Everyone has 4 games left and the playoff picture is starting to come into focus.
AFC East – Bills Patriots (9-4)
Man, the Bills had to win that Monday night game. Not only do they have to win out to take the division but they have to win in Foxborough on the day after Christmas against a team that just showed them they can win with only 3 pass attempts. Moral of the story, dont pick against Belichick.
AFC North – Ravens Browns (7-6)
Never a dull moments in the AFC North. Technically all of the teams are still in the hunt. And according to our latest rankings, the Ravens, #10, are the best team. But, the Browns (#11) just beat the Ravens. The Browns have an easier remaining schedule. And Lamar Jackson is gimpy. As long as Mayfield can stay healthy, I think the North will be plugging into the big brown machine.
AFC South – Titans (9-4)
Its the Titans division to lose. Aside from a total collapse and near perfection by the Colts this division is locked up.
AFC West – Chargers Chiefs (9-4)
This division looks a lot like the AFC North. Anything could happen still. However, after a 3-4 start, the Chiefs (#4) are red hot winning 6 in a row. It doesnt look like anything will be able to stop them.
AFC Wildcard
Chargers (8-5) Man o man, Justin Herbert has been fun to watch this season. Theres a slim chance they take the AFC West but even if they dont, they shouldnt have any trouble getting a wild card spot.
Ravens (8-5) Again, theres a chance they take the division but I think its a road game for the Ravens in the playoffs. Hopefully Jackson will be healthy by January.
Bills (7-6) The Bills pretty much lost their division with the loss to New England but they should be able to limp into the playoffs.
NFC East – Cowboys (9-4)
We know the Giants are done. The Cowboys have not looked as good as you would hope over the last 5 weeks. But, the Eagles and Football Team havent done much better.
NFC North – Packers (10-3)
NFC South – Buccaneers (10-3)
I dont pick against Tom Brady. And, from the looks of it, the rest NFC south decided not to show up in the second half of the season.
NFC West – Cardinals (10-3)
The Rams and Cardinals have each only won 3 of their last 6. But, I feel like they could both win their last 4. Even if Arizona loses to the Cowboys, the only team that really has a chance, they will still have the tiebreaker.
NFC Wildcard
Rams (9-4) Even if they dont win the West, the Rams will make the playoffs. What Im interested to see if how my boy Stafford handles himself in the post season.
49ers (7-6) Paradroid says the NFC West sends 3 this year. Ill confirm it. While the 49ers dont have an amazing record they are looking good over the last 7 weeks. Couple that with the fact that there is only 1 good team in each of the East, North, and South and you are looking at a playoffs bound 49ers team. And, who knows, they could wind up playing spoiler in the first round.
Football Team (6-7) And here is our first shortcoming of the new 3 wildcard teams rule. There are 3 dominant teams, 2 really good teams and a team thats making a run in the NFC. And then there are 9, NINE teams left that are all under 500 (2 of which who cant even end over 500) who are technically still alive. I would argue that the Colts, Broncos, and Bengals are all better than the Football team but Washington has a much better chance of making the playoffs than any of them do. Perhaps Paradroid will do a rant about this soon. I know he has strong feelings about the playoff seeding system of the NFL.
Well, there you have it. I have just doomed at least 3 teams (Browns, Bills, Football Team) to not actually make the playoffs. Lets see how the last 4 weeks of the NFLs first 17 game season plays out.
