NFL Playoff Picture: San Diego And Seattle In Position To Make Big Moves

There are only four games remaining for each NFL team, and the NFL playoff picture is still far from being in focus. 

Every NFL team has played 12 games. There are no more byes, just four games left for each team to jostle for the six playoffs spots in each conference.

The NFL playoff picture is anything but settled at the moment. No team has clinched a playoff birth, and every division has at least two teams that have a realistic chance of making the playoffs.

Arizona, who has had the distinction of have the best record in the league for most of the season, could realistically fall completely out of the NFL playoff picture by the end of the season. They’ve been a mess since they lost their starting quarterback, and haven’t scored an offensive touchdown in 11 quarters.

Overall, both conferences are still wide open. There are 18 teams that could theoretically still end up with home field advantage throughout the playoffs.

The AFC Playoff Races

That so many teams must be listed this late in the season is remarkable. 12 of the 16 teams in the AFC are within one game of a playoff spot. The other four have two or fewer wins.

Another way to demonstrate how crazy this season has been is to look at Cleveland. The Browns have the same record as the team in the final playoff spot, but due to tiebreakers they’re currently 11th in the standings.

New England is in the driver’s seat for the top seed and home field advantage. They still have to play Miami, San Diego and Buffalo, all of which are playoff contenders. If they can survive that schedule  unscathed, they’ll be very deserving of the top seen in the AFC.

Denver doesn’t have an easy road either. They play the Bills, Bengals and Chargers down the stretch, with two of those games on the road.

The Chargers are in an interesting position. Their remaining schedule pits them against them against the league’s top teams, including Denver, New England and Kansas City. If they win out, they’ll have the tiebreaker over both of those teams, and only the Bengals can keep the Chargers out of the No. 1 overall seed.

With so many teams still in contention, the Wild Card race is nearly impossible to break down. Luckily, things will almost certainly  become much clearer over the next week or two.

The NFC Playoff Races

The NFC is the antithesis of the AFC right now. There are only seven good teams in the NFC, and one of them won’t get into the playoffs because the NFC South division winner will be given a spot despite having a losing record.

Either the Falcons or Saints are going to win the South, and likely will be only the second team in NFL history to make the playoffs with a losing record. The other was the 2010 Seahawks (7-9), who went on to beat the defending-champion Saints in the Wild Card Round.

That leaves four team that will end up vying for two wild card spots. The odds are against San Francisco at the moment due to their remaining schedule and that they are a full game behind the competition.

Arizona is currently the No. 1 overall seed, but they’ve lost two-straight, and haven’t looked like a good football team in the process. The injuries have taken their toll, and they now are in danger of losing the division to Seattle. Arizona is still one game ahead of the Seahawks, but Seattle won the first meeting and they play again in Seattle in Week 16.

The best part is that this race for playoff positioning will be fought mostly in head-to-head matchups. Seattle, San Francisco, and Arizona all play each of other still. Philadelphia plays Seattle and Dallas. Green Bay and Detroit will play in Week 17.

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