NFL Playoff Scenarios 2015-16: AFC, NFC Week 15 Picture, Postseason Predictions

It's been a bizarre season in the NFL, dominated by the elite teams.

Twenty-one of the league's 32 teams will enter Week 15 with losing records, which has created an enormous gap between the top of the league and everyone else. 

Amazingly, two of those 21 teams under .500 are featured in the current playoffs standings as division leaders.

AFC Playoff Race

Seed	Team	W-L
1	New England Patriots	11-2
2	Cincinnati Bengals	10-3
3	Denver Broncos	10-3
4	Indianapolis Colts	6-7
5	Kansas City Chiefs	8-5
6	New York Jets	8-5

After dropping two straight games, the Patriots went from heavy AFC favorite to potentially being forced to play on Wild Card Weekend. But after upset losses by the Broncos and Bengals on Sunday, New England is back in control. 

As the only two-loss team in the AFC, the Patriots control their own destiny to wrap up the No. 1 seed. With remaining games against the Titans, Jets and Dolphins, it would come as a surprise if anyone other than New England ended up with home-field advantage. 

The other bye week will likely belong to either the Bengals or the Broncos, who may both be forced to ride backup quarterbacks into the playoffs. 

According to NFL Network's Ian Rapoport, Dalton suffered a right thumb injury versus the Steelers on Sunday. Pro Football Talk followed up with a report that the Bengals won't know more about his timetable for recovery until he visits a specialist on Monday.

The most fascinating division race down the stretch will be the AFC South, which currently does not feature a single team over .500. 

Despite recent blowout losses, the Colts might still be the favorites in that race. 

Last week, Jim Irsay told Ian Rapoport that he expected Luck to return in Week 15:

"

#Colts owner Jim Irsay told me he believes QB Andrew Luck will be back for Week 15 vs. the #Texans. Week 16 vs. #Dolphins at the latest

— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) December 6, 2015"

With a healthy Luck starting the final three weeks of the season, the Colts should be able to wrap up one of the ugliest division races in recent memory. 

NFC Playoff Race

Seed	Team	W-L
1	Carolina Panthers	13-0
2	Arizona Cardinals	11-2
3	Green Bay Packers	9-4
4	Washington Redskins	6-7
5	Seattle Seahawks	8-5
6	Minnesota Vikings	8-5

The NFC race is fairly simple, with the only real drama coming in the NFC East. 

Five of the six teams currently in the playoffs hold at least a two-game lead, with just three games remaining on the schedule.

The only team without such a controlling lead is the Washington Redskins, who sit atop the NFC East with a 6-7 record due to owning a tiebreaker with the Eagles. 

Multiple scenarios still exist in the NFC East, including one in which all four teams finish tied with 7-9 records, which I detailed on Twitter on Sunday night. 

"

10-loss division winner now impossible in NFC East... but here's how we get a four-way 7-9 tie with Cowboys winning pic.twitter.com/igedw1Q7K1

— Ryan McCrystal (@Ryan_McCrystal) December 14, 2015"

The other hotly contested division race is the NFC North, between the Vikings and the Packers. 

Green Bay holds a one-game end and also currently owns the head-to-head tiebreaker due to a victory earlier this season. 

The two teams will meet again in the regular-season finale, which could decide the division. 

Carolina and Arizona are heavy favorites to wrap up the NFC byes. The Cardinals hold a two-game lead over Green Bay for the No. 2 seed, while Carolina holds two-game lead over Arizona for No. 1.