NFL Playoff Scenarios: 4 Teams That Need a Miracle to Get in

While strange things have happened in the playoffs before—such as the 7-9 Seattle Seahawks winning the NFC West and with it a playoff berth in 2010—generally teams with an extremely slim shot of making the postseason in Week 15 are likely watching the games from their respective couches come January.

However, with so many complex playoff scenarios still in play, there are chances that these long-shot teams get a wild-card playoff berth. Here are four teams in that situation heading into Week 16.

Chicago Bears (7-7)

There's one thing to blame for the Chicago Bears' late-season collapse: injuries. Or two, if you also think that the team's lack of quarterback depth had something to do with it.

After starting the year 7-3, they've lost their last four in a row, thanks to injuries to starting quarterback Jay Cutler and star running back Matt Forte.

Things only got worse in their Week 15 loss to the Seattle Seahawks, in which backup quarterback Caleb Hanie lost his favorite receiving target, Johnny Knox, to a back injury that has required surgical repair.

Despite these dire circumstances, the Bears are still just outside of a wild-card playoff berth, though it will take quite the miraculous series of events for them to earn it.

The Detroit Lions and Atlanta Falcons would both have to lose their two remaining games, while the Bears would have to win the two they have left.

That's seemingly impossible, considering their next contest comes Christmas night against the Green Bay Packers. However, the lowly Kansas City Chiefs proved in Week 15 that any team can beat any other team at any time.

Also, the Seattle Seahawks and Arizona Cardinals would have to drop their two remaining games, which is impossible—the teams play each other in Week 17.

However, there is still an outside, if only statistical, chance the Bears could take the field in January. If so, they'd likely have Cutler and Forte back in the fold, which changes things considerably in the NFC.

But they'll be extremely lucky to get that chance this year.

Philadelphia Eagles (6-8)

Thanks to a season of inconsistency by all four teams in the NFC East, a number of scenarios still exist that would result in the 6-8 Philadelphia Eagles not just earning a wild-card playoff berth but a divisional title.

The Eagles round out their season with two divisional games, first against the Dallas Cowboys in Week 16 and then against the Washington Redskins in Week 17.

If they can win both of those games, with the Cowboys simultaneously losing their two remaining games, and if the New York Giants lose to the New York Jets next week but defeat the Cowboys in Week 17, the Eagles will win the division.

Yes, that's a lot of ifs the Eagles are working with here, and it's certainly frustrating that they don't simply control their own fate just by winning their last two games, but that's that.

Yet considering how often control of the NFC East has changed hands this year, it is quite possible that Philadelphia could represent their division in January, as strange as it sounds.

Tennessee Titans (7-7)

Though the AFC South title is out of the Tennessee Titans' reach, there are still ways in which they can make the playoffs as a wild-card team, even if it's the most outside of chances.

To say the Titans have been up and down this season is an understatement.

They've never managed to string together more than three wins in a row, though they've never had a losing streak longer than two games.

Their only impressive win came in Week 2 over the Baltimore Ravens, and they have the distinction of suffering the worst loss a team has faced this season, dropping to the previously undefeated Indianapolis Colts in Week 15.

Quarterback Matt Hasselbeck is looking less like a veteran and more just plain old, which isn't terrible news for the team, considering they drafted Jake Locker in 2011 and he just might be the talented quarterback of the future the Titans have been searching for.

The Titans would need the Oakland Raiders, Cincinnati Bengals and New York Jets to each lose their remaining two contests, and they would need to win their final two games against the Jacksonville Jaguars and Houston Texans.

Tennessee wins the tiebreaker over both Oakland and San Diego. But with the team's overall inconsistency this season, it just doesn't seem like the Titans have it in them to win their next two games.

Even if they did, I don't see them lasting longer than the first round in the playoffs this year.

Seattle Seahawks (7-7)

Another year, another Seattle Seahawks team that just won't go away.

The Seahawks are just on the edge of a wild-card berth this season, and they're in great positioning to nab a spot, but it's up to either the Detroit Lions or Atlanta Falcons to collapse if that is going to happen.

At 7-7, the Seahawks already own the tiebreaker over both the Arizona Cardinals and New York Giants, meaning that if both Seattle and New York win their last two contests, the Seahawks have the leg up.

With the Lions facing two tough contests, first against the San Diego Chargers this weekend and the Green Bay Packers in Week 17, it's quite possible that they could drop out of consideration and the Seahawks could jump up to take their spot.

But that also requires Seattle to defeat both the San Francisco 49ers and Arizona Cardinals in the next two weeks.

Though the Niners have already clinched a playoff berth and the top spot in the NFC West, they're still angling for home field advantage and won't lie down simply to rest their starters just yet.

The same thing goes for the Cardinals, who still have a statistical chance to head to the postseason, though it's a far lower probability that they make it and Seattle doesn't.

Seattle has won five of its last six games and has made quite an impressive late-season push, but it just might be too little too late for Pete Carroll's squad.

Perhaps next year, with a better quarterback and a few additions on defense, they'll find themselves taking the field in January, but it's not looking likely this season.