4 NFL Teams Just Playing for Draft Position at This Point

At this point in the season, NFL teams are either looking towards the NFL draft or playoffs. Every game will impact the outcome of the draft order. That order could mean the difference of landing an Andrew Luck or a Matt Barkley.

Barkley is a good quarterback prospect, but Luck has a lot more upside. While the fans and management are likely hoping for a few more losses, the team is trying to win every game. It is a very interesting dynamic.

The Indianapolis Colts are just one more loss away from securing the top overall pick. Their remaining schedule doesn't offer much hope for a victory.

Minnesota Vikings

The Minnesota Vikings are battling the St. Louis Rams for the rights to the second overall pick. Minnesota's remaining schedule features two very winnable games. The games against the Washington Redskins and Chicago Bears offer excellent opportunities to win.

The health of Adrian Peterson and Christian Ponder will ultimately determine how the Vikings finish the season. Without those two players the Vikings offense severely lacks talent. Joe Webb isn't capable of winning football games on his own.

If the Vikings win two of their three remaining games, it could potentially knock them out of the top five. There are more than a handful of teams with four wins.

St. Louis Rams

The St. Louis Rams will not win a game the rest of this season. They have a very tough schedule which features games versus the Seattle Seahawks, Cincinnati Bengals, Pittsburgh Steelers and San Francisco 49ers. Aside from the Seahawks, the rest of the schedule consists of teams with winning records and hoping to earn a playoff berth.

St. Louis' schedule is only part of the reason they won't win another game. The play on the field has been terrible. Defensively, the Rams are allowing a league worst 157 rushing yards per game. This poor run defense will not help St. Louis get victories over the run heavy Bengals, Seahawks and 49ers.

The Rams offense has been equally disappointing. Sam Bradford failed to build off of his strong rookie season, and is only completing 54 percent of his passes. The quarterback is not getting a lot of help, as his surrounding cast has also struggled.

At this point, St. Louis appears to have the No. 2 overall pick all but wrapped up.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Today's loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars will be tough to swallow. Tampa Bay entered the season hoping to push the New Orleans Saints and Atlanta Falcons for the NFC South title. However, their current seven-game losing streak ended that dream.

Tampa Bay is a young team with plenty of talent, but haven't been able to find consistency. A lot of the struggles are being blamed on quarterback Josh Freeman. He not developed as many expected and actually has regressed. The biggest concern is his 16 interceptions, which is 10 more than he had all of last season.

With games against the Dallas Cowboys, Carolina Panthers and Atlanta Falcons, the Buccaneers will struggle to get another win. They will be underdogs in each of these remaining games. Tampa Bay is in good position to land a top five selection.

Cleveland Browns

The Cleveland Browns remaining schedule features games against the Arizona Cardinals, Pittsburgh Steelers and Baltimore Ravens. There is an excellent chance that Cleveland doesn't get a win the rest of the season.

Next week's game versus Arizona is the most winnable game on the schedule. However, the Cardinals are playing decent football. It will also be important to monitor the health of quarterback Colt McCoy, who is dealing with a concussion.

It will be interesting to see what the Browns will do if they land a top five pick. They don't appear completely sold on the future of Colt McCoy. Landing a top five pick would give them the opportunity to possibly select USC's Matt Barkley or Baylor's Robert Griffin III.