There are only 5 weeks left in the season and every game matters. It is time to see exactly where each team is currently at in the NFL Playoff Picture.
1. AFC Home Field Advantage: New England Patriots (9-2, AFC East Champion)
Right now there is not a lot of competition in the AFC East. After the Patriots, the next best team in their division is the 6-5 Miami Dolphins who are currently ranked 10th in the AFC. The Patriots are riding a 7 game winning streak and Tom Brady is doing excellent, but that is not the primary reason for their success. The brains of the operation is clearly their Head Coach, Bill Belichick. Just look at their last two offensive game plans. Against the Indianapolis Colts, they added an extra offensive lineman on many of their plays and handed the ball off to Jonas Gray. They had 37 carries for 201 yards and 4 touchdowns. But he was not even used against the Detroit Lions. They used mainly 5 wide sets to frustrate the defensive line of the Lions, which is their strength. With Bill Belichick it is going to be difficult to outcoach the Patriots, and right now they are very healthy, so it is difficult to outplay them. Especially with Rob Gronkowski. That guy is going to be a matchup nightmare for any team that they face. They just need him to stay healthy and they have a good chance of playoff success. The Patriots have a difficult road game coming up in week 13 against the Green Bay Packers.
2. AFC Bye Week: Denver Broncos (8-3, AFC West Champion)
The Denver Broncos are still strong after their 39-36 comeback victory over the Miami Dolphins this past weekend. In that game, Demaryius Thomas became the red zone target of choice getting 3 Peyton Manning touchdowns on the day. Then in the second half they used another running back in C.J. Anderson to run the ball down the Dolphins throat, to the tune of 167 yards and 1 touchdown. Next up for the Broncos is a key AFC West matchup as they play the Kansas City Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City Missouri.
AFC Wild Card Game: #3 Cincinnati Bengals (7-3-1, AFC North Champion) vs. #6 San Diego Chargers (7-4, Wild Card)
Jeremy Hill has come up big time and time again for the Bengals as Giovani Bernard has had injury struggles the last few weeks. The main thing that keeps it together for the Bengals is that they have a talented wide receiver who can go deep in AJ Green. When he was out the whole Bengals team looked like a mess. The other major thing is that they do have a strong defense that can perform at a high level. The Bengals are looking to win the division for the third year in a row, and this would be the same matchup they had last season when they lost to the Chargers. The Chargers have now won back to back games after their three game losing streak in the middle of the season, albeit they had defeated the Raiders and Rams and have a very difficult 5 game stretch against other contenders to end the season (at Baltimore, New England, Denver, at San Francisco, at Kansas City). Philip Rivers and Mike McCoy will need to get better because the Chargers have not defeated a team with a winning record since back in week 3 when they beat the Bills 22-10. The Bengals have to try to stay afloat in the AFC North as well, where they have already played most of their divisional games, and will travel to Tampa Bay to take on the Buccaneers in this week's contest.
AFC Wild Card Game: #4 Indianapolis Colts (7-4, AFC South Champion) vs. #5 Kansas City Chiefs (7-4, Wild Card)
If this game looks familiar as well that's because it does. The Wild Card weekend for 2014 would be exactly the same as last year's if the season ended today. Alas, this game last year ended with Jamaal Charles and Knile Davis out of the game, and Andrew Luck was able to provide a huge comeback with the Chiefs being unable to run the ball with those two great runners out of the contest. Obviously, if they played again this year it would be expected for the Chiefs to try to run again, just like New England did to them in week 11. This would be a major upset if all of the AFC playoff teams remained the same from 2013 to 2014, but there are several other teams lingering nearby.
The Rest:
7. Baltimore Ravens (7-4): Joe Flacco and company have their work cut out for them trying to make it into the playoff field. Obviously if they can knock off the Chargers this week, then they will go right into the field.
8. Pittsburgh Steelers (7-4): This team is so puzzling. They have losses on their record to the Buccaneers and the Jets, but they also had big wins over the Colts and the Ravens. They are confusing and will need some good fortune to make it into the playoffs.
9. Cleveland Browns (7-4): Brian Hoyer has been more successful than was imagined before the season, but the Browns are still on the outside looking in for the AFC playoffs. Can they win enough games down the stretch to make it in? They start in a must-win game - another playoff opponent in Buffalo.
10. Miami Dolphins (6-5): After a tough loss to the Broncos on the road, maybe being able to visit the Jets is exactly what is going to be wonderful for those Miami Mammals.
11. Buffalo Bills (6-5): After having their game moved to Detroit, the Bills played marvelously at their home away from home. They are supposed to travel back to their actual home to take on the Browns at Ralph Wilson Stadium this coming Sunday.
12. Houston Texans (5-6): They are not likely to make it with all of the teams in front of them, but they still have two games left against Jacksonville which should make that a lot easier for them to try.
Eliminated AFC Teams: Tennessee Titans (2-9), New York Jets (2-9), Jacksonville Jaguars (1-10), and Oakland Raiders (1-10)
1. NFC Home Field Advantage: Arizona Cardinals (9-2, NFC West Champion)
The Cardinals lead a pack of wild teams competing for just a few playoff spots in the NFC. But two weeks ago they lost Carson Palmer to injury, and this week they lost their second game of the season when they lost to the Seattle Seahawks on the road while only scoring 3 points. While they are known for their defense, it is important to be able to do something offensively. They have struggled running the ball this year, and with Drew Stanton taking the reigns of the pass it deep offense of Bruce Arians, it remains to be seen if the former Spartan can keep the team in the playoff field. They travel to Atlanta in what could be a game between two playoff contenders.
