NFL Playoff Picture: Looking at 4 Teams Making Late Pushes

While most of the division leaders have been decided or are nearly set, there are a number of teams still angling for a wild-card playoff spot.

Here are four teams that have entered themselves into the postseason discussion in recent weeks, thanks to their late-season success. While they weren't considered contenders for most of the year, it's now likely that one or more of these teams will be taking the field in January.

The New York Jets (8-5)

At 8-5, the New York Jets have a very good chance of making the postseason for the third straight year. For most of the season, they've been on the edge of a wild-card berth, but thanks to the Cincinnati Bengals dropping their last two games, the Jets have moved up to take the spot they've vacated.

The Jets have been up and down all season, alternating between winning and losing streaks. But now they're on a three-game win streak and have two very winnable contests ahead of them, starting this week against the Philadelphia Eagles.

If they can keep it up, the Jets are very likely to be a playoff team, nabbing the second wild-card spot in the AFC.

Arizona Cardinals (6-7)

Despite repeated injuries to starting quarterback Kevin Kolb, the Arizona Cardinals have managed a three-game win streak which has propelled them into the playoff discussion.

Just a few short weeks ago, it was unthinkable that any NFC West team other than the San Francisco 49ers would enter the playoffs. But in the last three weeks, the Cardinals have defeated two divisional rivals (including the Niners) as well as the Dallas Cowboys.

Arizona has three games left to play in the regular season, starting with the Cleveland Browns this Sunday, followed by the Cincinnati Bengals next week and wrapping up with the Seattle Seahawks in Week 17.

If they can win two, or all three of these contests, then they could nab a wild-card berth, especially depending on what the other playoff-minded teams in the changeable NFC manage to do.

Seattle Seahawks (6-7)

The Arizona Cardinals aren't the only NFC West team angling for a wild-card playoff spot—the Seattle Seahawks, with a 6-7 record of their own, could also be taking the field in January.

The Seahawks, who are on a two-game win streak, won the NFC West last season with a losing 7-9 record, thanks to their division as a whole being completely dismal. While it seemed just as dismal earlier this season, it has become stronger as the weeks go by.

Seattle has two tough contests ahead, though they first get to face the struggling Chicago Bears this Sunday. They follow that with games against division-mates the San Francisco 49ers and Arizona Cardinals. They'll need to win both to see the postseason—a hard feat, indeed, but not impossible.

Denver Broncos (8-5)

The Denver Broncos sit atop of the AFC West, thanks to a combined effort of clutch fourth quarter play by quarterback Tim Tebow, the skills of the special teams unit and their ever-strengthening defense.

At 8-5 with a one-game divisional lead over the Oakland Raiders, their grip on the division and thus the playoffs is still tenuous. It's also hard to tell if their offensive style, which doesn't call for Tebow to throw the ball much, is sustainable.

But their three remaining contests make it easier for the team to stay on their path to the postseason. Though they have a huge test up ahead on Sunday against the New England Patriots, they end their year with games against two struggling teams, the Buffalo Bills and Kansas City Chiefs.

If they can win both games, then they're definitely locked into a postseason berth, a shocking way for the Broncos to end what has been a very strange season.