NFL Playoff Picture Heating Up as Season Enters Final-Stretch Run

After another week of thrilling and unpredictable games came to a close in the NFL this week, the playoffs got that much closer, but the playoff picture is far from clear. Multiple division titles are still completely up for grabs while the wild cards in each conference are far from decided as the season enters the five-week sprint to the postseason. 

AFC West

In the AFC, the only division that doesn't seem to have a clear-cut favorite is in the West.

After losing to the rival Denver Broncos the week before, the Kansas City Chiefs dropped a disappointing home game to the San Diego Chargers, perhaps exposing them as a team slightly worse than previously thought. Those rival Broncos then followed suit, blowing a 24-0 halftime lead over the New England Patriots, a team they are competing with for a first-round bye and home-field advantage in the AFC playoffs. 

The Chiefs, who hadn't allowed more than 27 points in a game all season long, gave up 41 to the visiting Chargers on Sunday and 31 of those points came in the second half. Perhaps most disappointing was the Kansas City offense showed up in full force, and the defense let it down, yielding a Philip Rivers go-ahead touchdown pass with just :24 remaining.

The defensive letdown spoiled a day which saw running back Jamaal Charles rush for 115 yards and two touchdowns on 14 carries and saw quarterback Alex Smith complete 26 of 38 passes for 294 yards and three scores. Smith has now performed well in two straight games which bodes well for Kansas City if it can manage to put together a complete game sometime soon. 

Meanwhile, the Broncos suffered the most devastating loss of the weekend. Feeling good and leading New England 24-0 going into halftime, Denver promptly gave up 21 unanswered points in the third quarter. In cold conditions and seemingly in pain, Peyton Manning had his worst game of the season, going 19-of-36 for 150 yards and two touchdowns.

Without the passing game working, Denver relied heavily on its running game, and Knowshon Moreno delivered. Going off for 224 rushing yards on a ghastly 37 carries, Moreno continued to show the potential the Broncos saw in him when they drafted him. However, when it came down to it, Tom Brady stole the show. 

The future Hall-of-Famer went 34-of-50 for 344 yards and three touchdowns. Once again proving he can do more with less, Brady has the Patriots impressively sitting at 8-3.

The real backbreaker for Denver came with time counting down in overtime when Tony Carter ran into a Patriots punt which was then recovered by New England on the Broncos' 13-yard line. Right after the two-minute warning, it was Stephen Gostkowski nailing the 31-yard field goal to win it 34-31. 

It's now very likely that the winner of next week's showdown in Kansas City will take the AFC West title. Both teams sit at 9-2 and have somewhat favorable schedules the rest of the way.

Denver doesn't play another team currently above .500 after it takes on the Chiefs, and Kansas City only plays one team currently above .500, and that is the Indianapolis Colts who have been blown out in their last two games. 

No. 6 Seed in the AFC

In regard to the AFC wild-card picture, things got interesting on Sunday. With the Chiefs being the only non-first place team in the AFC above .500, there is still a lot to be settled when it comes to the sixth and final wild-card spot. 

An unprecedented six teams in the AFC will enter play next week sitting at 5-6. Those teams include the New York Jets, Miami Dolphins, Pittsburgh Steelers, Baltimore Ravens Ravens, Chargers and Tennessee Titans. The Jets and Dolphins lost on Sunday, while the other four teams won. 

The Jets are certainly a surprise team in the AFC playoff picture as fans were calling for coach Rex Ryan's head before the season even began. Now though, Ryan has his team playing average football, which, this year, could be enough to sneak into the AFC playoffs.

Things are going to be tough the rest of the way for "Gang Green" though. Out of the team's five remaining games, two come against the division-rival Dolphins and one comes against the red-hot Carolina Panthers. Also taking on the Oakland Raiders and Cleveland Browns, the Jets will likely have to win four out of their last five games to claim the final wild-card spot. 

After their season seemed derailed by off-the-field issues, the Dolphins still find themselves in the playoff hunt.

Step one of staying in the race is beating the Jets next Sunday. However, the Dolphins are going to have an extremely difficult time making it to the postseason. Other than the Jets, Miami takes on the Patriots, Steelers and Buffalo Bills. New England will be hungry for a first-round bye in the playoffs, and the Steelers are one of the hottest teams in football. 

After starting 0-4, just about nobody outside of the Pittsburgh locker room had the Steelers in the playoff hunt this late in the season, but here they are. After winning five out of seven games, Ben Roethlisberger and Co. are one of the hottest teams in football.

