:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/71813027/1439551439.0.jpg "NFL playoff picture 2023: Does Cardinals-Falcons mean anything for NFC standings?")
The NFL heads into the Week 17 Sunday slate with all sorts of playoff implications to be determined. The field of entrants in the 2023 NFL Playoffs is slowly filling up and a handful more could punch their ticket. One game that likely won't impact any of that is the Cardinals-Falcons game at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta. The game kicks off at 1 p.m. ET and the Falcons is a 3.5-point favorite at DraftKings Sportsbook.
Cardinals-Falcons playoff picture implications
Both teams have been eliminated from playoff contention. Arizona was eliminated after their Week 15 loss to the Broncos. Atlanta was eliminated after their Week 16 loss to the Ravens.
The game could have tiebreaker implications for other teams, although it is unlikely it reaches that point. The NFL tiebreaker procedure includes strength of schedule. For divisional tiebreakers, it's the sixth tiebreaker. For conference tiebreakers, it's fifth when two teams are tied and sixth when three teams are tied.
The winner of this game will be in the driver's seat for a top five draft pick. Heading into Week 17, Arizona has the No. 4 pick and Atlanta has the No. 6 pick. If Arizona wins, they'll head into Week 18 no worse than No. 4 in the draft order and Atlanta would be somewhere between No. 6 and No. 11. If Atlanta wins, they'll likely move to fifth if everybody else ahead of them loses, and Arizona would drop to at least sixth, and maybe more.