Last week, I trumpeted the news (great news, in my opinion) that 27 of 32 teams are realistically still in the running for a playoff spot. Sunday, that number will start falling considerably. Over the next couple of weeks, division matches will sharply divide the division leaders and laggards. A division title is the only secure road to a playoff spot. Even with six wild cards, more than half of the NFL teams (18) will be sitting out the playoffs.

Will your team be one of the fortunate 14 who advance? In some cases, we will know at the end of this weekend — which just happens to be Week 14.

The Cowboys will immediately face their division challengers, starting with their first match against the Washington team.

The Chiefs can deal a serious blow to the Raiders' hopes of stealing the AFC West crown. The Broncos and Chargers are right there in the mix as well.

 
The Browns badly need a win over the Ravens, if they are to remain relevant in that dead heat known as the AFC North. 

 
The Bears have a last gasp against those high-strutting ('I own you') Packers on Sunday night, and the Rams and Cardinals go head-to-head on Monday night in a match that will likely determine whether the Cardinals can hold the NFC West and the league's number one standing. In my view, the Cardinals, Buccaneers, Packers and Cowboys are shoo-ins to win their division titles. 

The AFC, however, is completely up for grabs! The Colts still have a shot to overtake the Titans in the AFC South. The Bills and Dolphins are not done chasing the Patriots in the AFC East. And, in the AFC West and AFC North, the mad dash is just beginning. Despite the fact that the Chiefs and the Ravens hold one-game leads in their divisions, absolutely nothing is decided among those eight teams — all of them are close enough that a late sprint could put them in the winner's circle.

All of this uncertainty means fans will be glued to their seats. When December is over, I think the NFL will have broken its all-time ratings records.

This is the final week that any team has a bye during the regular season. Starting in Week 15, there will be 16 matches each week (for the last four weeks of the regular season).

Last week, my picks went 7-7. Here are all the Week 14 matches – and my picks.

Steelers at Vikings              Vikings        Thursday
Cowboys at Washington       Cowboys
Jaguars at Titans                Titans
Seahawks at Texans            Seahawks
Raiders at Chiefs                 Chiefs
Saints at Jets                      Saints
Falcons at Panthers             Falcons
Ravens at Browns               Browns
Giants at Chargers              Giants 
Lions at Broncos                 Broncos
49ers at Bengals                 Bengals
Bills at Buccaneers              Buccaneers
Bears at Packers                 Packers    Sunday Night
Rams at Cardinals               Cardinals    Monday

  "Try to have fun no matter what you do." - Prince