NFL Playoff Picture 2021: Week 9 Standings, Wild-Card Info and Super Bowl Odds

Midway through the 2021 season, teams have gained separation in division races while other clubs slowly fade in the playoff race.

The Green Bay Packers beat the last undefeated team, the Arizona Cardinals, on Thursday and remain one of the top contenders in the NFC. Do they have the firepower to compete with the Los Angeles Rams and Tampa Bay Buccaneers in potential postseason matchups?

One team that missed the playoffs in each of the past four years looks like a legitimate contender with balance on both sides of the ball. What's sparked this club's impressive start?

Going into the second half of the season, one AFC team could trend in either direction after a quality win and a concerning loss. Is it a playoff contender or pretender?

Before we dive into three squads in the playoff picture, let's check out the NFL standings, the race for wild-card spots and Super Bowl odds for all 32 teams.

NFL Playoff Picture

Eric Smith/Associated Press

AFC

Division Leaders

1. AFC South: Tennessee Titans (6-2)

2. AFC West: Las Vegas Raiders (5-2)

3. AFC North: Baltimore Ravens (5-2)

4. AFC East: Buffalo Bills (5-2)

Wild-Card Race

5. Cincinnati Bengals (5-3)

6. Pittsburgh Steelers (4-3)

7. Los Angeles Chargers (4-3)

8. New England Patriots  (4-4)

9. Cleveland Browns (4-4)

10. Denver Broncos  (4-4)

11. Kansas City Chiefs (3-4)

12. Indianapolis Colts (3-5)

13. New York Jets  (2-5)

14. Jacksonville Jaguars (1-6)

15. Houston Texans (1-7)

16. Miami Dolphins (1-7)

NFC

Division Leaders

1. NFC North: Green Bay Packers (7-1)

2. NFC West: Arizona Cardinals (7-1)

3. NFC East: Dallas Cowboys (6-1)

4. NFC South: Tampa Bay Buccaneers (6-2)

Wild-Card Race

5. Los Angeles Rams (7-1)

6. New Orleans Saints (5-2)

7. Carolina Panthers (4-4)

8. Minnesota Vikings (3-4)

9. San Francisco 49ers (3-4)

10. Atlanta Falcons (3-4)

11. Philadelphia Eagles (3-5)

12. Seattle Seahawks (3-5)

13. Chicago Bears (3-5)

14. New York Giants (2-5)

15. Washington Football Team (2-6)

16. Detroit Lions (0-8)

Super Bowl Odds

Butch Dill/Associated Press

Buffalo Bills: +500 (bet $100 to win $500)

Tampa Bay Buccaneers: +600

Los Angeles Rams: +750

Green Bay Packers: +900

Arizona Cardinals: +1000

Dallas Cowboys: +1000

Baltimore Ravens: +1200

Kansas City Chiefs: +1200

Tennessee Titans: +1600

Los Angeles Chargers: +2000

New Orleans Saints: +3500

Cincinnati Bengals: +5000

Cleveland Browns: +5000

Las Vegas Raiders: +5000

New England Patriots: +5000

Pittsburgh Steelers: +5000

San Francisco 49ers: +5000

Seattle Seahawks: +5000

Indianapolis Colts: +6500 

Denver Broncos: +10000

Minnesota Vikings: +10000

Carolina Panthers: +20000

Philadelphia Eagles: +20000

Washington Football Team: +20000

Atlanta Falcons: +50000

Chicago Bears: +50000

Miami Dolphins: +50000

New York Giants: +50000

Detroit Lions: +100000

Houston Texans: +100000

Jacksonville Jaguars: +100000

New York Jets: +100000

Odds via DraftKings.

Are the Bengals Contenders or Pretenders?

Sarah Stier/Getty Images

At 5-3, the Cincinnati Bengals have some playoff buzz, but they are a tough sell as a contender.

Within two weeks, the Bengals throttled the Baltimore Ravens 41-17 and lost 34-31 to the New York Jets—two squads on opposite ends of the spectrum in the AFC standings.

Though Cincinnati drew a questionable unnecessary roughing penalty at the end of Sunday's game, quarterback Mike White carved up the Bengals defense for 405 yards and three touchdowns to offset his two interceptions.

The Bengals field top-10 scoring units on both sides of the ball, which gives them a chance to beat any team. Yet they have losses to a pair of sub-.500 clubs in the Chicago Bears and Jets. If not for Evan McPherson's kicking woes, Cincinnati might have knocked off the Green Bay Packers in Week 5.

Clearly, Cincinnati has some weaknesses. Joe Burrow has a special connection with wideout Ja'Marr Chase, but he must cut down on turnovers. The second-year quarterback has thrown six interceptions in the team's losses with at least one in each of the past four games.

The Bengals put the league on notice with their decisive win over the Ravens, but in order to hold on to a playoff spot, they have to show more consistency as teams kick into a higher gear in the second half of the season. The roster is equipped to finish with one of the wild-card spots.

Packers on a Hot Streak with 7 Consecutive Wins

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Remember when the Green Bay Packers set off alarm bells in a season-opening 38-3 loss to the New Orleans Saints? Some questioned whether the club's turbulent offseason with quarterback Aaron Rodgers would have an adverse effect.

After seven consecutive victories, however, the Packers once again look like an NFC powerhouse. Impressively, they knocked off the then-undefeated Arizona Cardinals in Week 8 without star wide receiver Davante Adams (reserve/COVID-19 list). Wide receivers Allen Lazard (reserve/COVID-19) and Marquez Valdes-Scantling (hamstring) also missed that game.

Despite Rodgers' offseason issues with the Packers brass, he's still performing at a high level, throwing for 1,894 yards, 17 touchdowns and three interceptions, which is enough to keep Green Bay in any game even if he's without key players in his supporting cast.

The Packers' backfield features running back tandem Aaron Jones and AJ Dillon, who both average 4.5 yards per carry.

With a top-10 scoring defense, Green Bay can also find a way to win low-scoring games when the offense struggles to put up points, as we saw in Thursday's outing against Arizona.

We could see the Packers and their high-end roster make a third consecutive trip to the NFC Championship Game.

Raiders Emerge as 1 of the Biggest Surprises

Rick Scuteri/Associated Press

The Las Vegas Raiders had a bumpy ride to 5-2. Even during their 3-0 start, they fell behind by 14 points in two of those games and won in overtime.

After consecutive losses, the Raiders' now-former head coach, Jon Gruden, resigned because of his racist, anti-gay and misogynistic emails dating back to 2011, which surfaced during an investigation into the Washington Football Team.

Interim head coach Rich Bisaccia, who's also the special teams coordinator, has helped keep the team focused on the task at hand.

With and without Gruden, quarterback Derek Carr has performed at a high level, averaging a career-high 324.1 passing yards per game. In Week 7, he completed 91.2 percent of his passes, which is the league's second-highest completion rate for any quarterback with at least 30 attempts in a game, per NFL on CBS.

On the other side of the ball, play-caller Gus Bradley has tapped into the young talent and brought in some of his former players to hold together each level of the defense. To name a few, defensive tackle Darius Philon, linebacker Denzel Perryman and cornerback Casey Hayward Jr. have made a significant impact on the Raiders' much-improved defense.

Coming off a Week 8 bye, the Raiders will be aiming for three consecutive wins to stay atop the AFC West before they face the high-flying Dallas Cowboys.

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