Teddy Bridgewater Injury Leaves the NFC That Much More Wide-Open

If there's one thing we know about the NFL, it's that we know nothing about the NFL. Every year teams we expect to contend for playoff spots fall flat, while others come from nowhere to earn a spot in the postseason tournament.

Looking at you, 2015 Washington Redskins. Looking right...at...you.

That truism is proving true in 2016 before we even play a game that counts. Seventy-two hours ago, the Minnesota Vikings were considered very much in the mix for the playoffs in 2016. After all, the team is the defending NFC North champion.

Now, after a devastating injury, the Vikings' prospects for the upcoming campaign have been cast into uncertainty. And with them, the rest of the conference—because if the Vikings don't make the playoffs, some other team will.

The injury I'm talking about, of course, was the horrific knee injury suffered by starting quarterback Teddy Bridgewater in Tuesday's practice. Per a statement from the team, Bridgewater completely tore his ACL and dislocated his kneecap.

They haven't come up with an adjective that properly describes the impact of this injury. The Vikings were an 11-win playoff team that nearly knocked off the Seattle Seahawks in the Wild Card Round in 2015 with Bridgewater at the helm.

Sure, the Vikings win games by playing stout defense and pounding the ball with Adrian Peterson, but there's no denying they are a more dangerous squad with Bridgewater than 36-year-old backup Shaun Hill.

Just as there's no denying that Minnesota's playoff hopes in 2016 suffered a crushing blow the moment Bridgewater crumpled to the ground.

This isn't to say Minnesota is toast. Hill is an experienced veteran (34 starts) with a plus-19 career touchdown-to-interception ratio and a passer rating north of 85. There's also the possibility the Vikings could swing a deal for a player like Cleveland's Josh McCown, who was effective in eight starts for the Browns last year. Or Denver's Mark Sanchez, who twice led the New York Jets to the AFC Championship Game.

But the harsh reality is this: That 11-win Vikings team is now (in a best-case scenario) likely a nine-win Vikings team.

That puts them squarely in a large pack of teams vying for the second wild-card spot in the NFC.

Team	2015 Record	B/R Rank
Carolina Panthers*	15-1	1
Arizona Cardinals*	13-3	2
Seattle Seahawks*	10-6	4
Green Bay Packers*	10-6	6

Per the latest NFL power rankings here at Bleacher Report, there are now four teams in the NFC that can be considered relatively "safe" bets to make the playoffs. The Carolina Panthers lost one regular-season game in 2015 and represented the NFC in Super Bowl 50. With Bridgewater hurt, the Green Bay Packers are now the overwhelming favorites in the NFC North.

While one of the 13-win Arizona Cardinals and the perennially contending Seattle Seahawks will be denied the NFC West crown, the loser of that battle will probably win at least 11 games—enough to lock up a wild-card berth.

That leaves two playoff spots that can reasonably be considered "up for grabs," and there's a huge group of teams fighting for them.

Team	2015 Record	B/R Rank
Washington Redskins	9-7	12
Minnesota Vikings	11-5	9*
New York Giants	6-10	17
Atlanta Falcons	8-8	20
Tampa Bay Buccaneers	6-10	22

One of those spots will go to the champion of the NFC East, a division the Washington Redskins won last year with a 9-7 record. Washington might be a nominal favorite to repeat after the the addition of All-Pro cornerback Josh Norman in free agency, but by no measure can a team that barely finished above .500 be considered "safe" where a playoff berth is concerned.

In fact, as Conor Orr of NFL.com pointed out, many consider the New York Giants the team to beat in the East after they spent approximately all the money ever to bolster a defense that finished last in the NFL in 2015:

"

The Giants are now viewed as the team to beat, though spending $200 million during the offseason (for the second time in three years) is rarely a sign of good things to come. Still, against the Jets [in Week 3 of the preseason], their shiny new defensive line looked dominant at times and could end up being the most feared position group in the division this season.

"

Whichever of those NFC East squads comes up short in the race for the division crown will find itself mired in a morass of flawed teams all scrambling for the sixth seed in the postseason brouhaha.

