NFL Playoff Picture Week 14: Latest AFC, NFC Standings and Bracket Scenarios

With four weeks to go in the NFL season, the top teams only care about one thing: Making the playoffs.

The postseason picture is as wide-open as ever with no division lead being more than two games heading into Week 14. Recent losses by the Arizona Cardinals and New England Patriots have also created ties at the top of each conference to keep things interesting.

This means that while some teams might be in charge at the moment, a lot can change in the coming month.

Here is a breakdown of the latest standings and what lies ahead for the two conferences with tiebreaking procedures courtesy of NFL.com. 

NFC

NFC East	W	L	T	Pct
NFC North	W	L	T	Pct
NFC South Team	W	L	T	Pct
NFC West Team	W	L	T	Pct
Philadelphia Eagles	9	3	0	.750
Dallas Cowboys	8	4	0	.667
New York Giants	3	9	0	.250
Washington Redskins	3	9	0	.250
Green Bay Packers	9	3	0	.750
Detroit Lions	8	4	0	.667
Chicago Bears	5	7	0	.417
Minnesota Vikings	5	7	0	.417
Atlanta Falcons	5	7	0	.417
New Orleans Saints	5	7	0	.417
Carolina Panthers	3	8	1	.292
Tampa Bay Buccaneers	2	10	0	.167
Arizona Cardinals	9	3	0	.750
Seattle Seahawks	8	4	0	.667
San Francisco 49ers	7	5	0	.583
St. Louis Rams	5	7	0	.417

The Cardinals would be the No. 1 seed if the season ended today thanks to a head-to-head win over the Philadelphia Eagles and a better in-conference record than the Green Bay Packers. However, two losses in a row have reduced the lead in both the NFC and in the West division.

At 9-1, Arizona had a three-game lead over both the Seattle Seahawks and San Francisco 49ers in the division. Now the lead is down to just one over Seattle, and there are questions as to whether the season is lost with Drew Stanton at the helm.

Despite the recent slide, head coach Bruce Arians is sticking with his guy, per SiriusXM NFL Radio:

Still, a tough remaining schedule with three more division games might give the Seahawks a chance to overtake the NFC West.

In the East, the Eagles now have a one-game lead over the Dallas Cowboys as well as one head-to-head win thanks to a dominant effort on Thanksgiving. However, the two teams play again in Week 15 in Philadelphia.

Considering the Cowboys are 5-0 on the road this year, we shouldn't count out DeMarco Murray and company.

The NFC North is essentially down to two teams as the Packers and Detroit Lions battle for supremacy. There is no question Green Bay has been more impressive lately with four wins in a row, but it is only a one-game lead and the two sides will battle on the last week of the season.

You can be certain the Packers will want to lock up the division before this game.

No matter what happens with these divisions, the two wild-card spots will likely come from one of them. The 49ers are still in the hunt as well, making it very likely five positions in the playoffs will be filled by the seven teams mentioned already.

This leaves the final spot for the NFC South, which has been awful all year. Will Brinson of CBS Sports joked about how bad it currently looks:

The Atlanta Falcons and New Orleans Saints are tied for first at 5-7, and a team that hasn't won since Week 5—the Carolina Panthers—are just 1.5 games out.

New Orleans is likely the favorite due to its talent on both sides of the ball, but it no longer gets guaranteed wins at home. While it is hard to say this race will be interesting down the stretch, it will at least be close.

AFC

AFC East	W	L	T	Pct
AFC North	W	L	T	Pct
AFC South	W	L	T	Pct
AFC West	W	L	T	Pct
New England Patriots	9	3	0	.750
Miami Dolphins	7	5	0	.583
Buffalo Bills	7	5	0	.583
New York Jets	2	10	0	.167
Cincinnati Bengals	8	3	1	.708
Baltimore Ravens	7	5	0	.583
Pittsburgh Steelers	7	5	0	.583
Cleveland Browns	7	5	0	.583
Indianapolis Colts	8	4	0	.667
Houston Texans	6	6	0	.500
Tennessee Titans	2	10	0	.167
Jacksonville Jaguars	2	10	0	.167
Denver Broncos	9	3	0	.750
San Diego Chargers	8	4	0	.667
Kansas City Chiefs	7	5	0	.583
Oakland Raiders	1	11	0	.083

The Patriots' win over the Denver Broncos in Week 9 keeps them in the No. 1 spot in the AFC, and it seems likely this tiebreaker will come in handy by the time the season ends.

Of course, New England has to focus on winning the AFC East first before thinking about home-field advantage. While it has become an annual tradition to pencil Bill Belichick's team into first place in the division, the current race is closer than many would like to admit.

Both the Buffalo Bills and Miami Dolphins are two games off the lead, although the Dolphins have a win over the division leaders back in Week 1. The chances are not great to overtake the champs, but it isn't impossible.

The same can be said for the San Diego Chargers trying to catch the Broncos in the West. As ESPN's Skip Bayless noted, the recent come-from-behind effort against the Baltimore Ravens sent a message to the rest of the division:

After three wins in a row, it wouldn't be surprising to see Philip Rivers lead his team to make up the necessary ground in the division.

The Indianapolis Colts don't seem as likely to face this much trouble in the AFC South with a two-game lead over the 6-6 Houston Texans. They still have three road games remaining on the schedule, but a home win against the Texans in Week 15 would be enough to clinch the division.

Meanwhile, the Cincinnati Bengals seem to be benefiting from the tie against the Panthers earlier in the season (although a win would've been better). They are now 1.5 games up on the rest of the division and will hope to avoid a wild-card battle that will almost certainly last until the final moments of Week 17.

Unlike the NFC, there are tons of teams still alive in the playoff hunt in the AFC. San Diego would get the No. 5 seed at the moment thanks to its 8-4 record, but there are six teams currently sitting at 7-5.

If the season ended today, the Dolphins would be playoff-bound due to various tiebreakers over the remaining competition, although this won't necessarily hold throughout the year.

The question is which team will take control out of Miami, Buffalo, Baltimore, Pittsburgh and Kansas City. Bleacher Report's Chris Simms and Jonathan Vilma made their predictions:

Considering how competitive the AFC North has been, it would only make sense that at least one of the teams would emerge as a playoff participant. Unfortunately, there is still time for the four teams to beat each other up some more and prevent any from going to the postseason.

Still, anything can happen in the coming weeks with just about every game having some sort of importance for the playoffs. The drama is unlikely to end any time soon with every squad doing whatever it can to keep playing into January and possibly February. 

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