NFL Playoff Situation, As of Week 15

So with three weeks left of the regular season, only three teams have clinched a playoff spot with a divisional title, and five divisions still stand for the taking. The NFL divisional winners are guaranteed a playoff spot, so first we will talk about the divisional leaders.

With doing this, we have to of course talk about who has already clinched. The Arizona Cardinals won the West this past weekend with their huge win over the St Louis Rams. The Cardinals were limping into the Week 14 matchup after two big losses to the Giants (37-29) and to Philly (48-20).

They have not faired well away from Arizona all year, winning only three of seven games so far, but lucked out with two of their last three games at home. The Cards will finish the season with Minnesota, New England, and Seattle, who are not pushovers.

The Vikings and Patriots are fighting for their playoff lives and will not go down easy while the Seahawks will try to win the season finale for their coach. The Cards' offense is ranked No. 1 in points and second in passing yards.

Kurt Warner has really sparked this team with his play (25 TDS and over 4,000 yards passing). What hurts this team is the run game which is ranked 32nd in the NFL. James has been non existence in his tenure in Arizona especially this year but still is the leading rusher with only 359 yards this year. That is what the Giants get per game!

This team will win at least two more games to finish the year 10-6 but with out a strong rushing attack they will not go far in the playoffs.

Next is the defending Super Bowl Champions the New York Giants who backed into the divisional title with their shocking 20-14 loss to Philly last Sunday. The only reason they won the division is because the Cowboys blew a 13-3 lead over the Steelers to fall late. The Week 14 loss to the Eagles was the first at home for the Giants this year, but face two of their next three away from New York, including a huge game against the Cowboys next week, who will be playing for their playoff lives.

After this game the Giants have to play the NFC South leading Panthers, and then the Vikings who will be playing for their playoff lives. The Giants are ranked third in the league with scoring but only scored a total of 14 against the Eagles defense and the defenses will only get better down the final three games.

The NFL's No. 1 ranked rushing offense was shut down against Philly last week and the Giants best weapon Brandon Jacobs has not practiced yet this week with his knee injury which means the load will be put on Ward who is averaging 4.2 yards a carry this year.

They will have to get much better play out of Manning who looked terrible against the Eagles, but you can not place all the blame on him as his receivers played with a case of the drops.

The defense is ranked fourth in the league in points allowed with 17.4, but the Eagles tacked on 20 and tacked up 331 yards including some big kills by Westbrook. The Giants are going to play a Cowboys team that is struggling, and could put the dagger in the Cowboys hopes this week.

The Giants will win all of their last games to finish 14-2 and get the home-field advantage in the playoffs.

The only other team to clinch thus far is the NFL surprise team, the Tennessee Titans, who ended the Colts five-year divisional strangle hold. The Titans climb to 12-1 after a nice win over the Browns 28-9 last Sunday. The Titans hold the seventh ranked scoring team in the NFL, and the third ranked rushing attack.

The Titans have responded great since their 34-13 set back to the Jets in week 12. Since that game they have outscored opponents 75-19 and have not allowed a team over 10 points in two straight weeks. Collins has really played great thus far throwing for 11 scores and the rushing attack of Johnson and White has been great as both are averaging over four yards a carry.

White has 14 scores this year thus far and with the remaining schedule that could grow even more. The Titans must play the Texans, Steelers, and Colts in the seasons final weeks. The Texans are playing much better, but I'm not sure if their defense can hold the Titans.

The Steelers and Colts will play great and will challenge the Titans to the max. The Titans could very realistically lose two of their last three games, and finish 13-3 with the number one seed in the AFC.

TEAMS FIGHTING FOR DIVISIONAL TITLE

AFC EAST

This division has shaped up to be the best in the NFL, with the Jets, Pats, and Dolphins all at 8-5. The Jets still are the divisional leaders holding the tiebreakers with the Pats and Dolphins but have really stumbled since their Week 12 win over the Titans. Since that game they have been outscored 58-31 by the Broncos and 49ers who are really struggling and should have been wins.

The Jets will have a rocky road to the season finale as they have to play two divisional teams in the final weeks. The Jets play the Bills, Seattle, and finish with the Dolphins. The number two team in the division with an 8-5 record is the Pats.

