Judy Battista highlights the storylines and factors to pay attention to in Week 17, beginning with what promises to be a relatively smooth conclusion to the 2014 season and continuing below with .After an unusually turbulent season off the field, the NFL appears to be in for a relatively placid final day of the regular season -- and even a not-quite-as-dark-as-usual Black Monday. In the AFC, six of Sunday's eight games affect the playoffs, but three divisions have already been claimed and only one playoff spot remains available after the on Monday night. And it can be grabbed simply: , they claim a wild-card berth. The lack of drama shouldn't be a surprise. The AFC has been marked this season by a wide gulf between the haves and have-nots -- this is the conference that has a 12-win team and an 11-win team, but also through Week 16. That disparity allowed the contenders to quickly separate themselves from the field and seize their playoff spots early. New England and Indianapolis have both e sentially wrapped up their playoff seeding -- the are guaranteed the top spot while the will likely own the fourth (they could move to No. 3 if and ends in a tie) -- begging the question of whether and should even play. In the NFC, only one spot remains open, and it will be claimed by the winner of the , which will crown the sub-.500 champion of the NFC South. Beyond that, Sunday's games are about seeding and hosting. It's nothing to sneeze at, considering two of the potential venues are Seattle and Green Bay, (and New England and Pittsburgh in the AFC), which offer their tenants a significant home-field advantage -- but it's also nothing like the hair- https://www.longhornsfan.com/texas-longhorns-jersey/cole-hutson-jersey pulling drama of last season. Entering the final week of that campaign, 18 teams still had a chance to win the -- they had either already wrapped up postseason berths or were still in the running. This year, two fewer teams are still alive.Last year, no NFC division had been secured -- that was the first time since 2000 an entire conference had no division winners locked in entering the final day of games -- and the health and availability of two of the league's best players were being a se sed into the final hours before kickoff of their play-in games. This year, both and are healthy (relatively) and their teams are safely into the postseason. Their races, then, are for seeding. Winning the division remains important to teams. It is why owners are reluctant to approve reseeding for the playoffs, because they view hosting a playoff game as a suitable reward for accomplishing the first goal of every season: to win the division. It explains why, after his team secured , coach yelled to his team as they came off the field: "Let's go get us the division."The reality, though, is that in recent years, top seeding, or even winning the division, hasn't been as critical to postseason succe s as might be expected. Since 2005, six champions did not have a first-round bye -- meaning that in six of the last nine seasons, the eventual champion had to play on the first weekend of the playoffs. And three of those six were wild-card teams, so they had to go on the road to do it. Just two of the last 20 s featured the teams that held the top seed in each conference. The final day of the season provides a portrait of the NFL in its starkest emotional terms: the jubilation of the 12 teams that move on to the postseason, the disappointment of the 20 that don't, and the dread for the handful of teams that will begin extreme makeovers by firing their coaches or general managers.There have been at least seven new head coaches in each of the last four seasons. While divorce appears imminent in several high-profile places -- the , , and all seem poised to make big moves -- this could be a comparatively bloodle s Black Monday, in part because the high amount of turnover in previous years has produced a crop of relative newbies in the head coach's seat. Just eight coaches -- 25 percent of the league -- have been with their teams for seven years or more. And 2015 is not expected to get anywhere near the high watermark of 11 new coaches in 2009.Finally, the NFL could have a smooth landing after a very bumpy ride. *But before it ends, here are seven things to watch in this weekend's most crucial games. *1) that features two teams playing for one playoff spot is for the championship of the woeful NFC South. The won this season, although Carolina had the lead in the fourth after scoring two touchdowns in that quarter against Atlanta's defense, which ranked 31st at the time. The are 5-0 against the NFC South and 1-9 against the rest of the NFL. quarterback has thrown 10 interceptions in his career against Atlanta, twice as many as he has against any other team in his career (he has thrown five against the ). But quarterback has 21 career touchdown pa ses against Carolina, the most he has thrown against any team.2) The can win their first division title in 21 years and secure a first-round bye , something they haven't done in Wisconsin since 1991. has not thrown an interception at home this season, and he's won 75 percent (18 of 24) of his career starts when the temperature is 40 degrees or below. has gone 1-4 in such games -- and the temperature at Lambeau Field on Sunday is expected to be in the 20s. The will be without suspended starting center , but the have faced three top-five ranked defenses this season (the are second), and they lost to all three.3) Can the shut down another premier running back? Pittsburgh stopped ball carrier . This week, the team faces Cincinnati rookie , who had an 85-yard touchdown run against the on Monday. The trounced the , with the yielding 543 total yards, but pa sed for