The Atlanta Falcons, Denver Broncos, and New England Patriots locked up division titles in Week 13, making them the first to do so this season.
The Falcons won back on Thursday night, and needed a loss from Tampa Bay on the road to Denver. And with the broncos getting the win, two divisions were won with that one victory.
New England handled their business as well, beating AFC East rival Miami by a touchdown 23-16 to ensure that they are going back to the playoffs to try and defend their AFC championship title and potentially second-straight Super Bowl berth.
All three of these teams look like serious contenders for a Super Bowl this season as well.
In the NFC, Atlanta looks like they are in the driver’s seat when it comes to home field advantage as well. The Falcons have been dominant at home with Matt Ryan as their quarterback, once against producing an undefeated season thus far. Of course, their road record isn’t so bad either when a team has just one loss on the season.
But with Chicago and San Francisco losing on Sunday, the Falcons increased their NFC lead for the top season, and are just a couple wins away from locking that up. That would make the road to the Super Bowl in the NFC having to go through Atlanta.
The Falcons have been one and done over the last two playoffs, and will look to advance past a first game.
In the AFC, Denver and New England are still in a battle for seeding, though it still looks like it will be Houston’s to lose. The Texans are also 11-1 on the season like the Falcons, and two games up on both the Broncos and Patriots, and the Baltimore Ravens for the top seed in the conference.
There are still five more divisions to be decided over the final four weeks of the season, and it will certainly be fun to watch.