Every week for the duration of the 2024 NFL regular season, USA TODAY Sports will provide timely updates to the league's ever-evolving playoff picture - typically starting after Sunday afternoon's late games and then moving forward for the remainder of the week (through Monday's and Thursday's games or Saturday's, if applicable).

What just happened? What does it mean? What are the pertinent factors (and, perhaps, tiebreakers) prominently in play as each conference's seven-team bracket begins to crystallize? All will be explained and analyzed up to the point when the postseason field is finalized on Sunday, Jan. 5.

Here's where things stand with Week 15 of the 2024 season underway:

x - 1. Detroit Lions (12-1), NFC North leaders: For the first time in their 95-season history, they've won 12 games in successive seasons - and snatching Week 14's night's nail biter from the Packers officially qualified the Lions for the 2024 postseason. Big game with Buffalo on Sunday afternoon in Motown, but - given its interconference nature - one that shouldn't necessarily be crucial in the tiebreaker department if Detroit and its depleted defense stumble. Remaining schedule: vs. Bills, at Bears, at 49ers, vs. Vikings

x - 2. Philadelphia Eagles (11-2), NFC East leaders: Winners of nine straight, they cannot clinch the division Sunday following Washington's victory in New Orleans. Remaining schedule: vs. Steelers, at Commanders, vs. Cowboys, vs. Giants

3. Seattle Seahawks (8-5), NFC West leaders: A loss Sunday night would drop them out of the division lead due to their Week 9 loss to the Rams. Remaining schedule: vs. Packers, vs. Vikings, at Bears, at Rams

4. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (7-6), NFC South leaders: Their weak schedule down the stretch, plus Atlanta's ongoing collapse, has finally done what many saw coming - the Bucs vaulting into first place last week by beating the Raiders as the Falcons crumbled in Minneapolis. Atlanta's season sweep of Tampa does mean the Buccaneers, who most recently finished out of first place in 2020, need to remain plus one in the win column. Remaining schedule: at Chargers, at Cowboys, vs. Panthers, vs. Saints

5. Minnesota Vikings (11-2), wild card No. 1: Minnesota can clinch a spot by beating Chicago on Monday night - though a Seattle loss would secure it first. Remaining schedule: vs. Bears, at Seahawks, vs. Packers, at Lions

6. Green Bay Packers (9-4), wild card No. 2: Getting swept by Detroit pretty much relegates the Pack to wild-card status, but they'll have to wait at least another week to clinch. Remaining schedule: at Seahawks, vs. Saints, at Vikings, vs. Bears

7. Washington Commanders (9-5), wild card No. 3: They barely survived the Saints, but it was enough to keep them alive one more week with the NFC East still technically up for grabs. Remaining schedule: vs. Eagles, vs. Falcons, at Cowboys

8. Los Angeles Rams (8-6), in the hunt: Win out, and the Rams - now a half-game behind Seattle - are NFC West champs. LA, which is also in the wild-card hunt, moves into first place in its division Sunday night if Seattle loses. Remaining schedule: at Jets, vs. Cardinals, vs. Seahawks

9. Atlanta Falcons (6-7), in the hunt: Their margin for error is gone and so is first place in the NFC South after their losing streak extended to four Sunday in Minnesota, when the Falcons fell five spots in the conference standings. Still, their season sweep of the Bucs means they only need to pull even with Tampa Bay to reclaim the division lead. Remaining schedule: at Raiders, vs. Giants, at Commanders, vs. Panthers

10. Arizona Cardinals (6-7), in the hunt: They could've moved back atop the NFC West by defeating Seattle. Instead, the Cards lost their third straight and have just about played themselves out of contention for anything. They also fell behind Atlanta, which has three more conference victories than Arizona. Remaining schedule: vs. Patriots, at Panthers, at Rams, vs. 49ers

11. San Francisco 49ers (6-8), in the hunt: Thursday's loss to the Rams was a near-fatal blow to the reigning NFC champs, who have better than a 99% probability of missing postseason, per NFL.com. Remaining schedule: at Dolphins, vs. Lions, at Cardinals

13. Dallas Cowboys (6-8), in the hunt: Like the Niners, whom they lost to in Week 8, their postseason hopes are on life support despite Sunday's win in Charlotte. Remaining schedule: vs. Buccaneers, at Eagles, vs. Commanders

y - 2. Buffalo Bills (10-3), AFC East champions: That potentially pivotal tiebreaker against the Chiefs isn't worth a whole heckuva lot if the Bills, losers of that entertaining show with the Rams last Sunday, can't keep up with the reigning champs. Remaining schedule: at Lions, vs. Patriots, vs. Jets, at Patriots

3. Pittsburgh Steelers (10-3), AFC North leaders: They remain relevant in the discussion for home-field advantage. The strength-of-victory tiebreaker currently keeps Pittsburgh looking up at Buffalo. Remaining schedule: at Eagles, at Ravens, vs. Chiefs, vs. Bengals

4. Houston Texans (9-5), AFC South leaders: An Indianapolis loss at Denver wraps up a second straight division crown for Houston. Remaining schedule: at Chiefs, vs. Ravens, at Titans

5. Baltimore Ravens (9-5), wild card No. 1: Cruised past sleepwalking Giants, but now the Ravens really need the Eagles to win in order to bring Pittsburgh back into focus as it pertains to the AFC North throne. Remaining schedule: vs. Steelers, at Texans, vs. Browns

6. Los Angeles Chargers (8-5), wild card No. 2: Despite getting dunked (and doinked) by the Chiefs again, they'll have to do a lot of "Charger-ing" to cough up a golden opportunity in Year 1 under HC Jim Harbaugh ... though they will face additional playoff-caliber squads the next two weeks. Remaining schedule: vs. Buccaneers, vs. Broncos, at Patriots, at Raiders

7. Denver Broncos (8-5), wild card No. 3: They've got a great shot at their first postseason trip since winning Super Bowl 50 nine years ago. But messing around with Indianapolis could get them into trouble. Losses to the Ravens and Chargers currently keep them suppressed as the seventh seed. Remaining schedule: vs. Colts, at Chargers, at Bengals, vs. Chiefs

10. Cincinnati Bengals (6-8), in the hunt: They won in Nashville on Sunday, meaning there's still a faint pulse. They remain behind Miami due to an inferior record in AFC games. Remaining schedule: vs. Browns, vs. Broncos, at Steelers