more than 300 yards in that game. The winner of is the AFC North champion, while the loser will get a wild-card berth.4) Are the Bolts playoff-bound?The get the final AFC playoff spot if in Kansas City. San Diego has won four of its last six games. With the ' running game struggling, the performance of -- who is 15-2 on the road in December -- will be key. The will certainly have their work cut out for them now that has been ruled out. With Smith sidelined, Kansas City willlikely return to leaning on , who has had fewer than 15 rushes in four straight games. But the , whose , allowed the to pile up 355 rushing yards . The need a win and some help to get the final wild-card spot.5) The need plenty of a sistance to return to the playoffs -- but first, JoeFlacco has to play a lot better., Flacco was 3-of-18 pa sing with two interceptions in the first half. Cleveland's defense leads the league in interceptions, but its offense has ground to a halt and -- and --will be led by. Look for the to feed the ball to running back , who has a career high in yards this season but has rushed for fewer than 75 yards in three straight games. The ' defense ranks in run defense.6) Can the offense gain some momentum heading into the playoffs? Arizona's last 66 drives have resulted in just two touchdowns, and their running game is averaging a league-low 3.25 yards per rush. They have scored fewer than 20 points in six straight games. . If the win and the lose, the win the NFC West. Otherwise, the are a wild-card team. Regardle s, Arizona might have to forge on with Lindley at the reins, as the injured -- whom had hoped would be -- might now be with an infection that nece sitated arthroscopic surgery.7) The most overwhelming home-field advantage in the NFL is on the line when . If the win and does not end in a tie, Seattle has home-field advantage throughout the NFC playoffs. The 'Hawks have won five in a row, and in that span, their defense has allowed an average of 6.6 points per game. Follow Judy Battista on Twitter . https://www.longhornsfan.com/texas-longhorns-jersey/ethan-burke-jersey

Bill Belichick is being as blunt with the incoming cla s of rookies as he can. Making it to the NFL is the culmination of a dream for rookies, but the real work begins once they get the call from a club -- be it in the draft or after. The level of difficulty they face in 2020 has been ratcheted up to unprecedented levels by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic though, having not had physical acce s to their coaches or teammates to now, with the entire offseason having been made virtual prior to training camps firing up in late July.Additionally, there will be no preseason games to help them acclimate and/or prove themselves worthy of a roster spot. This gives a definitive edge to veterans, but Belichick does like the progre s he's seeing in his rookies, particularly given the list of unique challenges they're facing this offseason."I think all of our rookies have worked extremely hard," Belichick said, via Mark Daniels of the Providence Journal. "They're in deep water -- turbulent water -- and it's going to get rougher, just in terms of the volume and the level of competition, becoming a profe sional athlete, and the full day and consecutive days that get strung together with very high demands both physically, mentally and https://www.jayhawksjersey.com/kansas-jayhawks-jersey/ryan-malbrough-jersey rest and recovery and all that. I think all the guys are adjusting to it. They're all working hard at it."It's a really hard working group. There haven't been any problems. They're just doing the best they can, but they're swimming. They're in deep water and their eyes get open every day as we move up in the proce s, and we're still a long way from anything close to real football."There will be opportunities for the rookies to make their presence known though, more so for the Patriots than any other organization in the NFL, considering the club had a .That list includes high-profile players like linebacker D'onta Hightower and offensive tackle , which presumably adds value to Josh Uche and , the team's 60th- and 87th-overall pick, respectively. And with safety opting out as well, second-round pick could and should see more and more immediate playing time, but none of this changes the handicaps created by lack of a preseason and an abbreviated training camp. Things will soon pick up with padded practices able to begin on Monday, Aug. 17, and Belichick has been closely monitoring his first year guys in preparation for all that comes next."We're doing more now than we did before," he said. "Each day is an acclimation day and adjustment day for them. I think they're just trying to keep their head above water and try to swim or paddle in the right direction, knowing that they're not really able to keep up but they're doing the best they can and they're way, way ahead of where they were a week ago, two weeks ago, a month ago, two months ago. A lot of progre s there, but a long way to go."But they're really all in the same boat. It's a hard working, conscientious, diligent group. They have a lot that they're going to have to absorb. We'll get a much better evaluation of where they are in the next week to 10 days when things start happening on the football field and we start playing some football."Belichick is champing at the bit to see what his rookies can do, but he also understands this is a year in which they're truly behind the eight ball. That said, the six-time Super Bowl winner isn't going to settle for le s simply because he's short several key veterans. If anything, he's going to demand more, and everyone involved better be ready. https://www.jayhawksjersey.com/kansas-jayhawks-jersey/kohl-rosario-jersey