of luck with that.