NFL Standings 2015: Week 14 Records, Playoff Scenarios, Wild-Card Review

Week 13 of the NFL season ended with a bizarre Monday Night Football game that saw no touchdowns the first 58-plus minutes, then two touchdowns and 17 total points in the final minute-plus.

As crazy as the Dallas Cowboys' 19-16 victory over Washington was, it set up an even crazier matchup in the NFC wild-card race.

Despite the loss, 5-7 Washington holds the tiebreaker over the New York Giants and Philadelphia Eagles in the NFC East, and it would host the 8-4 Minnesota Vikings in a playoff game if the season ended today.

It's been that kind of a season for the NFL, although there have been some teams playing well, including the 12-0 Carolina Panthers and the New England Patriots, Cincinnati Bengals, Arizona Cardinals and Denver Broncos, who are all 10-2.

Here is a look at the standings now that the dust has settled on Week 13:

AFC East	Record		NFC East	Record
AFC North	Record		NFC North	Record
AFC South	Record		NFC South	Record
AFC West	Record		NFC West	Record
New England Patriots	10-2		Washington	5-7
New York Jets	7-5		Philadelphia Eagles	5-7
Buffalo Bills	6-6		New York Giants	5-7
Miami Dolphins	5-7		Dallas Cowboys	4-8
Cincinnati Bengals	10-2		Green Bay Packers	8-4
Pittsburgh Steelers	7-5		Minnesota Vikings	8-4
Baltimore Ravens	4-8		Chicago Bears	5-7
Cleveland Browns	2-10		Detroit Lions	4-8
Indianapolis Colts	6-6		Carolina Panthers	12-0
Houston Texans	6-6		Tampa Bay Buccaneers	6-6
Jacksonville Jaguars	4-8		Atlanta Falcons	6-6
Tennessee Titans	3-9		New Orleans Saints	4-8
Denver Broncos	10-2		Arizona Cardinals	10-2
Kansas City Chiefs	7-5		Seattle Seahawks	7-5
Oakland Raiders	5-7		St. Louis Rams	4-8
San Diego Chargers	3-9		San Francisco 49ers	4-8

Playoff Seed	AFC	NFC
1	Cincinnati Bengals (10-2)	Carolina Panthers (12-0)
2	Denver Broncos (10-2)	Arizona Cardinals (10-2)
3	New England Patriots (10-2)	Green Bay Packers (8-4)
4	Indianapolis Colts (6-6)	Washington (5-7)
5	Kansas City Chiefs (7-5)	Minnesota Vikings (8-4)
6	New York Jets (7-5)	Seattle Seahawks (7-5)
In the Hunt	Pittsburgh Steelers (7-5)	Tampa Bay Buccaneers (6-6)
In the Hunt	Buffalo Bills (6-6)	Atlanta Falcons (6-6)
In the Hunt	Houston Texans (6-6)	Philadelphia Eagles (5-7)
In the Hunt	Oakland Raiders (5-7)	New York Giants (5-7)
In the Hunt	Miami Dolphins (5-7)	Chicago Bears (5-7)

The playoff scenarios at this point don't make a lot of sense, led by the odd case of Washington playing host to Minnesota.

In the AFC, there is a similar situation with the 7-5 Kansas City Chiefs having to play on the road at the 6-6 Indianapolis Colts if the season ended today. As winners of six in a row, the Chiefs are a team nobody wants to play right now. 

Time Warner Cable Chiefs reporter Nick Jacobs said the Chiefs were feeling good after their sixth consecutive victory:

"

The #Chiefs have a swagger about them right now. They appear to be building that mental toughness we talked about earlier this year.

— Nick Jacobs (@Jacobs71) December 7, 2015"

These situations happen sometimes because of a weak division, but the NFC East is beyond awful at this point, as the 4-8 Cowboys are just one game out of the division lead.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, the Patriots began the season 10-0, but after two losses, they are slated to have to play on Wild Card Weekend.

Once thought of as Super Bowl favorites, the injury-riddled Patriots have fallen back to the pack, according to ESPN Stats & Info:

The Cardinals appear to be in good shape to host a playoff game, but one matchup that could give them trouble is the No. 6 seed Seattle Seahawks.

The two-time NFC champions are coming on strong with wins in three straight games, the latest a 38-7 victory at Minnesota.

Russell Wilson has been playing as good as any quarterback during the win streak, as the Seahawks pointed out after the win:

Seattle is slated to play the Packers in Green Bay in a wild-card matchup, but right now, the Seahawks would have to be considered the favorite.

The Packers are one insane Hail Mary away from losing five of their past six games.

In the AFC, Cincinnati and Denver are in good shape record-wise, but sometimes, the playoffs are about who is healthy and hot at the right time.

Denver is playing with first-year starter Brock Osweiler. Even if the Broncos happen to have a home game in the divisional round, it could be against the Patriots. 

In a rematch of Tom Brady vs. Brock Osweiler, after Denver defeated New England in Week 12, it would be hard to pick the future Hall of Famer Brady to lose again.

All of these matchups are fun to break down, but there are still four weeks to go, and it's likely at least one team "still in the hunt" will find its way into the playoffs. 

The teams with the best chance to break in right now are the Pittsburgh Steelers and Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Of course, this time next week, after another wild weekend of football, the playoff picture could look completely different.

Just count on the Panthers staying on top.