The NFL saved its best drama for the final game of the final weekend of the regular season.
The Detroit Lions — eliminated from playoff contention earlier Sunday when the Seattle Seahawks beat the Los Angeles Rams — pushed past their disappointment and played the role of spoilers perfectly, rallying to beat the Green Bay Packers 20-16 on Sunday night in a matchup of NFC North Division rivals.
Instead of the Packers, it’s the Seahawks (9-8) who will be the No. 7 seed in the conference. They’ll travel to face the San Francisco 49ers (13-4), an NFC West rival, in next weekend’s wild-card round. The 49ers won the division and wound up the No. 2 seed.
The rest of next weekend’s schedule is also set.
In the AFC, the seventh-seeded Miami Dolphins (9-8) visit the second-seeded Buffalo Bills (13-3) in a pairing of East Division rivals, the No. 6 Baltimore Ravens (10-7) visit the No. 3 Cincinnati Bengals (12-4) as two North Division teams square off, and the No. 5 Los Angeles Chargers (10-7), who finished behind the 49ers in the West, visit the No. 4 Jacksonville Jaguars (9-8), who won the South by rallying to beat the Tennessee Titans late Saturday night.