Welcome to the most consequential week of the NFL season (so far)

Of the eight divisions in the NFL, five are currently separated by one-or-fewer games, the first time that's been the case this deep into the season since 2019. Who leads which division could change in three just this weekend.

With a month to play in the NFL season, two things are certain.

The Titans, Giants, Raiders, Saints and Cardinals have already been eliminated from making the playoffs, with the loser of Sunday’s Commanders-Vikings game joining them.

And the rest of the league is headed toward postseason chaos.

In the NFC, 10 teams have a winning record entering Week 14 for only the third time (after 2014 and 1979) since the 1970 AFL-NFL merger, according to NBC Sports research. How widespread is that parity? The Lions, the conference’s top seed just last year, are currently on the outside looking in on the playoffs.

In the AFC, the once mighty could fall. The Chiefs, perennial Super Bowl contenders, are perilously close to seeing their decadelong playoff streak snapped. Meanwhile, the once lowly could rise. Houston has a chance to become only the seventh team in NFL history — and only the second in the past quarter century — to make the postseason after starting 0-3.