Week 14 looks to be Moving Day in the NFL season

The NFL Week 14 schedule is loaded with divisional matchups and a few other key contests. We’re about to see the standings shift.

Every year, there are a few Sundays which help define the NFL season. We’ve arrived at one.

This weekend, there are seven divisional tilts. Each have at least one team currently occupying a playoff spot. In the AFC, the New York Jets and Buffalo Bills squaring off gives us another with both teams in the postseason picture. The same is true in the NFC East tilt between the New York Giants and Philadelphia Eagles.

Then there are the non-divisional games that intrigue, including Sunday night’s matchup featuring the Los Angeles Chargers and Miami Dolphins at SoFi Stadium, and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers visiting the San Francisco 49ers in a battle of division leaders.

In each of the nine aforementioned games, the results will force the playoff races in each conference to shift. Not only will teams win and lose, but the divisional games will alter potential tiebreakers, giving a distinct advantage as we enter the last quarter of the season.

Of all the affairs this Sunday, Jets-Bills and Giants-Eagles are the biggest clashes.

For Gang Green, it’s an opportunity to get an important road victory. The Jets have only two home games remaining — the Detroit Lions and Jacksonville Jaguars — and even if they handle both foes at MetLife Stadium, they likely need a 10th victory. Already having beaten Buffalo once, New York could sweep its division rival and put itself in tremendous position.

Over at 538, the Jets currently have a 48 percent chance of making the playoffs. With a win, that number skyrockets to 79 percent.

Meanwhile, the Giants are in a similar spot. New York sits at 7-4-1 after tying the Washington Commanders last weekend, and now welcomes in the one-loss Eagles. With a victory, the Giants would move a game ahead of the idle Commanders in the wild card race, while jumping their odds from 51 to 75 percent.

However, both the Bills and Eagles have ample incentive themselves.

While both are currently their conference’s top seed, it’s all precarious. Buffalo is tied with the Kansas City Chiefs at 9-3, only ahead via a head-to-head tiebreaker. The Bills have a much tougher schedule than the Chiefs, playing four of their final five games against teams at or above .500. Kansas City has one such game.

For the Bills, the AFC East also remains in play. They hold a one-game lead over the Dolphins, who already beat them in Week 3 and have a rematch next weekend. A loss to the Jets could drop Buffalo into a wild card spot by Sunday’s end.

The Eagles are guaranteed to finish the week as the No. 1 seed, but the Dallas Cowboys are charging. Two games ahead in the NFC East, a loss combined with a likely Dallas win over the 1-10-1 Houston Texans would shave the margin to a game. And, with the teams still to play in Dallas, a divisional loss for Philadelphia to New York could spell major trouble.

Yet perhaps no game is more important for both participants than Miami and Los Angeles.

At 6-6, the Chargers need a win. Los Angeles sits at 30 percent in 538’s model to earn a playoff berth. With a victory on Sunday night, the odds jump to a robust 53 percent. A loss? Only 12 percent.

And for the Dolphins, trouble brews with defeat. Miami is 8-4 but a loss to the Chargers would mean a two-game losing streak going into Buffalo. The Dolphins would still be a good bet for the playoffs, but AFC East dreams would likely be over. Additionally, the Chargers would have the tiebreaker with Miami, should it come into play.

For three months, the NFL has seen teams jockey for position, setting themselves up for the stretch.

Now, in Week 14, the stretch has arrived. It’s time to make a move.