NFL Playoff Picture: The Top 25 Questions Heading into the NFL Playoffs
The NFL playoff picture is still in a fluid state and there still are a couple of legitimate questions to ask as we head into the final two weeks of the regular season.
The exact order of the seeding is a question that only will be answered by playing out the last two weeks, and that order is determined by the math, so that isn't the kind of question we'll be asking here.
What we're looking at is which teams may rise to the top, which teams will fall, and what the overall playoffs may look like.
We'll even prognosticate the answers for you, so here we go.
25. Does It Matter Who Wins the NFC West?
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The NFC West has become the punching bag for the rest of the league due to its chronic ineptness the last few years. And this year appears to be the worst year in quite some time for any division in the NFL.
As things stand with two weeks left to go in the season, the chances of the division winner finishing 7-9 are very good. The Rams and the Seahawks could finish with 8-8 records, so the best case scenario is the NFC West gets into the playoffs with a .500 record.
How any of those teams expect to advance after that is anyone's guess.
24. Speaking of the NFC West, What About Sam Bradford?
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Sam Bradford is a rookie quarterback on a marginally talented team playing in a historically weak division.
Bradford has a great future ahead of him and the Rams do look like they're headed in the right direction, but this is not their year.
Assuming the Rams win the NFC West, which I think is the more likely option at this point, they get to host a home game. If the season ended today, it would be against the New Orleans Saints.
The Saints just beat the Rams 31-13 in Week 14 and there was nothing fluke-ish about the win.
23. So Can the Rams Win a Playoff Game?
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In a word, "no," but let's be completely, 100-percent fair.
From a universal standpoint, anything is possible on any given Sunday and the Rams could take the field against the Saints, or whoever else might swoop in at the last moment and take the Saints playoff spot, and somehow pull out a victory.
That possibility exists, so we have to acknowledge it.
But if you're going to put it in terms of percentage, it realistically isn't any larger than a five-percent chance. So again, no, the Rams will not win a game in the playoffs.
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22. Are the Saints Ready for Another Playoff Run?
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The Saints just lost a tough game to the Baltimore Ravens and it's fair to say that could be a Super Bowl preview, since both teams are likely to make the playoffs and both would be in the playoffs if the season ended today.
The Saints are 10-4 but the Falcons are 12-2, so their postseason hopes aren't as good as you might think they could be.
To add drama to this, the Giants and Eagles have almost identical records and the Green Bay Packers and Tampa Bay Buccaneers all are still in the hunt.
The Saints have lost games they shouldn't have this year and that does raise serious questions about their ability to go deep in the playoffs.
However, with the Rams a very possible first opponent, that gives them an "easy" game until the divisional round, which would be the Eagles at this point.
That's a game I doubt the the 2010 version of the Saints can win at this point.
21. Are the Indianapolis Colts for Real?
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In a word, yes.
The silver lining to the Colts three-game slide last month was that it exposed all of the team's flaws and allowed corrections to be made in time for the playoffs.
What happens to a lot of teams going into the playoffs is that they don't get that kind of challenge. Then they run into the best-of-the-best that does expose a flaw too late for the team to make the proper adjustments.
The Colts are ready to go for the playoffs and with the win over the Jaguars on Sunday, they now control their own destiny again.
20. Can the Colts Make the Super Bowl Again?
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The Colts may survive the Wild Card round and they may even survive the divisional round, but there's very little chance the Colts make the Super Bowl with Jim Caldwell at the helm.
Caldwell clearly was in over his head in last year's Super Bowl and it took him three games this year to fix problems Tony Dungy would've fixed after one.
With the injuries the Colts have sustained this year, Caldwell can't rely on the talent to get him to the Super Bowl this year.
The Colts will get outcoached and the finger pointing will begin.
19. Are the Jets Pretenders or Contenders?
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The Jets had this huge winning streak and then the Patriots destroyed them, leading to a two-game slide that seriously put their playoff hopes in jeopardy.
A win against the Steelers saved their playoff hopes for the moment, but like a lot of their wins this season, it was ugly and the game was never firmly in their control.
That kind of play may get them to the playoffs, but it won't get them through the playoffs. The Jets still aren't ready to win a Super Bowl and Rex Ryan has to start worrying that Mark Sanchez may not be everything he thought he was.
