Fansided

NFC Playoff Picture entering Week 17

By Josh Hill

Dec 27, 2015; Minneapolis, MN, USA; Minnesota Vikings safety Harrison Smith (22) returns an interception for a touchdown during the second quarter against the New York Giants at TCF Bank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brace Hemmelgarn-USA TODAY Sports
Dec 27, 2015; Minneapolis, MN, USA; Minnesota Vikings safety Harrison Smith (22) returns an interception for a touchdown during the second quarter against the New York Giants at TCF Bank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brace Hemmelgarn-USA TODAY Sports /
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The NFC Playoff picture still isn’t set in stone with one week left to go in the season. 

With just one week to go in the NFL season, we still have no idea what the NFC side of the playoff bracket is going to look like. All of the playoff tickets have been punched, but the positioning of the playoff picture is still wildly undecided with games next Sunday set to determine what will end up happening.

The Carolina Panthers just need to beat the Buccaneers in Week 17 to clinch home field advantage. But if they lose and the Cardinals win, then that will mean Arizona is the No. 1 seed with the Panthers taking the No. 2 seed.

In the Wild Card round, the Vikings and Seahawks flipped spots on Sunday and now Minnesota is in a situation where they can win the division and host a playoff game in the Wild Card round in two weeks. All they need to do is beat Green Bay next week on Sunday Night Football.

Here’s what the playoffs would look like if the season ended today instead of next week:

1 Carolina Panthers
2. Arizona Cardinals
3. Green Bay Packers
4. Washington Redskins
5. Minnesota Vikings
6. Seattle Seahawks

The real winner here is whoever ends up in the sixth seed. While the Seahawks wouldn’t be in line to host a single playoff game in one of the loudest stadiums in football, they’d get a soft Wild Card matchup with a very beatable Redskins team. There’s a chance that the Packers wouldn’t slip to the sixth seed if they lost to the Vikings next week because they hold the tie-breaker over the Seahawks thanks to winning earlier this season against Seattle.

We only have one week left to go in the season, but there is still so much left to be decided in the NFC that Week 17 shouldn’t be short on thrills.

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