15 Teams Who Will Find Themselves in Wild Card Picture

A season ago, 16 NFL teams—nine from the AFC and seven from the NFC—entered Week 17 with a chance to advance to postseason play.

The biggest parity came in the AFC, where a division championship (West) and one wild card spot (No. 6) was up for grabs. In all, four teams had a crack in Week 17 at winning the final wild card spot, which eventually went to the 9-7 Cincinnati Bengals. 

The NFC playoff picture didn't officially clear until after Week 16, but there were seven teams entering the second-to-last week that had an opportunity to snag the final two wild card positions. The Atlanta Falcons and Detroit Lions eventually secured those bids. 

The synopsis here: Wild card spots matter, and there's usually a bunch of competition until the very last weeks to get them. Don't be surprised again this year if there are 8-12 teams vying for those four wild card slots again as 2012 comes to a close.

In the following slides, we'll break down the teams most likely to be battling for those spots next season.

Seattle Seahawks

Replicating a 7-9 record for a third straight year under Pete Carroll won't get the Seahawks into a wildcard spot, but this may be a team that's ready to make a 2-3 win improvement in 2012. 

Carroll and GM John Schneider have done a smart job in building a playoff-quality defense, and there are offensive weapons readily available on the other side of the football. 

The one piece that has been mostly missing? Quarterback. 

Carroll finally has a stable of guys—three, to be exact—at quarterback who he thinks can win the job this summer. Tarvaris Jackson (signed last season, 14-game starter in 2011), Matt Flynn (former Packers backup, signed to three-year, $24.5 million deal) and Russell Wilson (2012 third-round pick, set NCAA record for passing efficiency in 2011-12 at Wisconsin) will all compete to win the starting job for Seattle this season.

If the Seahawks can simply get consistent play from that position—regardless of who wins the job—this looks like a roster ready to win 10 games and return to the postseason. 

Chicago Bears

Some of the most famous words Bob Dylan ever wrote were, "The times they are a changin'..."

When Chicago Bears finally heeded Dylan's words and realized a changing NFL game, they did something about it this off-season. 

Instead of watching quarterback Jay Cutler toil with receivers like Roy Williams and Devin Hester for another season, new GM Phil Emery got aggressive in improving the position. He traded for Pro Bowler Brandon Marshall and drafted a high-potential player at receiver in Alshon Jeffery in the second round of the 2012 draft.

The Bears should now have a passing offense worthy of playing with the likes of Green Bay, New Orleans and New England next season.

There's no forgetting that Emery also added Michael Bush and Jason Campbell as valuable, veteran backups at important positions, especially after watching the Bears collapse last season after Cutler and Matt Forte were lost to injury.

Overall, the offense should be considerably better after a big influx of talent this spring.  

As long as the Bears' defense stays on course with where its been in previous years, Chicago should be a contender in the NFC. 

Detroit Lions

The numerous off-season distractions are a concerning sign for a young roster, but Lions GM Martin Mayhew has assembled enough talent in Detroit that this team should be able to replicate a 10-win season from a year ago. 

The core of the Lions—Matt Stafford, Calvin Johnson, Ndamukong Suh, Stephen Tulloch, Cliff Avril, etc.—is all back for 2012, which gives Jim Schwartz and his crew all the ammunition necessary to take a shot at another wild card berth. 

Eventually this team will have to mature internally to ever take the next step and become Super Bowl worthy, and maybe the "bad boy" attitude will start to wear thin at the top of the organization. 

But for 2012, the Lions are again positioned to make a postseason run. Both Detroit and Chicago are capable of dethroning Green Bay atop the NFC North throne, but the safer bet is both compete for another wildcard spot come January.

Pittsburgh Steelers/Baltimore Ravens

By now, the assumption has become that both the Pittsburgh Steelers and Baltimore Ravens will make the playoffs in the AFC. The only question is, which team will win the division and which one is wild card bound? 

Only once since 2006 has a team outside Pittsburgh or Baltimore won the AFC North (Cincinnati, 2009). In those other five years, the Steelers have won the crown three times (2007, '08, '10), while the Ravens won it twice ('06, '11). 

The AFC North has also contributed a wild card team in five seasons since '05, including in four straight years from '08-'11. In all five of those instances, the wild card team was either Pittsburgh or Baltimore, with the Bengals also joining the wild card party in 2011.

Simply put, the likelihood that the the division winner and a wild card team coming from Pittsburgh and Baltimore is very high. The Bengals might have the players necessary to mess up that harmony at the top in 2012, but many will still consider the Steelers and Ravens the class of the division. 

Cincinnati Bengals

The Bengals rather unexpectedly won the final AFC wild card spot with a 9-7 record last season. They won't sneak up on anyone in 2012, but Cincinnati has continued to put together solid additions to add to a roster that was playoff worthy a season ago. 

There are improvements up-and-down the positional depth charts, including at running back, receiver, guard, cornerback, tight end and defensive line. The draft was especially kind to the Bengals, and guys like Dre Kirkpatrick, Kevin Zeitler, Mohamed Sanu and Devon Still can be impact players right away for Cincinnati next season. 

It is still somewhat difficult to envision the young Bengals leapfrogging either the Steelers or Ravens in the AFC North, but there's no doubting that this team is capable of putting two AFC North wild card teams back into the playoffs. Ten wins or more for the Steelers, Ravens and Bengals is entirely possible. 

Others

Carolina Panthers

If Cam Newton takes another step forward in 2012, the Panthers can make some postseason noise. The defense has to be much better too for that noise to result in a playoff trip.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Few teams did more to improve in free agency, but there's always a cautious feeling about crowning a March champion. More smart moves during the NFL draft make the Bucs a candidate to improve significantly on their four wins last season.

Kansas City Chiefs/Denver Broncos/San Diego Chargers

The winner of the AFC West may not end up as the sole divisional team in the playoffs, as the Chiefs Broncos and Chargers made moves this off-season that give them postseason hopes in 2012. Kansas City, Denver, San Diego could each win 10 games next season.

Tennessee Titans

Keep an eye on the quarterback battle in Tennessee. If 2011 first-rounder Jake Locker is ready to take over next season, the Titans could be one of the big surprise teams in 2012. 

Buffalo Bills

Adding Mario Williams in free agency immediately gave the Bills defense a sense of credibility. Ryan Fitzpatrick ultimately holds the fate of this team in his hands, but there's no reason why Buffalo shouldn't be contending for a playoff spot all season.

Philadelphia Eagles

The Eagles could very well win the NFC East in 2012, but we're going to lean the Giants way to be safe. However, another solid off-season might mean the results we expected in 2011 are coming in the following months. At the very, very least, this should be a contending football team in 2012.

Dallas Cowboys

The Cowboys blew chance after chance to win the NFC East last season, and 2012 might be a crossroads season for the boys in Dallas. Tony Romo needs to get this team back into the playoffs or he'll face a monsoon of criticism next summer. In the end, however, Jason Garrett has everything he needs roster-wise to make a postseason run.