The NFL's playoff chase went down to the final minutes of the regular season Sunday, when Baltimore squeezed in as AFC North winner and reigning Super Bowl champion Philadelphia got some help to secure an NFC wild card.
That left Pittsburgh and Minnesota out.
Kansas City (12-4) grabbed the AFC's top seed, followed by New England (11-5), Houston (11-5) and Baltimore (10-6). The Los Angeles Chargers (12-4) own the first wild card in the conference and will play at Baltimore next Sunday at 1:05 p.m. EST. Indianapolis (10-6) romped past Tennessee in Nashville, has the conference's other wild card and will play at Houston at 4:35 p.m. Saturday afternoon.
New Orleans (13-3) has the top seed in the NFC, and the Los Angeles Rams (12-4) got the No. 2 spot when they beat San Francisco. Chicago (12-4), which knocked Minnesota out of and put Philadelphia into the postseason, is seeded third and hosts Philadelphia (9-7) next Sunday at 4:40 p.m. Dallas (10-6) is the fourth seed and will play Seattle (10-6) at 8:15 Saturday night.
C.J. Mosley intercepted a fourth-down pass by Baker Mayfield to preserve Baltimore's 26-24 win over Cleveland, with Baltimore rushing for a season-best 296 yards. A year ago, Baltimore missed the playoffs by losing its finale at home to Cincinnati, which rallied with a last-minute touchdown.
Pittsburgh players remained on the field after they edged Cincinnati 16-13 and watched the drama from Baltimore on the videoboard. But archrival Cleveland couldn't help them against equally hated Baltimore, and Pittsburgh (9-6-1) was out, with the AFC North title its only realistic remaining path to the postseason.
Nick Foles, who led Philadelphia to the Super Bowl title over New England in Minneapolis last February, guided the Eagles to a resounding 24-0 victory at Washington. Then Chicago helped out at Minnesota with a 24-10 win even though it had nothing to play for, being set as the NFC's third seed.
Earlier, Houston easily handled Jacksonville and the AFC South to become the No 3 seed despite starting the season 0-3.
Houston finished last in the division in 2017 but joined NFC North champion Chicago in completing a worst-to-first turnaround this season, making it 15 of the past 16 seasons that has occurred in the league.
New England, meanwhile, will get a week off in early January for the 13th time since 2001, most in the NFL during that span. New England routed the New York Jets, and because of its win against Houston during the season, New England gets the bye.