18. Who Wins the AFC West?
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The AFC West is the Chiefs' to lose, but don't count out the Chargers. They've had second half charges to the playoffs before and they can do it again.
However, the Chiefs look like they can hold off the Chargers and make the playoffs.
17. What About the Oakland Raiders?
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Yes, the Raiders still are mathematically in the playoff race.
But besides needing Venus to align with Mars while in conjunction with Orion's Belt, the Raiders also need a bunch of teams to lose the next two weeks while not losing themselves.
It's too many moving parts the Raiders have no control over and the odds of the Raiders squeaking in a Wild Card are somewhere between slim and none.
16. Are the Bears as Good as Their Record?
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Bears fans don't want to hear this, but the answer is: "No, the Bears are not as good as their record indicates."
The Bears main strength was the quality of their defense, but after what the Patriots did to them last week, you have to start questioning a lot of things.
The Bears had an easy schedule this year as the NFC North was a two man race between the Bears and the Packers. Then they had four games against the NFC West, so that's eight games with teams with records below .500.
Then the Packers gave a game away to the Bears with 18 penalties in September.
The game against the Vikings tonight will show a lot of things, but it still probably won't show if the Bears are ready to win a game in the playoffs.
15. Which Teams Peaked Too Early?
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Once the playoffs start, you have to look at how the teams are playing. If you go back to the middle of October, the Patriots were struggling relative to the way they're playing now and it didn't look like anyone could stop the Tennessee Titans.
Now the Patriots are unstoppable and the Titans are busy wondering if they're going to draft another quarterback next year. And if so, will Jeff Fisher be the one to coach that quarterback.
The Saints may be the poster child for the team that peaked too early. After losing to the Cleveland Browns, the Saints pulled things together and started playing better football. But a loss to the Ravens on Sunday may show signs the Saints may already be losing that momentum.
The Giants also may have peaked a little too early, as the meltdown to the Eagles becomes disturbing for Giants fans on more than one level.
14. Which Teams Are Peaking at the Right Time?
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The Patriots and the Eagles are getting progressively better every week and these two teams could see each other in the Super Bowl.
There's also the Falcons to consider, but they've been playing at a consistently high level all season, so it's hard to tell if they've "peaked."
13. What Will Be the Most Exciting AFC Wild Card Game?
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Going by what the current playoff picture looks like, the Ravens versus the Colts would be the most exciting AFC Wild Card game.
The Ravens have a great young quarterback in Joe Flacco going up against one of the best quarterbacks in the history of the league in Peyton Manning.
Ray Lewis may have lost a step, but he's still dangerous, and the Ravens aren't 10-4 by accident playing in the AFC North.
This will be a game that could go down to the final minute, if not overtime.
12. What Will Be the Most Exciting NFC Wild Card Game?
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The Giants versus the Bears will show everyone just how good each team is and it will show just how much the Bears have or have not improved since the Giants beat them in Week 4 by a score of 17-3.
The Giants sacked Jay Cutler nine times in the first half of that game, and it's a beatdown the Bears will be anxious to avenge and the Giants will be eager to repeat.
But that leads us to our next question...
11. Can the Giants Rebound from One of the Worst Losses in NFL History?
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Despite a team's record, sometimes a loss is so bad, the team just never pyschologically recovers from it.
That's what we get to find out from the Giants over the next few weeks.
The Jets took two weeks to get over their beatdown and even then they only barely escaped Pittsburgh with the win.
10. Can the Steelers Survive Without Troy Polamalu?
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The Steelers defense just doesn't look the same without Troy Polamalu and that's about as big a compliment as you can give to a player.
The Steelers defense looked a lot more beatable, but they still held the Jets to just 15 points on offense; and it was the special teams that ultimately made the difference in the game.
However, that was against a New York Jets team that has been flying by the seat of their pants all year. If the Steelers have to face the Ravens again in the playoffs, it's going to be a whole different ballgame if Troy can't make it back on the field.
9. What Will Be the Best Divisional Game?
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Assuming the Saints make the playoffs and advance to play the Eagles with a first-round bye, this will be the game of the week for the NFC.