There's the Atlanta Falcons, who roared out of the gate to win their first five games in 2015 only to go 3-8 the rest of the way. The Falcons have a big-name quarterback in Matt Ryan, an all-world receiver in Julio Jones and a rising young star at running back in Devonta Freeman.

But Ryan's second half last year was defined by ill-timed turnovers, a trend that continued in the preseason. Atlanta's defense also remains a huge concern, light on talent and even lighter on pass-rushers.

Down the road a ways in Tampa Bay, the Buccaneers have the foundation on offense to put up plenty of points in 2016 with second-year quarterback Jameis Winston, wideout Mike Evans and tailback Doug Martin. The Buccaneers' retooled pass rush looked dominant in the team's "dress rehearsal" preseason game against Cleveland.

But the Browns have a tendency to make everyone look good, and the Buccaneers faded badly down the stretch last year, losing five of their last six (including their last four games).

You can add the Vikings (sans Bridgewater) to that tier as well. Losing him hurts, but Aaron Rodgers he isn't. The Vikings will win games without Bridgewater the same way they won them last year with him—by running the ball with Peterson and playing defense. Their smashmouth personality, if anything, softened that blow just a tad.

That logjam exists without even considering the possibility that a "fringe" contender could come from nowhere a la the Redskins a year ago.

Team	2015 Record	B/R Rank
New Orleans Saints	7-9	24
Detroit Lions	7-9	27
Philadelphia Eagles	7-9	30

The Detroit Lions were the polar opposites of the Falcons last year, dropping seven of their first eight contests to open the season. But from there the Lions went 6-2, thanks in part to the promotion of Jim Bob Cooter to offensive coordinator, to finish the season 7-9 and offer their fans some hope for the upcoming campaign.

However, according to Drew Sharp of the Detroit Free Press, hope can be a dangerous thing during a time of significant change in the Motor City. Even Lions general manager Bob Quinn sounds the part of a man with tempered expectations.

"It's a combination of wins and losses," Quinn said of evaluating head coach Jim Caldwell. "Decision-making. How he's handling the team? How does he handle adversity? Got players going down, and I'm trying to shuffle guys in. Can we get those guys up to speed and get them ready to play? It all goes into it. It's not just one thing."

The New Orleans Saints were a dumpster fire last year defensively, and not much appears to have changed in that regard. However, that dumpster fire of a defense got the Saints seven wins in 2015, and I hear that Brees fellow is pretty good at quarterback.

The Philadelphia Eagles were also 7-9 in 2015, and the team doesn't appear to be especially strong in any one area. The Eagles also don't have any glaring weaknesses, and that Jim Schwartz defense is going to keep Philly close most weeks.

The Eagles' winning the East outright in 2016 wouldn't be the upset Washington's division title was a year ago was.

Sure, the Dallas Cowboys won only four games with Tony Romo on the shelf last year—the same place he finds himself after fracturing a vertebra in the preseason. Almost half of the Cowboys defensive front seven is suspended to begin the 2016 season.

But backup quarterback Dak Prescott and rookie running back Ezekiel Elliott looked like gangbusters in the preseason, and the Cowboys still have a great offensive line. Anything's possible, right?

Actually, no. With a rookie quarterback, a suspension-ravaged defense and defensive MVP Sean Lee already nursing a sore knee, the Cowboys are done.

So is a Chicago Bears team that's looked flatter than a pancake in the preseason. And a Los Angeles Rams team that has no passing game and a head coach who is the Michelangelo of mediocrity. And a San Francisco 49ers team that's just awful in about every way a team can be.

Sorry.

For those teams, Bridgewater's injury doesn't mean much. They were also-rans and doormats before it happened, and nothing has changed. Of course, it was a disaster for the Vikings, an accident as calamitous as it was unforeseen.

For many other NFC clubs, though, Bridgewater's misfortune is a sort of macabre opportunity. It shook up the pecking order for the playoffs in the NFC in a big way, knocking Minnesota from the inside track to the outside looking in.

A door has opened.

It's anyone's guess who will walk through it.

Gary Davenport is an NFL analyst at Bleacher Report and a member of the Fantasy Sports Writers Association and Pro Football Writers of America. You can follow Gary on Twitter @IDPSharks.