NFL Playoff Picture: Division Winners That Will Make Quick Exits

The NFL playoff picture has come into focus with just a few spots still unclear. While there are a number of scenarios that can play out in Week 17, we want to take a look ahead to what happens when the second season starts. Specifically, the division winners that will be heading home early. 

Winning a division in the NFL is not all its cracked up to be. I don't know anyone who would say that the Denver Broncos, who are still in the driver's seat in the AFC West, are a better playoff team than the Detroit Lions, who had the misfortune of playing in the same division as Green Bay. 

So which teams that celebrated a division championship are going to find themselves wondering what went wrong?

New England Patriots

We all love Tom Brady. He is one of the best quarterbacks in NFL history. He carries this team on his back like few players in the league today.

The problem is that there is no defense to speak of, and as we saw last year, that is a big problem come playoff time. 

Bill Belichick's reputation as a defensive genius has to be called into question, because the 2011 Patriots have actually regressed from where they were in 2010. 

They are likely going to be the No. 1 seed in the AFC, like last year, with a possible matchup against Pittsburgh or Baltimore, whichever team doesn't win the AFC North, in the divisional round. Those teams can exploit the Patriots' weaknesses on defense. 

Houston Texans

This was supposed to be the season that we celebrated the Texans breaking through and making it to the postseason for the first time in franchise history. Instead, we are talking about T.J. Yates and the quarterback situation and whether or not Andre Johnson will be able to play. 

They do have a chance to get a first-round bye, but regardless of when they play, they are going to go home in their first game. 

Quarterback play wins games in the postseason, and right now, the Texans have more questions at that position than any other team left in the race. 

Denver Broncos

While the Broncos still have work to do in order to win the AFC West, I see them being able to get back into the playoffs with the Oakland Raiders losing to San Diego. 

But even a backdoor division championship isn't going to be enough to motivate this team to win a playoff game. Especially since they will be playing the Steelers or Ravens in the wild-card round. 

They say that there are no consolation prizes in sports, but the Broncos should celebrate the fact that they were able to win eight games, which is what I believe they will finish with, and make it into the postseason. It's a significant step forward considering where they were at last season. 

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