NFL Playoff Predictions: 4 Teams with an Outside Shot to Win Their Division

With just four games remaining in the regular season, the NFL playoffs are just around the corner.  

Leading their divisions right now are the Cowboys, Packers, Saints, 49ers, Patriots, Ravens, Titans and Broncos.

Green Bay and San Francisco have already clinched their divisions, with the Packers leading the NFC North by five games, and the 49ers leading the NFC West by five games.

The NFC East, AFC North and AFC West are all very tight races, with each division leader holding a lead by one game or less, and the division leaders of the NFC South, AFC East and AFC South are being threatened as well, holding just two-game leads.

Here are four teams fighting for a shot to win their division and the circumstances which they will need in order to do so.

New York Giants

At 6-6, the New York Giants are trailing the 7-5 Dallas Cowboys in the NFC East by one game.

On a recent four-game slide, the Giants would have to finish the season very strong in order to take over and win their division.

However, with both head-to-head matchups against the Cowboys left on schedule, the Giants will have an outside opportunity to do so.

For the Giants, taking over the lead in the NFC East will be more difficult than it will be for the Cowboys to hold on to it due to their remaining schedules.

Aside from the Cowboys, the Giants face the 4-8 Redskins at home and the 7-5 New York Jets in New York, which will be a very difficult win.

The Cowboys, on the other hand, have two 4-8 teams remaining, playing at Tampa Bay and at home vs. Philly.

If the Giants want to do it, they will have to win at least one—if not both—of their games against Dallas.

Atlanta Falcons

With the Saints winning their fourth straight game this week and Atlanta dropping a game to the Texans, the NFC South race is just short of over.

However, there is still a small glimmer of hope for the Falcons.

Barring no major downfall, the Saints will clinch the division, but if the Falcons can somehow pull off a win against New Orleans on their home turf and figure out a way to beat two of three between the Jaguars, Panthers and Buccaneers, they may be able to pull of the feat.

Oakland Raiders

On a five-game winning streak, what the Denver Broncos have put together has been considered by many to be a miracle stretch of wins to start the second half of the season.  

With Denver's win today over the Minnesota Vikings, they edged out the Oakland Raiders for first place in in the AFC West conference.  

Losing to the Dolphins Sunday could prove to be very costly to the Raiders' chances of regaining the top spot, as the Broncos' remaining schedule is not terribly difficult.

The Broncos' remaining games are at home vs. Chicago (who is 0-2 since losing quarterback Jay Cutler), home vs. New England (their biggest challenge left on the schedule), at Buffalo and home vs. Kansas City.  

The Broncos could win realistically win three out of those four games. 

The Raiders, on the other hand, still have to face the 12-0 Packers in Green Bay, the Lions at home, the Chiefs at home and the Chargers in San Diego.  

While the Raiders could win three out of four of those games, that would still leave them one short of Denver if they both finish out 3-1.  Furthermore, the Raiders have been inconsistent all season, so it's hard to predict what kind of game they will play.

Pittsburgh Steelers

As the AFC North stands right now, the Baltimore Ravens and the Pittsburgh Steelers are both tied at 9-3, but with two wins over the Steelers earlier in the season, the Ravens lead the division.

While it is very much a race to the finish, both teams still have two divisional opponents left to face.

The Ravens play both the Browns and the Bengals before the season ends, and the Steelers face the Browns two more times.

Ideally, the Steelers would like to win both and see the Ravens drop at least one of those two games. This would help Pittsburgh's chances for first place immensely.

Left on the Ravens schedule outside the AFC North are the 4-7 San Diego Chargers and the 0-12 Indianapolis Colts.

Left for the Steelers, on the other hand, are the 10-2 San Francisco 49ers and the 2-10 St. Louis Rams.

This will be an interesting race to keep an eye on come the close of the season.