Weather conditions around the National Football League for Week 14 action are mostly mild for mid-December. We have also had a full schedule of games this week, with a Thursday night contest and one Monday Night Football matchup bookending today’s 14 games.

With four weeks to go in the regular season, the playoff picture is coming into focus and for the first time in 20 years the New England Patriots are not in the thick of the hunt. Their loss on Thursday night to the Los Angeles Rams all but eliminates them from participating in this year’s postseason even with the expanded format.

Seven teams from each conference will advance to this season’s playoffs, with only the top seed from each conference earning an opening week bye. In the AFC, the Pittsburgh Steelers had their perfect season snapped last week by the Washington Redskins, but still hold the tiebreaker over the 11-1 Kansas City Chiefs by virtue of their lone loss coming outside their conference. The Chiefs only defeat was a Week 5 home loss to the Las Vegas Raiders.

Tonight, Pittsburgh visits the AFC East Division leading Buffalo Bills, who pinned Pittsburgh with a loss in a December matchup at Heinz Field last year.

The last second escape from being pinned with the first loss suffered against the New York Jets last week kept the Silver and Black’s postseason hopes alive. Today, they host the Indianapolis Colts, who share the lead in the AFC South Division with the Tennessee Titans. Both the Colts and Titans have eight wins against four losses this season.

The New Orleans Saints hold the top spot in the National Football Conference with ten wins in a dozen decisions. They hold a one game edge over the Green Bay Packers, who meet the Lions in Detroit today. While the Saints have the one game edge, if the two teams end the season with the same records, the tiebreaker goes to the Packers, who beat the Saints in their only head-to-head meeting earlier this season, 37-30.

The NFC East, which had four teams seemingly struggling to say behind the rest of the division, has suddenly come to life. The Washington Redskins, improved their record to 5 and 7 with their win in Pittsburgh, and the New York Giants kept pace last week while gaining their fifth win of the year with an upset victory over the Seattle Seahawks on the road.

The Seahawks and Rams entered this week with eight wins each, while the Rams beat the Seahawks in the two team’s first contest of the year and the two teams will meet again in two weeks in Seattle.

With all the drama a stretch drive in the NFL has to offer, the public has landed on their three favorite plays of the week. First by virtue of public betting is the New Orleans Saints (-8) over the Philadelphia Eagles, followed by the Tennessee Titans (-7) over Jacksonville Jaguars and Tampa Bay Buccaneers (-7) over the Minnesota Vikings.

As for Qoxhi Picks, are money rated plays are now posted on this site, and if a Bullet Play develops in the final hour leading to the day’s first kickoff, that game will be added to the list of recommendations by 9:45 a.m. Pacific Time.