It will be the first playoff appearance with Michael Vick starting for the Eagles and you can bet they will be using DeSean Jackson and LeSean McCoy as much as possible to keep the heat off of Vick and forcing him to do everything.
That being said, Vick still could have 100 yards rushing. That's just the kind of player he is.
8. Can the Ravens Beat the Steelers in the Playoffs?
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If the Ravens advance to the divisional round, they would end up facing their old nemesis, the Steelers. This game would be the rubber match for the year, as the series is tied up at one game a piece.
Both games have been close, with the Steelers coming out on top a few weeks ago.
But that Steelers team had Troy Polamalu and the Steelers offense may not be good enough to survive another Ravens attack.
With how beat up the Steelers are right now and not much hope of them getting much healthier in the next month, it's difficult to see the Steelers going far in the playoffs this year.
But that defense is still good, so it will be a tough game either way.
7. Can Anyone Beat Matt Ryan at Home?
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Matt Ryan's record at home is ridiculous. So the question is: Can any team coming in to the Falcons' home turf knock him around and give the Falcons an early exit from the playoffs?
My hunch is that in the divisional round, that's not going to happen. No promises for an NFC Championship game featuring the Eagles and the Falcons, though.
6. Just How Good Are the Atlanta Falcons?
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The Atlanta Falcons are the most complete team in the NFL right now. They have no big weaknesses on either side of the ball.
They run the ball and stop the run. Matt Ryan has multiple weapons to throw to, has a star receiver in Roddy White and the special teams doesn't give up big plays.
The Falcons have only had two bad days this season and their last two games also should be victories, with the only real test coming against the Saints.
5. Can the Eagles Make It to the NFC Championship Game?
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If the Eagles and Falcons survive the divisional round, then that's who you're looking at for a matchup in the NFC Championship game.
That's a pretty good matchup and it's one that is very hard to predict. You can make equally strong cases for both teams and your opinion wouldn't be ill-informed or crazy.
That game truly will come down to who wants it more and who makes the least amount of mistakes.
Going back to the point about exposing flaws, the Eagles may be better prepared at this point, having gone through a bit of a rough patch earlier in the season.
The Falcons haven't really gone through a rough patch and we'll get to find out if it's because they really are as good as we think they are or because they haven't been tested.
4. Who Makes It to Face the Patriots, Jets or Chiefs?
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The Jets, with the win over the Steelers and the Dolphins loss to the Bills, probably will be in the playoffs now as they have too much of a lead.
But that doesn't mean they can beat the Chiefs when all the marbles are on the table.
The Jets would be facing a Chiefs team with Charlie Weis and Romeo Crennel on the sidelines in addition to Todd Haley, who so far has shown he's one of the league's most underrated coaches.
I just don't see a sketchy Jets defense and Mark Sanchez overcoming that trio of coaches. Sanchez isn't as good as his hype says he is and the numbers are there to back that up.
Sanchez may still develop, but he's not there yet.
3. So Can Anyone Stop the Patriots?
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The Patriots are playing so well right now, it's one of the biggest questions every team in the playoffs will be asking themselves.
After the Patriots lost to the Cleveland Browns, the Patriots have been taking it out on the rest of the league ever since.
It's difficult to see the Patriots losing to anybody in the AFC at this point. The Jets were no match for them a few weeks ago. Belichick and Tom Brady almost always have Peyton Manning's number in the playoffs. And the Steelers are just too beat up right now to take on the Patriots and win nine Sundays out of 10.
The only question that remains is if the NFC Champion can take on the Patriots, because they're my AFC Super Bowl pick.
2. Who Wins the Eagles Vs. Falcons Matchup?
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I'm making the call right here. The NFC Championship game will be the Eagles versus the Falcons and the Eagles are going to upset the Falcons and advance to the Super Bowl.
That's just how I see it right now. We'll see how I feel in a few weeks, but that's my gut feeling and there it is.
1. Who Wins the Super Bowl?
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The New England Patriots get their fourth Super Bowl of the decade and the Eagles once again go home the loser under head coach Andy Reid.
The loss won't be because Donovan McNabb choked this time, though. It'll be because the Patriots are just that good and will be able to contain Michael Vick.
The rest takes care of itself.
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