NFL Playoff Picture: Postseason Contenders That Will Completely Miss the Party

Now we are one game shy of the postseason and the pretenders and the contenders are starting to get a little separation. That doesn't mean it's complete though. There's still a little bit of playoff confusion. Here are the teams that are in the hunt right now (i.e. winning records), but will be watching the postseason on TV.

Detroit Lions, 7-3: They had me fooled early on too. Don't let Kevin Smith's big day yesterday fool you now. That was against one of the worst rush defenses in the NFL. The Lions play Green Bay at home and then New Orleans on the road their next two games. 

After that they'll be playing to prove they don't have a loser's mentality, not playing to win. They snapped their losing streak before, but they just haven't learned to play to win yet and they are still a year away from being a real contender. 

Oakland Raiders, 6-4: Let me say this, I am fully aware this makes no sense at all. The Raiders are playing well. Denver is the next best team, but they don't have the team to contend for the playoffs. That's what my brain says. 

There is something about the Broncos that just has that air of inevitability. If you want to call me an idiot, you won't be saying anything I'm not already calling myself. But there's only room for one team in the AFC West, and I have a hunch it's going to be the Broncos.

Cincinnati Bengals, 6-4: The Andy Dalton show is getting a dose of reality after back to back losses. It's a nice future, but it's not going to be happening in the present. Baltimore or Pittsburgh will gain one of the Wild Card Spots. The Bengals will not get the other.

The Tennessee Titans, 5-5 have two remaining games against teams with winning records. The New York Jets, 5-5 have one. The Bengals have three. One of the other two will get the final Wild Card spot. 

Buffalo Bills: See their last two games. They were outscored by a combined total of 79-15 against  Miami and Dallas.

New York Giants: 6-4: I'm probably going to make some people mad here, but let's bring this down to reality. You just lost to a Philadelphia team with Vince Young at quarterback. The Giants have five games left against teams with winning records. It's just not going to happen.