NFL Playoff Picture 2016: Week 12 Wild Card Hunt, Standings and Super Bowl Odds

Things we know: The Dallas Cowboys, New England Patriots and Seattle Seahawks are pretty good at football. The AFC West is super hard to predict. 

Everything else? Uhh, let's just say that's a work in progress.

The 2016 NFL playoff picture remains in a state of flux as we approach Thanksgiving, with about three-fourths of the league still thinking they have a realistic shot at making the playoffs. There are only five teams (New York Jets, Cleveland Browns, Jacksonville Jaguars, Chicago Bears and San Francisco 49ers) we can say are completely out of the picture with virtual certainty. (The Cincinnati Bengals are teetering on the verge of joining that club.)

The remaining teams are currently in a muddled muck, stuck within a couple games of one another while trying to burrow their way into the postseason. Here is a look at the updated playoff picture around the NFL heading into Monday night.

NFL Standings

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

NFC East	W	L	T
NFC North	W	L	T
NFC South	W	L	T
NFC West	W	L	T
Dallas Cowboys	9	1	0
New York Giants	7	3	0
Washington Redskins	6	3	1
Philadelphia Eagles	5	5	0
Detroit Lions	6	4	0
Minnesota Vikings	6	4	0
Green Bay Packers	4	6	0
Chicago Bears	2	8	0
Atlanta Falcons	6	4	0
Tampa Bay Buccaneers	5	5	0
New Orleans Saints	4	6	0
Carolina Panthers	4	6	0
Seattle Seahawks	7	2	1
Arizona Cardinals	4	5	1
Los Angeles Rams	4	6	0
San Francisco 49ers	1	9	0

Monday Night Means...A Lot

While not exactly an expected ratings bonanza, the Oakland Raiders and Houston Texans stand to make things a whole lot more difficult later Monday. Both teams can take a clear hold of their division race with a win or begin falling back to the pack with a loss.

The Raiders are in a position to take sole possession of first place in the AFC West after the Kansas City Chiefs lost Sunday. Their point differential is actually worse than Kansas City or the Denver Broncos, with five of their seven wins coming by one score.

The Texans will remain the class of the AFC South regardless of Monday's result, but the Indianapolis Colts are charging. Andrew Luck and Co. have won their last two games and three of their last four. With another head-to-head matchup coming up Dec. 12, the Texans could use a two-game cushion heading into their trip to Indianapolis.

The Raiders have looked like a playoff team all season but don't have many gimmes remaining on their schedule. The only below-.500 team left on their schedule is the 4-6 San Diego Chargers. Getting to 8-2 now means they can likely go 2-4 the rest of the way and still sneak into the playoffs.

The NFC East Is...Super Good

From 2010 through 2015, a 9-7 or 10-6 record won the NFC East five times. No East team received a first-round playoff bye, and the 2014 Dallas Cowboys' 12-4 campaign was the only outlier. It was a frankly sad division, where teams went from winning one year to sitting in the basement the next.

A Week 17 game pitting two thoroughly mediocre teams for the NFC East championship became something of an expectation. Save from a pair of admittedly shocking Giants Super Bowl wins, the division became synonymous with tepid mediocrity.

No more.

Dak Prescott and Ezekiel Elliott appear on the verge of leading the next great Cowboys dynasty, reeling off nine straight wins to sit alone as football's only one-loss team. Prescott and Elliott are not only battling one another for Rookie of the Year honors but are near the top of the MVP discussion as well. Elliott entered this week as the favorite, per Oddsshark. (It's likely he's behind Tom Brady at the moment.)

But even behind Dallas, there's a three-team race where nine wins might wind up meaning a last-place finish. The Giants are winners of five straight and are at 7-3 on the season despite only a plus-four point differential. Facing the 0-11 Cleveland Browns next Sunday, it's likely the Giants will clinch their first .500 campaign since 2012. 

Washington's impressive 42-24 win over the Green Bay Packers on Sunday night allowed it to keep a half-game lead for the NFC's final Wild Card spot. A trip to Dallas begins a three-game road stretch that will likely define Washington's season. Come away with two wins in those games, and it's likely Kirk Cousins is leading his second straight playoff charge.

If not, it's likely another team in the Wild Card hunt will step up and take that spot.

Super Bowl Odds

Team	Odds
New England Patriots	+230
Dallas Cowboys	+550
Seattle Seahawks	+625
Denver Broncos	+1600
Kansas City Chiefs	+1600
Pittsburgh Steelers	+1800
Atlanta Falcons	+1800
Oakland Raiders	+2000
Arizona Cardinals	+2200
Green Bay Packers	+2500
New York Giants	+2500
Baltimore Ravens	+2800
Houston Texans	+3300
Indianapolis Colts	+4000
Detroit Lions	+4000
Minnesota Vikings	+4000
Carolina Panthers	+5000
Washington Redskins	+5000
Philadelphia Eagles	+6600
Tennessee Titans	+6600
Miami Dolphins	+7500
Cincinnati Bengals	+10000
New Orleans Saints	+10000
San Diego Chargers	+15000
Buffalo Bills	+15000
Los Angeles Rams	+15000
Tampa Bay Buccaneers	+15000
New York Jets	+30000