After a 33-13 loss to the Steelers in Week 13, the Pats came back from behind to beat Seattle 24-21 last Sunday. This team is very puzzling as they play good one week and bad the next, and injuries are starting to pile up on them.

The defensive leader, Bruschi, is now out due to a knee injury, fellow LB Woods is out due to a jaw problem, and running back Faulk has been limited in practice.

This team has overcome injuries all year but this might be to much for this team. With games against Oakland, Arizona, and Buffalo to finish the season there is some doubt if this team will get to the playoffs.

They have to win out to have a chance and with the way that Arizona is playing, and Buffalo will be playing spoiler. I can see an upset in one of these games. The other team still in contention for the division is the surprising Miami Dolphins who stand at 8-5 this year.

Regardless of how this team ends up, they deserve coach of the year honors after a 1-15 year last year and this year finishing at worst 8-8. The road is a little easier for Miami to end the year as they play Kansas City, SF, and the Jets.

The Jets game could be for the divisional title, but like the Pats, they have to win out, and I can see a upset in week 16 vs the 49ers.

My guesses for this division is as follows: Jets finish 10-6, Miami 9-7, Pats 9-7.

AFC NORTH

The Steelers currently hold the division lead with a 10-3 record but the Ravens are close behind with a 9-4 record much to the surprise to everyone. The Steelers came from 13-3 down to Dallas last week to win 20-13 with 17 unanswered points in the fourth quarter. The defense is ranked No. 1 in every category in the NFL and shows no chance of slowing down.

Big Ben has thrown 14 scores this year with 12 INT so not a great season but the rushing attack has really helped this team averaging 110 a game. The Steelers finish the season with a huge match up this week against Baltimore which will determine the division champion.

After this game, they play the Titans and Browns. The Ravens have surprised many this year with their 9-4 record under new head coach John Harbaugh and rookie QB Joe Flacco. Flacco has thrown for 13 scores and lead the offense to No. 12 in scoring.

The rushing attack has helped take the pressure off of Flacco with the number four ranking in the NFL. This week will determin the divsion champion as the Ravens host the Steelers. The Ravens are 5-1 at home and will play hard defense to force Big Ben into mistakes. After this game the Ravens finish with Dallas and Bengals.

My guess for this division will be: Steelers 12-4, Ravens 10-6.

AFC WEST

This division is almost gone to the Broncos as they stand 8-5, and the Chargers are 5-8 and really limping. All the Broncos have to do is win one of their last three games to clinch this division but the final three teams will not go away easy.

The Broncos face Carolina first, then Buffalo, and finish with the Chargers in the finale. Denver has been facing injuries all season and faced another with stand out rookie RB Hills out for the rest of the season due to hamstring injuries. The Broncos will loss to the Panthers in the next game and then beat the Bills to win the division.

Broncos 10-6, Chargers 7-9

NFL NORTH

This division has come down to the Vikings (8-5) and the Bears (7-6) fighting it out for the division, and the week 13 Vikings win over the Bears might have ended the race. The Bears will need the Vikings to lose two of their finale three games to have any chance to get the division.

The Vikings will play the Falcons, Arizona, and Giants to end the year and could lose to two of those teams but the Bears finish with the Saints, Packers, and Texans, so they face a challenge winning out as all these teams will be looking to end the season strong, and the Saints will be fighting to a playoff birth.

Vikings 10-6, Bears 9-7

NFC SOUTH

The Panthers took a huge step this week in clinching the South with the surprising 38-23 win over the Bucs, running all over the great Bucs defense known for stopping the run. The Panthers stand at 10-3 and the Bucs at 9-4 and will have to win two of their last three for the title. They will play the Broncos, Giants, and Saints to end the year—all very tough games.

The Broncos will be to hurt to compete but the last two teams are a toss up. While the Bucs will have to win out to have any chance and they play the Falcons, Chargers, and Raiders to end the year.

They have the easier route to the playoffs then the Panthers, but that Monday night game really will hurt them.

Carolina 11-5, Tampa Bay 11-5