Updated NFC Playoff Picture, NFC Wild Card standings after Bucs, Seahawks lose
By Josh Hill
After the Buccaneers and Seahawks lost in Week 14, let’s check in on the updated NFC Playoff Picture and NFC Wild Card standings.
It was a tough week to be an NFC team that doesn’t play in Philadelphia.
Earlier in the day on Sunday, the Vikings were dragged by the Lions and the Cowboys barely escaped disaster at home against the Houston Texans. Speaking of Philly, the Eagles were in New Jersey and blew out the Giants.
Things didn’t get much better in the late window.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers might have officially hit rock bottom after a 35-7 loss to the 49ers, while the Seattle Seahawks got dropped at home by the Carolina Panthers. Both losses shift the NFL Playoff Picture in different ways with the Seahawks loss being the more significant ripple across the conference.
Tampa Bay’s loss is more confined chaos, as it continues to keep the NFC South in a state of flux. Rather than running away with the league’s worst division, Tom Brady and the Bucs are clinging to a one-game lead and are simultaneously in the playoff picture and on life support as the season marches into mid-December.
As much chaos as the NFC seems to be in, none of it seems like it may matter. The consistent takeaway from week to week is that the Eagles are the class of the conference and no one is close to being convincing as challengers. A case could be made for the Cowboys, but Dallas nearly lost to the worst team in the league, and the Vikings exposed themselves as potential frauds in a loss against the Lions.
There’s still a lot of football left, and here’s where things stand as Week 14’s Sunday action wraps up in the NFC.