Pittsburgh will take on each team from their division one more time this season and will also take on the Dolphins and Green Bay Packers. That's not exactly the easiest schedule in the world, but the way the Steelers are playing right now, they have to be considered the favorites to snag the final wild-card spot in the AFC. 

The Baltimore Ravens have been extremely inconsistent this year. With five weeks to go in the season, the defending Super Bowl champions find themselves at serious risk of missing the playoffs.

Running back Ray Rice has done almost nothing this season, averaging just 2.9 yards per carry, and that has majorly hampered the Baltimore offense. The loss of star receiver Anquan Boldin certainly has hurt the Ravens as well.

In their final five games of the season, Baltimore will take on three division leaders in Detroit, New England and Cincinnati along with the streaking Steelers and the lowly Minnesota Vikings. Without any semblance of a running game, it's doubtful the Ravens will be able to make it through that schedule relatively unscathed. 

With a surprise win over the Chiefs on Sunday, Rivers and the Chargers managed to keep their playoff hopes alive and well. In a revival season, Rivers has thrown for 3,381 yards to go along with 22 touchdowns and eight interceptions and has an exceptional passer rating of 106.6.

San Diego managed to put up 41 points on a stout Chiefs defense and will try to carry that momentum into Sunday when they take on the first-place Bengals. In addition to the Bengals, San Diego has to face division foes Kansas City and Denver one more time each as well as the Raiders and Giants.

While games against two 9-2 divisional teams in the home stretch seems daunting, Rivers has surprised everyone all year, and it's possible he could do it again to send San Diego to the postseason. 

The final 5-6 team in the AFC is the confusing Tennessee Titans. It doesn't seem to make sense that Tennessee is in the playoff hunt given the fact they rank 17th in the league in total offense and 22nd in the league in total defense.

They don't do anything exceptionally well, but the Titans are in the race nonetheless. Whether that will last for long remains to be seen as games against the Colts, Broncos and Arizona Cardinals loom in the next three weeks. 

NFC South

Perhaps the surprise team of the year, the 8-3 Carolina Panthers are right in the 9-2 New Orleans Saints' rearview mirrors. Carolina has won seven straight games by playing superb defense and getting timely scoring from its offense. The Panthers have the third-ranked rushing defense in the league, and their ability to keep opponents' ground games grounded has greatly contributed to their success. 

It's not the ground game the Panthers are going to have to worry about from Drew Brees and the division-rival Saints. Brees is having another outstanding season, and the Saints are averaging 415 yards per game, which is third-best in the NFL. New Orleans won't be such an easy team to stop. 

These teams meet twice in the final five weeks of the season, and anything but a split in the season series will likely decide the division. Should the two teams split the season series, the division is still wide-open as Carolina has an easier schedule the rest of the way. 

Other than their two games against the Saints, the Panthers play the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Jets and Atlanta Falcons. While their game against the recently resurgent Bucs may present a trap game for Carolina which escaped with a win over Miami last week, all three games are winnable. 

On the other hand, the Saints take on the 10-1 Seattle Seahawks this week. On top of that, they will play the St. Louis Rams whose offense has been on fire as of late and the Buccaneers to finish the season (not counting games against the Panthers).

Basically, it's very likely the NFC South race could come down to the final week of the season with two of the NFC's better teams locked in a memorable division battle. 

NFC North

Nothing positive came from the NFC North this week. After seeming like one of the stronger divisions in football to start the season, the top three teams in the division now sit at 6-5, 6-5 and 5-5-1 respectively.

The Detroit Lions who own first place by virtue of a tiebreaker over the Chicago Bears had a huge letdown this week as they dropped a game at home to the previously 2-8 Buccaneers.

While that was going on, the Bears were busy giving up 258 rushing yards to the St. Louis Rams en route to a crushing 42-21 road loss. The Aaron Rodgers-less Packers then tied the struggling Vikings to push their record to 5-5-1. 

Chicago doesn't exactly have an easy schedule the rest of the way as they will take on the Dallas Cowboys, Philadelphia Eagles and Packers in three of the last five weeks of the season.

While the Bears offense has been led well in Josh McCown's capable hands, their abysmal run defense is going to continue to cost them. If that unit doesn't improve drastically, the former defensive juggernauts are going to be watching the playoffs from their couches once again.

