NFL Standings 2015: Week 13 Records, Playoff Scenarios, Wild-Card Picture

Only five weeks remain in the 2015 NFL regular season, and it's shaping up to be a doozy of a home stretch.

The wild-card race is as frenetic as its name suggests, with several teams all at or hovering around the .500 mark. Several division crowns are still very much up for grabs, providing some squads with extra fuel to fire them to the postseason. 

Week 12 is done and dusted, so let's take a look at where each team stands heading into Week 13.

AFC East
AFC North
AFC West
AFC South
NFC South
NFC North
NFC East
NFC West
Team	W	L	PF	PA
New England	10	1	347	212
New York Jets	6	5	272	228
Buffalo	5	6	266	257
Miami	4	7	225	287
Cincinnati	9	2	297	193
Pittsburgh	6	5	266	230
Baltimore	4	7	259	276
Cleveland	2	9	213	310
Denver	9	2	252	207
Kansas City	6	5	287	220
Oakland	5	6	264	280
San Diego	3	8	244	307
Indianapolis	6	5	249	260
Houston	6	5	232	234
Jacksonville	4	7	236	299
Tennessee	2	9	203	257
Carolina	11	0	332	205
Atlanta	6	5	260	2334
Tampa Bay	5	6	248	279
New Orleans	4	7	261	339
Minnesota	8	3	231	194
Green Bay	7	4	262	215
Chicago	5	6	231	264
Detroit	4	7	230	288
Washington	5	6	241	267
New York Giants	5	6	287	273
Philadelphia	4	7	243	274
Dallas	3	8	204	261
Arizona	9	2	355	229
Seattle	6	5	267	222
St. Louis	4	7	186	230
San Francisco	3	8	152	271

Seed	AFC	NFC
1	New England Patriots (10-1)	Carolina Panthers (11-0)
2	Cincinnati Bengals (9-2)	Arizona Cardinals (9-2)
3	Denver Broncos (9-2)	Minnesota Vikings (8-3)
4	Indianapolis Colts (6-5)	Washington Redskins (5-6)
5	Kansas City Chiefs (6-5)	Green Bay Packers (7-4)
6	Houston Texans (6-5)	Seattle Seahawks (6-5)
In the Hunt	New York Jets (6-5)	Atlanta Falcons (6-5)
In the Hunt	Pittsburgh Steelers (6-5)	Tampa Bay Buccaneers (5-6)
In the Hunt	Oakland Raiders (5-6)	New York Giants (5-6)
In the Hunt	Buffalo Bills (5-6)	Chicago Bears (5-6)
In the Hunt	Jacksonville Jaguars (4-7)	St. Louis Rams (4-7)

As for playoff scenarios, only two divisions are all but wrapped up at this point: The New England Patriots will take the AFC East, while the Carolina Panthers are destined to win the NFC South title. Both of those squads are in strong positions to pick up the two No. 1 seeds in the playoffs, although the Patriots do have obstacles moving forward.

An offense that has already lost Julian Edelman and Dion Lewis to major injuries could have to soldier on without the best tight end in the league, Rob Gronkowski. The rambunctious pass-catcher could miss New England's Week 13 game against Philadelphia with a bruised right knee, according to ESPN's Adam Schefter, and is considered week-to-week due to the pain stemming from the injury. 

The Patriots play three of their final five games on the road, two of them against teams with winning records (Texans and the Jets). Even if Gronkowski misses a game or two, it's still a very manageable slate, but Denver and Cincinnati lurk just a game behind. 

The Broncos can't just think about who they're chasing down: Kansas City is on a five-game winning streak and just three games back of Denver in the AFC West. The Chiefs could very well win out, with San Diego, Baltimore, Cleveland and two games against the Raiders remaining.

The ability of Brock Osweiler to manage the offense, limit mistakes and let C.J. Anderson, Ronnie Hillman and the defense do the heavy lifting will be key to Denver's chances at earning a postseason bye. 

The AFC's wackiest division is its southern contingent. A few weeks ago, it seemed like the AFC South was destined to send a sub-.500 team to the playoffs. Instead, Indianapolis has stayed afloat thanks to antique quarterback Matt Hasselbeck—4-0 as a starter this year, with seven TDs against two interceptions—and Houston is playing out of its mind, let by the talismanic J.J. Watt.

