NFC Playoff Picture, Week 5: Jayden Daniels, Sam Darnold take the league by storm
It might only be Week 5, but let's do some quick math. All but four teams are going to play their fifth game of the year. That's over 29 percent of their scheduled games. Sure, it's not the final week of the regular season and there's still a long way to go before the playoffs, but it's not super early either. We're starting to get an idea of which teams are for real and which are not.
The Washington Commanders might've played a struggling Cleveland Browns team, but the Browns are still a formidable defensive team, and Jayden Daniels carved them up. The Commanders dropped 34 points in a blowout win. They'll hold onto first place in the NFC East, and based on the result of the Dallas Cowboys game set to take place on Sunday Night Football, they might have more than a 1.0 game lead. Just as everyone expected!
The Minnesota Vikings continued their ridiculous start, by knocking off the New York Jets in London despite a rare poor showing by Sam Darnold. They're now 5-0 entering their bye week, and with a fairly soft upcoming schedule, they have a chance to continue to make their mark following their week off.
NFC Playoff Picture after Week 5: Commanders, Vikings, continue dominant starts
AFC Playoff Seed | AFC Team | Record |
|---|---|---|
1 | Minnesota Vikings | 5-0 |
2 | Washington Commanders | 4-1 |
3 | Seattle Seahawks | 3-1 |
4 | Atlanta Falcons | 3-2 |
Who would've thought that through five weeks of the NFL season that the Vikings and Commanders would not only be in playoff spots, but be leading their division and holding the top two seeds in the NFC? Even the Seattle Seahawks leading the NFC West is a bit surprising. The Atlanta Falcons took over first place in the NFC South with an impressive win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, but that division race should be an exciting one to follow all season long.
NFC Wild Card standings: Which teams have the edge?
While Week 5 isn't early, it also isn't late enough in the season for teams to be worrying about Wild Card spots. Even divisions like the NFC North and NFC East are far from over despite Washington and Minnesota's hot starts. Virtually every team is still in the WIld Card race in some capacity, even if a select few are major long shots.
Any of the Buccaneers, Saints, Lions, Cowboys, 49ers, and several others can realistically battle for one of the three Wild Card spots. With 13 more weeks of the regular season to go, it should be a fun finish in a conference that looks extremely competitive in the early going.
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