NFL Week 16: NFC storylines to watch

The NFL season is wrapping up, but there’s still plenty to hash out before the playoffs begin in January’s first weekend.

For starters, which teams are going to have home-field advantage in their respective conferences? Who is going to go into the playoffs as the healthiest and hottest? Who might be the team nobody sees coming?

Let’s look at what the NFC has to offer this weekend, with all 16 of the conference’s participants playing on Sunday.

– The New Orleans Saints can clinch home-field advantage once and for all by beating the Pittsburgh Steelers in the late window. New Orleans is coming off a three-game road trip in which the offense looked largely awful, and yet it managed a 2-1 record. Now, the Saints come home for their last two regular-season tilts, with the first coming against a desperate Pittsburgh team. If New Orleans can find a way to take down Ben Roethlisberger and Co., it will be able to rest all of its starters in Week 17 with nothing on the line against the Carolina Panthers.

– In Los Angeles, panic is starting to creep in. The Rams have lost two consecutive games and now face a situation where they must win their final two games to have any shot at the top seed, let alone a first-round bye. Luckily, Los Angeles will go on the road to play the 3-11 Arizona Cardinals this weekend before returning home to take on the San Francisco 49ers. While anything is possible, it’s incredibly likely that the Rams win both these games and end up as the second seed. However…

– The Chicago Bears are going to be lurking in case the Rams should somehow falter down the stretch. After knocking off the Rams and the Green Bay Packers over the past two weeks, Chicago is 10-4 and only one game off Los Angeles’ pace. The Bears are on the road in San Francisco come Sunday, and while it Neds plenty of help to value into the second seed, all things remain possible until they aren’t.

– Toward the bottom of the playoff picture, there’s ample intrigue as well. The Philadelphia Eagles are trying to defend their title a little while longer. Philadelphia beat the Rams last weekend and now hope to topple the Houston Texans at home. Should that happen, the Minnesota Vikings are likely going to be playing for their playoff lives over the last two weeks. Minnesota leads Philadelphia by a half-game for the final spot, and it travels to play the Detroit Lions on Sunday before hosting the Bears. If the Vikings make the playoffs, it will be earned.