The Packers, the first team in NFL history to win 13 games in three straight seasons, top our Week 18 power rankings, Axios' Jeff Tracy writes.

Where it stands: Three playoff spots are still up for grabs heading into the final weekend, and divisions champions will be crowned in the AFC East (Bills or Patriots) and NFC West (Rams or Cardinals).

• Clinched (11): Packers (13-3), Buccaneers (12-4), Rams (12-4), Chiefs (11-5), Titans (11-5), Cardinals (11-5), Cowboys (11-5), Bills (10-6), Bengals (10-6), Patriots (10-6), Eagles (9-7)
• Still alive (7): Chargers (9-7), Colts (9-7), 49ers (9-7), Raiders (9-7), Steelers (8-7-1), Ravens (8-8), Saints (8-8)
• Eliminated (14): Dolphins (8-8), Vikings (7-9), Browns (7-9), Broncos (7-9), Falcons (7-9), Bears (6-10), Seahawks (6-10), Washington (6-10), Panthers (5-11), Texans (4-12), Jets (4-12), Giants (4-12), Lions (2-13-1), Jaguars (2-14)

Games to watch:

• Chargers at Raiders (8:20pm ET, NBC): The season's final game has the biggest stakes, with the winner earning a wild card. The Raiders could still get in with a loss if the Steelers and Colts both lose.
• Steelers at Ravens (1pm, CBS): The Steelers are in with a win and a Colts loss, while the Ravens need a win, plus losses by the Colts, Chargers and Dolphins.
• Colts at Jaguars (1pm, CBS): The Colts are in with a win, or with losses by the Patriots, Chargers and Steelers.
• 49ers at Rams (4:25pm, Fox): The 49ers are in with a win or a Saints loss.
• Saints at Falcons (4:25pm, Fox): The Saints are in with a win and a 49ers loss.

No. 1 pick race ... The Jaguars will get the first overall pick for the second straight year with a loss to the Colts. The Lions will get it with a loss to the Packers and a Jaguars win.

Go deeper: Clinching scenarios and intriguing races (ESPN)

The New York Times is using more than half of the $1 billion in cash on its balance sheet to buy The Athletic, Axios' Sara Fischer writes.

Fun fact: The $550 million price tag is the same amount Sony paid for Bruce Springsteen's music catalog.

By the numbers: The Athletic is one of the largest sports publishers in the world, with 450 journalists. By comparison, there are roughly 45 sports journalists at The Times.

• The Athletic has 1.2 million subscribers, making it "the fifth-largest English-language digital journalism provider by subscribers," Times CEO Meredith Kopit Levien told investors.
• The Times is the largest on that list, with nearly 8 million subscribers, and executives say there's little audience overlap between the two.

The big picture: The Times has had an extraordinary run in recent years, putting the company on track to meet its goal of 10 million paid digital subscribers years ahead of schedule.

Yes, but: The Athletic's financial picture is less rosy. In 2021, it lost $55 million and made just $65 million.

• While Levien forecasts a "slight improvement" in operating losses in 2022 — and smaller losses in 2023 and 2024 — she doesn't anticipate The Athletic turning profit for another three years.
• The Athletic's Series D investors valued the company at roughly $500 million two years ago, so they won’t see a major return with this sale.

Between the lines: The Times has used acquisitions to fuel its growth strategy in the past, with mixed success.

• It bought the Boston Globe for $1.1 billion in 1993, only to sell it for ~$70 million in 2013. It bought About.com in 2005 for $410 million and sold it for ~$300 million seven years later.
• More recent acquisitions, like Audm, Serial Productions, HelloSociety, Fake Love and Wirecutter have been smaller in scope.

What to watch: Levien said the Times' first priority for The Athletic is to grow its subscription business, but eventually it plans to help introduce more advertising.

More than 100 NBA players have signed hardship deals in the past month now that COVID-stricken teams can hand out 10-day contracts, Jeff writes.

Why it matters: Aside from living out their NBA dream, the financial upside for these players is staggering. G Leaguers make $37,000 a year, while 10-day contracts range from $53,176 (rookies) to $151,821 (10-year vets) — for just those 10 days.

"Omicron pummeling locker rooms has presented an improbable, potentially life-changing opportunity for a certain type of basketball player: someone good enough for the NBA, but not quite good enough to already have a home."

Standouts: Though most replacement players won't end up sticking around, some have made a strong impression, with a handful already earning a longer look.

• Stanley Johnson, Lakers: The former lottery pick has impressed in 25 impactful minutes a night, earning another 10-day contract.
• Alfonzo McKinnie, Bulls: After consecutive 10-day deals, he became the first hardship player to earn a rest-of-season contract, upping his salary to over $1 million.
• Lance Stephenson, Pacers: The 10-year vet went nuclear Wednesday in his third game back with the team that drafted him, scoring 20 straight points in a six-minute span.
• Xavier Moon, Clippers: After stints in France, Canada, Poland and Israel, Moon (Jamario's nephew) finally made his NBA debut last month. A week later, he earned a second 10-day contract.

The big picture: A record 580 players have already been used this season, with more than half the schedule still remaining.

Go deeper: How Omicron has reshaped sports (FiveThirtyEight)

🇰🇵 Olympics opt out: North Korea says it will skip next month's Beijing Olympics because of the pandemic and moves by "hostile forces."

💵 Big Apple betting: Mobile sports betting will launch in New York on Saturday. The four approved sportsbooks that will go live at 9am ET: DraftKings, Caesars, FanDuel and BetRivers.

