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NFL Week 15 picks: Consider Seahawks, Chargers and Texans

Lorenzo Reyes suggests picking against the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 15 Locks.

The NFL‘s playoff races are quickly heating up as December football kicks into high gear.

Yet there’s a flip side to the best teams jockeying for postseason position − quite a few other clubs have been and will continue to be officially eliminated from playoff consideration. Heading into Week 15, nine of the league’s 32 teams already know their seasons will conclude with their Week 18 games. Others are likely to join them Sunday, even the reigning AFC champion Kansas City Chiefs in danger of seeing their hopes officially dashed this weekend.

Here’s a look at which clubs are already playing out the string, and which ones could soon be doing exactly that:

Which NFL teams have been eliminated from playoff contention?

These are the nine teams that have already seen their postseason chances for 2025 extinguished:

▶ New York Giants (2-11, eliminated in Week 12)

▶ Arizona Cardinals (3-10, eliminated in Week 13)

▶ New Orleans Saints (3-10, eliminated in Week 13)

▶ Tennessee Titans (2-11, eliminated in Week 13)

▶ Las Vegas Raiders (2-11, eliminated in Week 13)

▶ Washington Commanders (3-10, eliminated in Week 14)

▶ Atlanta Falcons (5-9, eliminated in Week 14)

▶ New York Jets (3-10, eliminated in Week 14)

▶ Cleveland Browns (3-10, eliminated in Week 14)

NFL teams outside the projected playoff bracket but not eliminated heading into Week 15

▶ Cincinnati Bengals (4-9, 2% chance to make playoffs, per NFL’s Next Gen Stats)

▶ Minnesota Vikings (5-8, 1%)

▶ Miami Dolphins (6-7, 1%)

▶ Kansas City Chiefs (6-7, 14%)

▶ Baltimore Ravens (6-7, 32%)

▶ Dallas Cowboys (6-6-1, 11%)

▶ Tampa Bay Buccaneers (7-7, 53%)

▶ Indianapolis Colts (8-5, 27%)

▶ Detroit Lions (8-5, 56%)

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