ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported Wednesday that there has been little opposition to adding playoff teams (the 17-game regular-season schedule, on the other hand, remains contentious). Get ready, then, for tripleheaders on both days of wild-card weekend as all but the top seeds in each conference play in the first round. DIAMOND: Saints’ options for Taysom Hill with another Brees contract looming One important item was missing from Schefter’s initial report, however: whether division champions that don’t receive a bye would still automatically host a game in the first round....

Here’s the NFL playoff picture update with one week left in the 2018 regular season. MORE: NFL standings | Week 15 scoreboard NFL playoff picture AFC Who would be in: Chiefs (11-4), first in AFC West With their loss Sunday night, the Chiefs failed to clinch the division after the Chargers lost Saturday. A win over the Raiders at home in Week 17 would still give them the West title and the No....

The past tells us once a team is in the AFC or NFC tournament, what happened in the regular season is meaningless. Now it’s about getting hot and navigating matchups with a higher degree of difficulty to win the three or four games necessary to win it all. MORE NFL PLAYOFFS:Complete TV schedule | Seeding analysis It’s time to throw out the records, avoid being married to the seeds, consider the betting odds and then rank the dozen newest playoff entrants based on their chances to walk off the field winners in Miami on Feb....

The chaos does not end, as the divisional round starts this weekend. It’s the first postseason action for the Chiefs and Eagles, who earned the No. 1 seed in their respective conferences and got byes in the first round. Whether your team is hosting a game or you’re looking to travel to support your club on the road, The Sporting News can help with the search for the best way to purchase tickets....

Then, there’s the more subtle link. For both, it’s anyone’s guess which team will show up in any given week. That’s not terribly uncommon on wild-card weekend — if either were more consistent, they’d be off this week. But here is a Jaguars team that physically dominated playoff contender Seattle in Week 14, then two weeks later got physically dominated itself by a 10-loss 49ers team. The Bills, meanwhile, in a three-week span earlier, gave up 298 rushing yards to the Saints and lost at home 47-10, then went to Kansas City and smothered Alex Smith’s offense in a 16-10 win....

Russell Wilson and Dak Prescott are on the marquee with their dazzling skills as athletic passers, but these teams have been more about consistent running games and clutch zone defenses. Their NFC wild-card round meeting is a rematch of a Week 3 game in Seattle dominated by the Seahawks, 24-13. MORE: SN’s NFL playoff predictions Beyond the offensive principals, the linebackers are the stars to watch in this game. The Seahawks have more seasoning with Bobby Wagner and a healthy K....

Saints quarterback Drew Brees reached the biggest milestone of the season when he surpassed Peyton Manning’s mark of 71,940 yards to became the NFL’s all-time leading passer. Brees also set records for career completions (6,586) and single-season completion percentage (74.4). But it was young star Patrick Mahomes who ran away with MVP honors after the Chiefs quarterback became only the second NFL player in history to pass for more than 50 touchdowns and 5,000 yards in a season....

You can see the rule in the NBA’s official rulebook, under the “Player/Team Conduct and Dress” section, on page 61. The NBA sent a memo to teams reinforcing its anthem rule in 2017. (1) Each player when introduced, prior to the game, must be uniformly dressed. (2) Players, coaches and trainers are to stand and line up in a dignified posture along the sidelines or on the foul line during the playing of the National Anthem....

The league made a point to mention that as it announced it had suspended Shaw through at least the entire 2020 season for betting on NFL games. “A league investigation uncovered no evidence indicating any inside information was used or that any game was compromised in any way,” the league said in its statement. “Nor was there evidence suggesting any awareness by teammates, coaches or other players of (Shaw’s) betting activity....

The game of the week is a matchup between the Chiefs and the Rams, two of the NFL’s best teams, on Monday night. That will cap a weekend of intriguing games, including Thursday night’s Packers-Seahawks tilt in Seattle. Also scheduled for Sunday are two key NFC games. The Eagles travel to New Orleans to face the red-hot Saints in the late Sunday afternoon slot. On Sunday night, the Vikings and Bears clash in a huge game for the NFC North standings....

Fournette’s rare blend of size, explosiveness, lower half bend and finishing ability as a bruising-yet-big-play back has scouts pondering whether he’s a better prospect than Todd Gurley and Ezekiel Elliott were before him. MOCK DRAFT 2017: Browns, 49ers take calculated QB risks Also in this NFL draft spotlight, a look at Oklahoma receiver Dede Westbrook and why you shouldn’t downplay his ability. Plus, a glance at the NFL draft quarterback rankings....

Although the playoff picture for the AFC and NFC won’t be finalized until Week 18, it’s time to keep looking at the updated standings and which teams would be in the playoffs if the season ended on Sunday of Week 17. Here’s a breakdown of the NFL’s latest playoff field and seedings, as well as a look at the contenders on the brink of joining the postseason party: POWER RANKINGS: Chiefs, 49ers overtake Eagles, Bills as new 1-2; Packers, Steelers, Patriots cling to life for Week 18...

A lot has changed for Indianapolis in the intervening 10 months, most notably because Andrew Luck announced his retirement shortly before the start of the season. Without their star quarterback, the Colts have started the season with a respectable 2-2 record, which is shared by the other three AFC South teams. The Chiefs, meanwhile, have picked up where they left off last season. Kansas City is 4-0—the only team still unbeaten in the NFL along with the Patriots—and has looked every bit the Super Bowl contender everyone expected it to be....

The satellite carrier, now owned by AT&T, announced Monday it will expand this season the availability of NFL Sunday Ticket to viewers without a DirecTV subscription. MORE: Must-watch games in 2015 | Each Week’s Top 3 | “Hard Knocks” schedule “Millions of people in apartments and houses in the U.S. who were unable to install DirecTV satellite dishes can now enjoy every out-of-market game, every Sunday afternoon on their favorite mobile and connected devices,” Alex Kaplan, DirecTV’s senior vice president of marketing, said....

Both teams began the season with a home loss. The Panthers went down 30-27 to the Los Angeles Rams, while the Buccaneers lost 31-17 to the San Francisco 49ers. Carolina has lost the last four home games in a row dating back to last season, while the Bucs have tasted defeat in their last seven road games. Something, however, will have to give on Thursday night. On the face of it, the Panthers have a better chance of breaking their losing streak....

Concerned about the record 107 underclassmen who applied for this year’s draft, and with 37 of them not selected, the league’s College Advisory Committee developed new guidelines for players considering forfeiting their final years of eligibility. Troy Vincent, the league’s head of football operations, said Friday the underclassmen will be advised on their potential to be picked in the first or second round. They also could be advised to stay in school....

Luckily, BetQL can help out in that area. Our subscribers can view NFL ATS picks from BetQL’s model and make the most informed, data-driven wagers possible. Let’s get into some of the Sunday slate’s top options. WEEK 13 FANTASY RANKINGS: Quarterback | Running back | Wide receiver | Tight end | D/ST | Kicker All data presented is as of Wednesday morning. You can track all NFL line movement on BetQL’s Line Movement Dashboard....

Before we get into the Week 13 forecasts, here’s a reminder that if you have any questions about sports weather or how weather could impact play (and, potentially, your fantasy, DFS, and gambling decisions), don’t hesitate to reach out to RotoGrinders’ meteorologist Kevin Roth on Twitter (@KevinRothWx) or check out the hourly NFL weather forecasts on RotoGrinders. To take your game to the next level, subscribe to RotoGrinders’ exclusive WeatherEdge tool and see how different weather conditions have impacted historical scoring....