The final week of the NFL season is almost here.
With the playoff field nearly solidified across the board, the league will head back out for one final week of the regular season. The NFL dropped its schedule for the last weekend of the season on Sunday night. There are no Thursday or Monday night games in Week 18, so the season will be officially over on Jan. 5.
All eyes next week will be on the massive NFC North showdown between the Detroit Lions and Minnesota Vikings. That game, which will end the week on “Sunday Night Football,” will determine who wins the division and takes the No. 1 seed in the conference. The loser of that game will take the No. 5 seed in the NFC and have to travel for their first playoff game. It marks the second time in the past three seasons that the Lions get the final game of the regular season.
In the AFC, things are largely locked up. The Kansas City Chiefs secured the top seed in the conference, and the Buffalo Bills have the second seed. The final spot in the playoffs, however, will come down to a three-way race between the Cincinnati Bengals, Denver Broncos and Miami Dolphins. The Broncos are in the best position among that group, as they just have to beat the Chiefs next weekend to earn their first playoff berth since their Super Bowl 50 run.
Here’s a look at the schedule for the final week of the 2024 regular season:
All times ET
Saturday, Jan. 4
4:30 p.m. | Cleveland Browns at Baltimore Ravens | ABC/ESPN
8 p.m. | Cincinnati Bengals at Pittsburgh Steelers | ABC/ESPN
Sunday, Jan. 5
1 p.m. | Carolina Panthers at Atlanta Falcons | CBS
1 p.m. | Houston Texans at Tennessee Titans | CBS
1 p.m. | Buffalo Bills at New England Patriots | CBS
1 p.m. | New York Giants at Philadelphia Eagles | CBS
1 p.m. | Washington Commanders at Dallas Cowboys | Fox
1 p.m. | Chicago Bears at Green Bay Packers | Fox
1 p.m. | Jacksonville Jaguars at Indianapolis Colts | Fox
1 p.m. | New Orleans Saints at Tampa Bay Buccaneers | Fox
4:25 p.m. | Kansas City Chiefs at Denver Broncos | CBS
4:25 p.m. | Los Angeles Chargers at Las Vegas Raiders | CBS
4:25 p.m. | Miami Dolphins at New York Jets | Fox
4:25 p.m. | Seattle Seahawks at Los Angeles Rams | Fox
4:25 p.m. | San Francisco 49ers at Arizona Cardinals | Fox
8:20 p.m. | Minnesota Vikings at Detroit Lions | NBC
Michelle BechA well-known American college football player, a young aspiring nurse and a mother of a four-year-old are among the victims of the New Year's day a
Rich Cimini, ESPN Staff WriterJan 1, 2025, 05:18 PM ETCloseRich Cimini is a staff writer who covers the New York Jets and the NFL at ESPN. Rich has covered the
The Sugar Bowl between the US college football teams of Notre Dame and the University of Georgia has been postponed until Thursday following the New Orleans att
The College Football Playoff quarter-final at the Sugar Bowl between Georgia and Notre Dame has been postponed after a truck plowed into a New Year’s crowd ab