NFL Playoff Predictions: Chicago Bears and Teams That Will Fall from Contention

The playoff picture is becoming clear at the top of the NFC and AFC, but there are still quite a few games to be played and a number of teams are going to fall off.

Week 12 is going to prove that certain teams are pretenders and have been lucky to even be considered part of the playoff race so far, but that won’t last long.

Let’s take a look at a few of these teams. 

Chicago Bears (7-3, sixth in NFC)

The NFC—especially the NFC North—is highly competitive this year. I don’t think anyone is overtaking San Francisco or Green Bay for the top two spots or in their divisions, which leaves the East, South and wild-card teams still to be decided.

With the Falcons and Saints playing great football, both will make the playoffs from the South.

Dallas is most likely going to win the East, but the Giants could take them by surprise. Either way, only one team from that division is going to the postseason.

That leaves one wild-card spot.

Detroit is looking like the second best team in the North, so they should have the upper hand. It also helps that they didn’t just lose their starting QB for at least six weeks.

Jay Cutler’s thumb injury sinks the Bears' playoff chances in a year where there are just too many good teams in the conference. 

Cincinnati Bengals (6-4, sixth in the AFC)

Here is another team that has too many good teams in their division to have a chance at the playoffs this year.

Baltimore and Pittsburgh are both hungry to get back in the postseason and win a Super Bowl while Cincinnati is happy just to have a winning record with rookie Andy Dalton under center.

A wild-card spot is definitely going to one of those experienced teams and the other one is most likely going to be awarded to second place in the East.

I see the New York Jets most likely to slip back into the postseason again this year over a third-place AFC North Bengals team.