Eric Christian Smith/Associated Press

The league's best defender has led his Texans out of the doldrums, as noted by Deadspin's Patrick Redford: 

"

In the past five games, Watt has 9.5 sacks and 24 tackles, and the rest of the defense has rallied around him and moved into the top 10 on yards allowed per play. Since the ignominious blowout loss to Miami in Week 7, the Texans have allowed just 35 points in four games. Today, they hosted the Saints and extinguished them with ease, 24-6, Drew Brees and all. Brees has been impressive all year, but today he threw a pick, no touchdowns and went only 25/44 with 255 yards. It was a historic performance.

"

Jacksonville is still lurking just two games back, despite suffering a tough home loss to San Diego in Week 12. Whichever team comes up short in the AFC South is going to have to hope a few teams from the pool of the Jets, Bills, Raiders, Chiefs and Steelers capitulate down the stretch.

The Bills have a chance to shake things up, with three games against NFC East opponents on the docket.

Speaking of the league's worst division, few would've predicted the Redskins atop the group this late in campaign. Dallas and Philadelphia were hot picks prior to the season's start, but injuries to Tony Romo and Dez Bryant hamstrung the Cowboys offense, while Chip Kelly's experiment is blowing up in his face. Philly is on a three-game losing streak and has given up 90 points in the past two weeks.

New England, Buffalo and Arizona are coming up in the next three weeks. Don't expect the Eagles to soar.

Philly and Dallas are still mathematically in the mix, though it seems that the division might go to a team with a losing record, probably either the Giants or Redskins. Washington has the luxury of playing Dallas twice—who will play out the string without Romo, who reinjured his left clavicle on Thanksgiving—and the Eagles look spent, leaving the Giants to contend with Washington.

The NFC wild-card race is perhaps a bit less wide-open than the AFC's, but only just. One spot seems earmarked for either Minnesota or Green Bay, who are duking it out for NFC North supremacy. According to the New York Times' interactive playoff simulator—a fine tool for playing with all the potential scenarios and permutations for your favorite team—the Packers have a 93 percent chance of making the postseason, while the Vikings have an 89 percent chance of playing extra football.

Butch Dill/Associated Press

Seattle is currently in the sixth spot, trailed by the Falcons, Buccaneers, Giants and Bears. Atlanta is fading fast and has lost four of its last five games. Quarterback Matt Ryan has thrown 10 touchdowns and seven interceptions in that span, with up-and-down performances week in and week out.

He's also made a few disastrous plays in the red zone this year, as SportsCenter noted: 

Tampa Bay would appear to be a long shot with rookie quarterback Jameis Winston leading the way. After exploding for five touchdowns against the Eagles in Week 11, he regressed to the mean to throw just one TD and a pick in a loss to Indianapolis on Sunday. 

Chicago is dangerous, having won three of its last four and facing teams with a combined 25-30 record to close the season. Only one of those teams, Minnesota, even has a winning record.

Per the New York Times playoff simulator, the Bears have just a 43 percent chance of making the playoffs if they win all their remaining games save for the Vikings contest. That game will be pivotal provided the Bears win out until then.

The Seahawks are in control for that sixth spot—and aren't quite out of the NFC West race with Arizona—but will have to soldier on without marquee tight end Jimmy Graham, whose season ended Sunday with a torn patellar tendon.

Graham never quite found a rhythm in Seattle's offense this year, though his injury is still a major blow to a team ranked eighth in the league in scoring. Still, the team is optimistic after beating Pittsburgh in Week 12, 39-30.

"I feel like everything is changing for the better,’’ linebacker Bobby Wagner said, via Larry Stone of the Seattle Times.

"That’s who we are,’’ safety Earl Thomas said, via Stone. “I think sometimes success makes you lose sight of that. But we played great as a defense. We played great as an offense."

The Seahawks will be looking to Russell Wilson for leadership and rookie sensation Thomas Rawls for offensive production as they fight for a playoff spot.