Five outrageous predictions for Week 17 of the NFL season

Here we are. It's the final week of the NFL regular season, and there remains a ton on the line for multiple teams around the league.

Who will come away on top in both the AFC West and NFC North? Can Rex Ryan lead his Buffalo Bills to a win over his former team in what amounts to nothing less than a playoff game for the New York Jets?

How will the Philadelphia Eagles respond to the firing of head coach Chip Kelly prior to the team's final game of the year? And can Julio Jones find a way into the record books?

We will answer all these questions in the final regular-season installment of our weekly outrageous predictions article.

1. Minnesota Vikings win the NFC North

It would be a defining moment for Teddy Bridgewater if he were able to lead Minnesota to a division title against Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field Sunday night. Just imagine all the people walking down narrative street having to take a beeline out of dodge.

The interesting thing here is that it really could happen. Fresh off two blowout wins that saw them outscore their opponents by a combined 53 points, the Vikings are playing their best football of the season at just the right time.

Unfortunately for those in Wisconsin, the same cannot be said about Green Bay. Coming off a disastrous eight-point performance against the Arizona Cardinals last week, the Packers have now scored less than 20 points five times this season.

To put that into perspective, here's a team that failed to reach that plateau just five times in its 22 games prior to this year.

More than this, Green Bay has not done a great job defending its home field on the season. The Chicago Bears and Detroit Lions, both of whom are not going to the postseason, have gone into Green Bay and won over the past month-plus.

It's all going to be about maintaining a high level of play on defense and continuing to find success on the ground with Adrian Peterson — two things that came together perfectly last week against the Giants.

Look for Minnesota to find a way to come out with a win Sunday night, earning a surprising NFC North title in the process.

2. Kansas City Chiefs take the AFC West

Yes, this scenario includes the Denver Broncos finding a way to lose at home against a four-win San Diego Chargers team that has absolutely nothing to play for. It also includes Kansas City defeating an Oakland Raiders team that's looking to finish the season with a .500 record.

First thing's first. Philip Rivers is one of the most prideful players in the entire NFL. He's not going to let his last-place Chargers squad go into Denver and lay an egg.

That's simply not in his DNA, evidenced by the team's competitive play over the past five weeks. In fact, eight of the 11 Chargers losses on the season have come by one score. If you're expecting a blowout here, think again.

Now on to the Chiefs. They are going to face a difficult test against what has been one of the most improved teams in the NFL.

With that said, Kansas City's current nine-game winning streak is in no way a fluke. This team is for real, especially at home. Over the course of their current winning streak, the Chiefs are yielding an average of 11 points in five home dates. Meanwhile, the Raiders are averaging less than 17 points in their past three road games.

If Kansas City is able to come away with a win here, it will host a wild card game next week. If not, it could very well be looking at playing a vastly inferior Houston Texans team on the road. In this, winning the division isn't necessarily the end-all, be-all. This means that Andy Reid's squad should find itself playing relatively loose come Sunday.

3. Julio Jones breaks single-season receptions mark

This stud Atlanta Falcons receiver needs 17 catches to break Marvin Harrison's single-season receptions mark. While that may seem as improbable as it gets, it's important to note that Atlanta has absolutely nothing to play for in this one. Why not attempt to get Jones that record in order to head into the offseason on a high note?

Jones' career high in receptions (13) came earlier this year against the New York Giants. All three of his single-game highs have actually come this season with a career-best 20 targets against the Dallas Cowboys back in September.

Taking on a New Orleans Saints defense that ranks 31st in the NFL against the pass and has given up 43 touchdown passes on the season, this represents a tremendous mismatch in Jones' favor.

Now take into account the fact that opposing receivers have notched a 63 percent completion rate and 27 touchdowns on the season, and that's magnified even further.

This is all dependent on the Falcons actually making a point of forcing the ball to Jones and the Saints not having any real answer to his prowess on the field. I'll hedge my bet in his favor in this one.

4. Philadelphia Eagles dominate without Chip Kelly

Following the shocking firing of Kelly earlier this week, the Eagles still have to play one more game before calling it a season. That game will come against a New York Giants squad that could also find itself changing coaches when all is said and done next month.

It could go one of two ways under interim head coach Pat Shurmur. Eagles players could call it a season prior to even taking the field on Sunday. They could also play inspired football knowing that the tyrant that was Chip Kelly is no longer with the team.

This one scribe remembers pretty clearly a San Francisco 49ers team that was in a similar situation back in 2010. Mike Singletary had been fired prior to the final regular-season game.

A longtime assistant in the form of Jim Tomsula replaced him on the sideline for the finale against Arizona. San Francisco responded by playing loose overall football in a 38-7 win over the Cardinals.

There's no real hope that Shurmur will be the full-time head coach when Philadelphia's search is finalized. This means that he has absolutely nothing to lose in an otherwise meaningless game. That's a dangerous proposition for the Giants.

Just imagine the narrative in Philadelphia if the Eagles were to blow out their division rivals a few days after firing Kelly. Based on what we've heard from current/former Eagles players, that's something they are going to want to do.

5. Rex Ryan exacts revenge against old team

There would be nothing better for Ryan's fabulously large ego than for his Buffalo Bills team to end the New York Jets' playoff aspirations in the season finale. We know very well the terms in which Ryan was ousted from the Jets organization. We can also likely conclude that the head coach still holds some resentment there.

This doesn't even take into account the fact that New York is going for a playoff spot the Bills honestly felt like they should have been contending for at the start of the season.

Even without LeSean McCoy, this game is much more evenly matched than most want to let on. Buffalo defeated the Jets 22-17 in New Jersey back in Week 10.

That game saw Buffalo pick off Ryan Fitzpatrick two times en route to a dominating defensive performance. It wouldn't be all too surprising to see this repeated again on Sunday.

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