LOS ANGELES >> This NFL season is not lacking drama, but it’s running a little short on intrigue.

Sometimes, three-quarters of the 32 teams still have at least a flicker of hope heading into the final weekend of the season. This year, 15 teams already have been mathematically eliminated.

Still, there’s drama to be had, and the league has scheduled Week 18 accordingly.

The thinking behind the scheduling:

Go North >> It’s unusual to have a single division showcased on Saturday, but that’s the case this year with Cleveland playing at Baltimore in the early game followed by Cincinnati at Pittsburgh.

The AFC North is still up for grabs, with Baltimore and Pittsburgh still in the hunt. If the Ravens win, they are division champs. So why schedule that game first? Because the Steelers still will be incentivized to lock up the No. 5 seed. That team gets to open at Houston, as opposed to playing an ostensibly tougher game at Baltimore.

At least on paper, seeding matters more in the AFC than the NFC this season.

Even if the Ravens begin Saturday with a win, Pittsburgh has something to play for — as does Cincinnati. To keep their back-from-the-dead playoff hopes alive, the Bengals need to win Saturday night then pray that both Denver and Miami lose on Sunday.

Cincinnati-Pittsburgh is a huge game, and the NFL wanted it in a national window as opposed to having it broadcast regionally on Sunday.

As a side note, both Saturday games are on ESPN, and that network had something of a rough go of it this season. Dallas was on “Monday Night Football” twice, and so was San Francisco, and both of those teams were expected to be a lot better when the schedule was drawn up last spring.

The league wanted to do this particular network partner a solid by scheduling a couple of really good games for Saturday.

Southern Comfort >> The NFC South crown has come down to Tampa Bay and Atlanta, and the Buccaneers are in the driver’s seat. If they beat New Orleans — or Atlanta loses to Carolina — Baker Mayfield & Co. win the division.

Atlanta cannot make the playoffs as a wild-card team. The Falcons have to win, and hope the Buccaneers lose.

So the NFL wanted to have those games scheduled at the same time as not to spoil the intrigue. What’s more, the NFC South matchups are on different networks so interested fans can toggle back and forth.

Mile High Stakes >> There’s one open spot in the AFC, and it belongs to Denver if the Broncos can beat Kansas City. Good news for Denver: the top-seeded Chiefs might rest their starters.

Still, we’ve seen some crazy outcomes this season, so nothing is a given.

The NFL wanted to keep the mystery up, so it scheduled Miami at the New York Jets in that same Sunday afternoon slot as Chiefs-Broncos. If Denver loses and Miami wins, the Dolphins are in. Remember, long-shot Cincinnati needs to win and have both Denver and Miami lose.

Grand Finale >> It’s a question every season: Which teams will square off in Game 272?

This year it’s 14-2 Minnesota at 14-2 Detroit.

The winner secures the NFC North and a first-round bye as the NFC’s top seed. The loser, unbelievably, has to turn right around and hit the road as a wild-card team with an incredibly gaudy record.

It marks the first time in NFL history that two teams with 13 or more wins will face each other in a regular-season game.

Strange days indeed.