⚽️ Good read: Is the Catarina Macario era upon us? (Grant Wahl, Substack)

"The 22-year-old USWNT and Lyon attacker has unlimited potential and a remarkable life story. But can she get the freedom she desires — at home and on the field?"

The NFL is eliminating the Wonderlic test from the pre-draft process, according to a memo obtained by the AP, Jeff writes.

Why it matters: The IQ test has long been controversial given the lack of correlation between a player's score and his NFL success. Some also believe it has a built-in racial bias, like many standardized tests.

The backdrop: In 1936, E.F. Wonderlic developed a 12-minute, 50-question (multiple choice) test to measure cognitive ability in math, vocabulary and reasoning.

• Soon enough, the U.S. Navy had adopted the test to help select candidates for pilot training and navigation.
• In the 1970s, legendary Cowboys coach Tom Landry began using it to evaluate players. His team's success led others to follow suit until it became standard practice across the league.

Best/worst scores:

• Best: Perfect 50 (P Pat McInally, 1975); 49 (DE Mike Mamula, 1995); 48 (WR Kevin Curtis, 2003; QB Ryan Fitzpatrick, 2005; TE Ben Watson, 2004)
• Worst: 6 (QB Vince Young, 2006; RB Frank Gore, 2005; QB Oscar Davenport, 1999); 5 (S Ed Prather, 2001); 4 (RB Darren Davis, 2000; CB Morris Claiborne, 2012)

Take a sample Wonderlic and see how you fare.

Source: Giphy

"Something streaky is happening on 'Jeopardy!' right now," The Ringer's Claire McNear reports.

State of play: Matt Amodio kicked off the show's 38th season with a 38-game winning streak (second-longest ever). More streaks followed, including Amy Schneider's current 27-game run (fourth-longest ever).

• Amodio, Schneider and Jonathan Fisher all have double-digit wins this season, a feat just nine other players have accomplished in the 19 seasons since the show lifted its five-day cap, per McNear.
• "Season 38 has certainly been the season of the super-champions," said 74-time "Jeopardy!" champion Ken Jennings, who's currently serving as host.

Between the lines: This unprecedented streakiness is at least partly due to the growing gap between the ultra-prepared players — who train like athletes — and the other contestants on the show.

"I was more like an old-school contestant, in that I was just someone who watched the show. I feel like more and more now, people are actively trying to get on the show for a long time ... and studying what other successful contestants have done."

"It's sort of like if tennis went from being an amateur game to being a professional game but it didn't happen overnight. ... We're at a point where it's not all pro, but there are a couple people that are preparing in a different way than everyone else."

MANHATTAN, N.Y. — Bing Bong! R.J. Barrett banked in a three at the buzzer to complete an epic comeback over the Celtics. It's the Knicks' first game-winning buzzer-beater at MSG since David Lee's heroics in 2006.

• Wild stat: Entering the night, the Knicks were 1-229 when trailing by 25+ points in a game over the last 25 seasons. They're now 2-229.

BELGRADE, Serbia — Novak Djokovic's family attended a rally in front of Serbia's National Assembly as the world's No. 1 tennis player fights deportation in Australia.

• Go deeper: Novak Djokovic is Jesus and Spartacus all rolled into one, according to his father (Defector)

RYE, England — Frosty conditions briefly delayed the President's Putter, an annual competition dating back to 1920 between former and current golfers from Oxford and Cambridge.

• 🎥 Watch: Archival footage (YouTube)

57 years after the Raiders played their first game in Las Vegas — a one-off exhibition against the Oilers — they'll play their most important one.

• The game: They host the Chargers on Sunday (8:20pm ET, NBC), with the winner earning a wild card spot and the loser (likely) going home.
• Of note: Justin Herbert (4,631 yards) and Derek Carr (4,618) could become the ninth and 10th QBs to throw for 5,000 yards in a season.
• Lines: LAC -3 | O/U 49.5

More games:

• 🏈 FCS title game: Montana State vs. North Dakota State (Saturday, 12pm, ESPN2) — NDSU has won eight FBS national championships since 2011. Montana State hasn't won a title since 1984.
• 🏀 NBA: Bucks at Nets (Friday, 7:30pm, ESPN) — Nos. 2 and 3 in the East meet in a rematch of last year's thrilling conference semifinals.
• 🏒 NHL: Maple Leafs at Avalanche (Saturday, 7pm, NHL) — Five of the league's top 22 points leaders will feature in this one. So many studs.
• ⛳️ PGA: Sentry Tournament of Champions (Golf/ESPN+) — Cameron Smith (-8) leads after 18 holes, with Jon Rahm, Patrick Cantlay and Daniel Berger one stroke behind.
• 🏈 High school football: Adidas All-American Bowl (Saturday, 1pm, NBC) — 127 of the nation's best players take the field in San Antonio.

Source: Giphy

LSU finished 6-7 this year, meaning there's now only one Power 5 program without a losing season this century.

• Question: Name that program.
• Hint: Began the century with a national title (2000).

Answer at the bottom.

Pepperdine has a chance to accomplish something on Saturday night that it hasn't done since Jan. 18, 2002 — beat Gonzaga on the hardwood.

Why it matters: Gonzaga's 41-game win streak over Pepperdine is tied for the third-longest in Division I men's basketball history against a single opponent (and tied for the longest active streak).

• 54 games: Syracuse over Colgate (1963–six weeks ago)
• 52 games: UCLA over California (1961–85)
• 41 games: USC over UCLA (1932–43)
• 41 games: Syracuse over Cornell (1969–present)
• 41 games: Gonzaga over Pepperdine (2002–present)