Week 13 in the NFL: Teams on the Bubble!

While some division leaders are cruising towards the playoffs and dreams of a Super Bowl visit are dancing through their heads, other teams face a do-or-die situation this Sunday.

Mathematically, they might not be eliminated, but a loss will be very detrimental  regarding playoff goals.

Lets look at some of these teams.

First, all three teams in the NFC North are included in this scenario. Minnesota plays Chicago today, which will result in a clear leader in that division, but most likely only temporarily. 

Chicago has games coming up with an explosive offensive team, the New Orleans Saints, and later with the Packers, who beat them 38-3 earlier in the season.

If the Vikings can pull off a win, they have games with Arizona, the red hot Atlanta Falcons, and the best team in football, those New York Football Giants.

Meanwhile, the Packers must get by Carolina today to have any hopes of staying with anyone else in that division. If they can beat the Panthers and later win against the Bears once more, perhaps they have the easiest path to win the division.

Now we move to the NFC South, where New Orleans must play a tough game today in Tampa Bay to try and stay within reach of a wild card or division lead.

Carolina and Tampa Bay share the division lead currently at 8-3. If Green Bay can beat Carolina in Lambeau Field and New Orleans pulls off a big upset, coupled with Atlanta beating San Diego out west, this division really gets close, right up to the bitter end.

In the AFC West, San Diego still has hope, as unreal as that seems. Denver plays the favored Jets in the Meadowlands, and Brett Favre and the Jets will probably win this game.

San Diego must win this game against Atlanta and pull out all the stops today to keep division winning hopes alive. One more untimely loss and the Chargers can look back on the season of four losses in the last 24 seconds of each of those defeats.

The NFC West is predetermined already with Seattle, St. Louis, and San Francisco with 11 losses in a row, and Arizona looking for a win anywhere to seal that division winner.

No wild cards coming out the AFC or NFC West divisions.

In the AFC East, Miami is on the bubble and will most likely stay there. They must beat Buffalo to have any chance of a wild card and also must probably beat the Jets in the finale of the regular season to have a realistic chance of being in the playoffs.

Buffalo, after a midseason slide of epic proportions, will also have a hard time catching New England and the Jets.

Baltimore is also a bubble team, with games against the Steelers and the Cowboys on the horizon. A wild card is a fair possibility with this team, however.

A better possibility lies within the AFC with the Indianapolis Colts at 7-4 playing Cleveland, Cincinnati, and Detroit the next three games. Then Jacksonville, and finally one harder game at home against Tennessee, who will already have the division wrapped up.

I would be very worried about this team in the playoffs, getting hot and beating a few teams in January. A 12-4 regular season record is certainly in reach, and that will make the playoffs.

Tennessee plays Cleveland and Houston the next two games, and that will be the division clincher, most likely in Houston. At 13-1, with two games to go against the Steelers and Indianapolis. I imagine Vince will get some playing time in both these games.

Well, that leaves the Redskins and Cowboys. Dallas must somehow get by the Steelers to have a chance at the playoffs. Then, the following week, they play the Giants at home. After those two really tough games, they get Baltimore. The last game of the season, they play Philadelphia on the road. This does not look very promising!

The Redskins have the Giants this week!

This will drop them to 7-5 unless they pull up an unlikely upset. They will be one game behind Dallas. The next week is tough against a good Baltimore team. That's a big game for Washington. Then, the Bengals, another have to win situation. Then a division match-up with the Eagles, who may make a late run or play spoiler against the Redskins or perhaps Dallas.

This wild-card race is the most interesting in the league.

Atlanta, Carolina, have a little easier schedule  and could very well pass both Dallas and Washington, leaving those teams out in the cold.

We will see who can rise to the top in the next month of play in the NFL.

Good luck to all your teams and a continued safe and happy holiday season.

Thomas [NFL Mikee] Moreland.