Just as they seemed ready to claim the NFC North decisively, the Lions have dropped consecutive games to the Steelers and Buccaneers. With wins over teams they were capable of beating, it would be almost impossible for the Packers and Bears to catch the Lions at this point.

Instead, both teams are right on Detroit's tail. Since "Megatron" doesn't play in the Lions' defensive backfield, it's going to be tough for him to continue to try to win Detroit games single-handedly. 

While they anxiously wait for Aaron Rodgers to return from a partially fractured collarbone, the Packers have stayed within striking distance in the division. Of course, they will take on the Lions on Thursday in a Thanksgiving Day matchup, and head coach Mike McCarthy has said it's unlikely Rodgers will play in that game, according Rob Demovsky of ESPN.com.

For the Packers to attempt to regain control of the division, a win against Detroit is vital. Should the Lions fall out of the divisional race, the division could be decided in the last week of the season when the Packers take on the Bears at Soldier Field. 

NFC East

As always, the NFC East is mediocre at its best. Both the Cowboys and Eagles sit atop the division at 6-5, and this division once again figures to have an eventful finish. 

Out of the Eagles' next four games, three come against teams that currently have a winning record. It will be a tough schedule for Philadelphia to navigate, but ever since Nick Foles has taken over at quarterback, it has been smooth sailing for the Eagles.

Foles has thrown 16 touchdowns and zero interceptions this year, a feat only two other players have ever accomplished to start a season. With a 128.0 passer rating on the season, Foles is giving Philadelphia fans a reason to believe the future at the quarterback position could be bright after all. 

After a tough win over the streaking Giants on Sunday, the Cowboys are once again atop the division. Classic inconsistent play has once again plagued a Dallas team that could be much better than its record indicates at this point in the season. "Big D" still has to take on the Bears and Packers this season in two matchups with serious playoff implications. 

It appears the NFC East could come down to the last game of the season once again as the Eagles and Cowboys take on each other in the season's final week.

In 2012 with a playoff spot on the line, the Cowboys lost to the Washington Redskins 28-18. They allowed Washington running back Alfred Morris to rush for 200 yards and three touchdowns in that game. In 2011, again with the playoffs on the line, the Cowboys got shellacked by the Giants 31-14 in the season's final game, as outlined by The Football Database. New York went on to win the Super Bowl.

This could be a defining year for the Cowboys: Do they lose another division-deciding game in the season's final week, or do they step up and take the division for the first time since 2009? Only time will tell. 

NFC Wild-Card Race

One of the only playoff races to gain clarity in the NFL over the weekend was the NFC wild-card race.

With wins, the Panthers (8-3) and 49ers (7-4) solidified themselves as wild-card front-runners. Should the Panthers win the division, it's more than likely the Saints will claim one of the other wild-card spots. Between the Eagles and Cowboys, the loser of the division could sneak into the playoffs although that will be tough given that one of them won't win in Week 17. 

In the NFC North, two of the three teams that don't claim the division figure to at least be in the mix, but with a couple of teams to jump, it now seems unlikely that a 6-5 or 5-5-1 team will make the NFC playoffs as a wild card unless they improve dramatically over the season's final five weeks. 

The real surprise in the wild-card race is the Cardinals. Next to the Panthers, the Cardinals have to be the NFC's most surprising team, and at 7-4, they are tied with the 49ers for the sixth seed in the NFC playoffs. After dismantling the Colts 40-11 on Sunday, Arizona will shift its sights to the red-hot Eagles as they continue to make their playoff push.

In the second-to-last game of the season, Carson Palmer and the Cardinals will take on the Seahawks in a game where Seattle may be battling for home-field advantage throughout the playoffs. Much like the NFC East, the race for the sixth wild card could come down to the final week of the season as the Cardinals take on their fellow 7-4 team, the 49ers. 

Closing Thoughts and Predictions

This NFL season seems to have more parity than any other in recent memory. The excitement that any team can seemingly beat any other team on any given Sunday is part of what makes the NFL so fun to watch. While anything could happen in the last five weeks of the season, here's the prediction of how it will play out...

Broncos win AFC West, Chiefs get fifth seed in AFC playoffs.

The Steelers stay hot and claim the sixth playoff spot in the AFC. 

The Saints narrowly hold off the Panthers for the NFC South; Carolina claims the fifth seed. 

The Packers somehow find a way to win a wild NFC North.

Dallas gets over their late-season woes and beat the Eagles in Week 17 to clinch the NFC East. 

San Francisco claims the final wild-card spot in the NFC.