2. NFC Bye Week: Green Bay Packers (8-3, NFC North Champion)
They have already reached their win total from last season, and the offense is staying rather healthy as they launched a highly effective offensive attack and have gone 6-1 in their last 7 games. But they also have done much better defensively, as Dom Capers' defense is finally creating turnovers and giving them the opportunities they need to win. Also, they have started lining Clay Matthews up in multiple positions, including inside linebacker, which has been a major need as they have no one else on the roster equipped to be next to AJ Hawk. The Packers are getting everything together and host the Patriots this week.
NFC Wild Card Game: #3 Philadelphia Eagles (8-3, NFC East Champion) vs. #6 Seattle Seahawks (7-4, Wild Card)
This might actually be a solid matchup for Chip Kelly's spread them out and run offense, but this writer could see Pete Carroll taking a chance by putting Kam Chancellor down in the box and letting Earl Thomas be the deep safety with Richard Sherman looking to shut down Jeremy Maclin. But the Eagles keep finding other ways to score too, getting a 107 yard kickoff return touchdown from Josh Huff this past week as they were able to defeat the Titans, but they have a major question mark in their quarterback position as they look to keep the division lead as they currently are only ahead of the Dallas Cowboys by virtue of a tiebreaker, and they will finally play their first game this season on Thanksgiving in Dallas. The Seahawks just defeated the Arizona Cardinals, but have had several big stories this season including getting rid of Percy Harvin to the Jets and Marshawn Lynch talking or barely talking to the media. The Seahawks will travel South this week for another divisional game as they face the San Francisco 49ers.
NFC Wild Card Game: #4 Atlanta Falcons (4-7, NFC South Champion) vs. #5 Dallas Cowboys (8-3, Wild Card)
This wild card game is somewhat of an embarrassment to the league at this point. The Falcons are 4-0 in the NFC South and 0-7 against everyone else. They had some other games that they probably should have won, but then they lost on some last second field goals. They have three difficult out of division games (Cardinals, at Packers, Steelers) before the final two divisional matchups. Hopefully someone in their division can at least get some wins soon. Meanwhile, the Cowboys played wonderfully in their comeback against the New York Giants and looked more poised then they typically have in the past when having a major game. They host the Eagles this week and could be in the divisional lead by Thursday Night.
The Rest:
7. Detroit Lions (7-4): They were the #2 overall seed in the NFC just last week, but then they went to Foxboro and laid an egg against the New England Patriots. That is just how close the NFC is right now. The Lions host the Bears in the first game of the week on early Thanksgiving Day.
8. San Francisco 49ers (7-4): They have been rather unimpressive in their last 3 games, only winning them by a combined 13 points. Also, those games were against the 4-7 Saints, the 3-8 Giants, and the 3-8 Redskins. They will have to raise their game in order to be a true contender as they play Seattle two more times, Arizona once, and San Diego as 4 of the final 5 games. It starts this week at home against the Seahawks.
9. Chicago Bears (5-6): They probably shouldn't be counted out quite yet as they still have some games against those who are above them. It starts this Thursday with Detroit and then they play them again in week 16. They play next Thursday too as they host the Dallas Cowboys. If they win those three their other two games are against the Saints and Vikings. 10-6 might not be enough to win a wild card, but the Bears have a good chance to make it there.
10. New Orleans Saints (4-7): Drew Brees, Jimmy Graham, and company are all fighting primarily for the NFC South title as they are only behind the Falcons since they lost to them in the opener. Seeing how they have three games left against divisional opponents they could have a decent chance of finishing 7-9 to win the division. It starts this week in Pittsburgh.
11. Minnesota Vikings (4-7): They did do very well against the Packers on Sunday, coming close but not having enough to stop them as they fell 21-27 on Sunday. They probably need to see some major injuries in the NFC North in order to win the division, as they are in last place in the division which will make it significantly harder to attempt to win that or make a wild card spot. They play Carolina this week at home.
12. St. Louis Rams (4-7): They only have two teams with winning records on their schedule and they recently defeated the Broncos which are one of the top teams in all of football. They host Oakland this week which means they can beat one of the worst teams in football or Oakland will win two games in a row.
13. Carolina Panthers (3-7-1): They just finished a late bye week and have had injury issues all season long. Will the bye week enable them to get help in order to be healthy? The Panthers travel to Minnesota and they need a win as the NFC South is wide open right now.
14. New York Giants (3-8): What's the cure when your team has lost 6 games in a row? Traveling to Jacksonville to take on the Jaguars is one option. They held in there for 58 minutes against the Cowboys and Odell Beckham has some more amazing catches to make.
15. Washington Redskins (3-8): They are still technically mathematically alive for a playoff spot. Definitely would need to try and win out in order for something to happen. Even if they beat the Colts on the road this week, they could still be eliminated from the playoff picture.
16. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2-9): Alive only for the NFC South, the Buccaneers would be an unlikely playoff team being 3 games behind the Falcons as the Falcons defeated them both times this season. Josh McCown and Lovie Smith will be looking to next week to rebuild. They host the Bengals this week as their time potentially making the playoffs is on the clock.