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          NFL Nation

          How the Lions can clinch a playoff berth

          • Kevin Seifert, ESPN Staff WriterDec 18, 2011, 11:33 PM ET
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              Kevin Seifert is a staff writer who covers the Minnesota Vikings and the NFL at ESPN. Kevin has covered the NFL for over 20 years, joining ESPN in 2008. He was previously a beat reporter for the Minneapolis Star Tribune and Washington Times. He is a graduate of the University of Virginia. You can follow him via Twitter @SeifertESPN.
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          I had no reason not to trust regular reader @swarheit, who tweeted this scenario to me earlier Sunday night. I just had to wait for official confirmation, and now I have it.

          Here's how the Detroit Lions can clinch a playoff berth, their first since 1999, as early as Saturday:

          1. With a victory or tie Saturday over the San Diego Chargers at Ford Field. (What an early Christmas present that would be!) OR

          2. These three games ending this way: A Green Bay Packers victory over the Chicago Bears, a San Francisco 49ers victory over the Seattle Seahawks and a Cincinnati Bengals victory over the Arizona Cardinals.

          Any combination of one loss apiece by the Bears, Seahawks and Cardinals during the next two weeks would do the trick. But what you see above are the two scenarios for making it happen in Week 16.