NFL Week 15 Predictions: Seahawks and Surprise Playoff Contenders Ready to Romp

Even 15 weeks of play in the 2011 NFL season haven't been enough to eliminate teams with losing (or borderline-winning) records from playoff contention.

Which, ultimately, is a good thing for the league, as it keeps more fanbases involved for longer, piquing interest in a wider swath of markets, etc. etc.

I'll leave those explanations to commissioner Roger Goodell, at least for now. In the meantime, let's look at some of the middling teams with highly favorable matchups this weekend.

Seattle Seahawks

Remember when the NFC West was terrible? It's still far from the best division in football, though it does already boast a 10-game winner (the 49ers) and two others at 6-7, including the Seahawks.

A team that (would you believe it?) has won four of its last five games to move within a game of .500 on the season. Pete Carroll's squad will have an uphill climb to that mark on the road, though it certainly helps that the hapless Bears are the team standing in its way. Chicago has lost its last three since losing Jay Cutler for the season and has only fallen into greater disrepair now that Matt Forte is out as well.

A bit of "Beast Mode" by Marshawn Lynch should do the trick to keep the 'Hawks on top and in the postseason chase in the NFC, strange as that may seem.

Arizona Cardinals

Even stranger is the prospect of seeing the Cardinals playing in mid-January.

Yes, those same Cardinals who've somehow won five of their last six games, with John Skelton under center for the most recent quintet of contests. It certainly helps that two of those came against the Rams, though one can hardly discount Skelton for helping the Cards hand the Niners just their third loss of the season.

So what's the reason for Arizona's optimism? Why, Cleveland is the reason, of course! The Browns have dropped six of their last seven and eight of their last 10 games behind an offense that scores just 13.7 points per game.

The Cards hardly constitute a juggernaut themselves, but have more than enough under the hood to jump up among the biggest surprises of the season so far.

Cincinnati Bengals

The Bengals, on the other hand, were among the most intriguing stories of 2011, hanging tough with the Steelers and the Ravens in the AFC North through the first 10 weeks or so.

That is, until the Bengals actually had to play the Steelers and the Ravens. Hence, Andy Dalton and company have dropped four of their most recent five games to fall just outside of the AFC playoff picture.

A game against the 2-11 Rams should help Cincy's cause. Sam Bradford or no, St. Louis is screwed and Steve Spagnuolo's neck is already tied to the chopping block.

There will be no such tension for Marvin Lewis, who's taken a team that had been expected to finish at the bottom of the barrel in the conference back to respectability without the services of Carson Palmer.

Imagine that—a team getting better without Carson Palmer on it. Hmmm...where have I seen that before?

(See: 2003 USC Trojans)

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