3 NFL teams currently above .500 that will miss the playoffs

Entering Week 9 of the 2024 NFL season, there are currently 13 teams with a winning record and an additional five that are at .500. With 14 available playoff spots, not all of these combined 18 teams are going to be playing in the postseason. While teams with two or fewer wins at this stage of the year can probably crossed off, anyone with three or more is still very much alive for the postseason I'd say.

Tasked with something quite difficult, I will do my best to separate the best from the rest. Yes, there are teams that look like juggernauts such as Detroit and Kansas City who are pretty much playoff locks at this point. With six wins already on the season, we may need to start taking teams like Minnesota and Washington a bit more seriously than we already are. So what about the other guys?

What I am going to do is look at each of the 13 teams with winning records at this point of the season and decide who is not making the playoffs. There were plenty on the chopping block, including my Atlanta Falcons, but I had my reasons for not putting them or a few others on this list. I settled with three because I could not definitively pick a fourth or fifth playoff pretender who is still above .500.

Let's start with a team that I am intrigued by, but question the upward trajectory of its 2024 ceiling.

3. Denver Broncos (5-3)

Heading into Week 9, the Denver Broncos are 5-3 and occupy the No. 5 seed in the AFC playoff picture. They have a 63-percent of making the postseason. Honestly, I would not be shocked if they made it in this season. It has been a painfully long time for Broncos Country, so I am kind of rooting for them. My concerns for them are two-fold: They have to play more division games and ... Bo Nix...

Denver's best win is a blowout of now 4-4 Tampa Bay. The Broncos are 1-1 in AFC West play with a win over Las Vegas, but a loss to Los Angeles. They have yet to play Kansas City. Their two other losses are to playoff contenders Pittsbugh and Seattle. The biggest problem I have with the Broncos' chances of getting in are their three other wins: Carolina, New Orleans and the New York Jets...

Denver is 3-0 over teams that are a combined 3-19. While I applaud Sean Payton and his staff for getting the team prepared to clobber the dreck of the league, what happens when they play some of the better teams coming up on their schedule? The AFC as a whole might be down, but the Broncos' next three games could knock them down a peg: at Baltimore, at Kansas City and home vs. Atlanta.

The Broncos are a lot better than I thought they would be, but there are landmines in the second half.

2. Los Angeles Chargers (4-3)

In a similar boat as the Denver Broncos, I have the Los Angeles Chargers listed next at 4-3. They have already had their bye, but must play one more game than Denver. Looking at their schedule, Los Angeles is 2-1 in the division, but the two wins are against Denver and Las Vegas, while the loss is to Kansas City. Their other two wins are over, you guessed it? Carolina and New Orleans, who are terrible.

Besides playing one less game, the other thing that hurts the Chargers is who their two other losses are to. Pittsburgh looks like a playoff team while Arizona is very much alive to win the NFC West at 4-4. What I am getting at is Los Angeles does not have an impressive win, nor have they done anything really impressive. Denver beat Tampa Bay, but also seems to have no issues beating dreck.

The Bolts may have two easy games coming up at Cleveland and home vs. Tennessee, but the six after that looks ominous. Los Angeles will host Cincinnati and Baltimore before traveling to Atlanta and Kansas City. They will then host Tampa Bay and Denver. I like Cincinnati more than most, but those are all six playoff-caliber teams in succession for Los Angeles to navigate. I do not think that they will.

It is Jim Harbaugh's first year as the head coach, so the Chargers will go through some growing pains.

1. Chicago Bears (4-3)

The clear and obvious pick here is the Chicago Bears. They are 4-3 after having ripped defeat away from the jaws of victory vs. Washington. While the Bears are above .500, they are in fourth place in the incredibly deep NFC North. Even more damning, they have not even played a division game yet... That is going to be a problem for a rookie starting quarterback and a head coach who is struggling.

There were other above-.500 teams I considered in the NFC, including Atlanta, Minnesota and Philadelphia, most notably. However, Atlanta is 4-0 in NFC South play, including a sweep over Tampa Bay. I have been wrong on Minnesota every step of the way, so I am just going to keep my mouth shut. As for Philadelphia, the Eagles are 5-2 on the season and are only half a game back of Washington.

I don't trust Philadelphia, and I nearly included The Birds here, but there are things that Atlanta and Minnesota have done up to this point that should be celebrated. Right now, the Bears' best win might be over the 3-4 Los Angeles Rams at home. Their other three wins are over Carolina, Jacksonville and Tennessee who have gone a combined 4-19 on the season. Things are about to fade to black quickly.

Outside of New England in two weeks, I don't know if there is a 'certain' win left on their schedule.