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Who are the real contenders in the NFL?
The team around quarterback Kyler Murray should not be written off by a long way. It wouldn’t be the first time that a powerful team peppered with outstanding individualists hobbled into the NFL playoffs and then found the right button on the dashboard at the right time. In the end, with the start of the hot season, the cards are completely reshuffled and, at least on paper, the cards are a team that can compete with pretty much every other team in the NFL in terms of talent and firepower.
In the shark tank at this year’s NFC, however, they could also be eaten very quickly and without further ado, that’s how high the power density among the top favorites is. Whether Green Bay with Aaron Rodgers as well as permanent home rights, the Los Angeles Rams with their potentially strong balance or of course the reigning Super Bowl Champs around a certain Tom Brady, wherever you look there are powerhouses that are believed to be the big hit. The fact that the Dallas Cowboys have been part of it again for years was proven not least by their 56:14 show of force against Washington on Sunday.
The Kansas City Chiefs are lonely in the AFC
In the AFC, however, it looks very different, apart from the Kansas City Chiefs, no other team has been able to stamp their tickets for the postseason. This could change in the coming week, when vehement contenders from Buffalo (against Atlanta), New England (against Jacksonville) and Tennessee (against Miami) have feasible home games in front of their chests. It does take a little calculation – Buffalo secures the postseason for example with a win and a simultaneous defeat of the Ravens or bankruptcies of Las Vegas and the Chargers – but the chances of these teams are ultimately very good at the moment.
The same can be said of the Indianapolis Colts, who only need a win in Week 17 against the Raiders to sniff the NFL playoff air. Miami continued its impressive winning streak against a weakened New Orleans, but now with Tennessee (in a short week) and New England they have real top teams in front of their chest for the first time in a long time. The biggest exclamation mark of the past week was undoubtedly the Cincinnati Bengals’ AFC North leaders, for whom quarterback Joe Burrow conjured 525 passing yards on the lawn. Your young team goes through enormous fluctuations throughout the season (explosions in performance like against Baltimore last weekend are matched by defeats against the Jets and the Bears), but the combination of Burrow, his fearsome pair of receivers around Ja’Marr Chase and the running game Joe Mixon is certainly a matchup, which could cause a lot of headaches for many opponents in round one.
These NFL teams are in despair when it comes to playoffs
Some AFC teams as well as some NFC teams would certainly like to have these headaches in their conference, if it would mean that they had made the leap into the field of the NFL playoffs. After recent defeats, however, things are getting pretty tight for the Los Angeles Chargers, the Minnesota Vikings, the New Orleans Saints, the Cleveland Browns and the Denver Broncos, not least because the form curve raises a number of questions. It is similar with the Baltimore Ravens, who, plagued by injuries and Covid cases, have lost four games in a row and were pushed from seventh place in the AFC by Miami. On the other hand, Philadelphia is happy about a hot streak of six wins out of eight games in the NFC, which suddenly gives them unimagined opportunities.
The individual and direct battles for positions in the entire tableau should also be particularly exciting. Buffalo beat the Patriots in Week 16, but AFC East couldn’t arrest them until the final day of the game. Dallas welcomes its old rivals from Arizona in Week 17, a game of enormous explosiveness when it comes to playoff seeding. The same applies to the matchup between the Colts and the Raiders and the duel between the Chiefs and the Bengals. A number of direct disputes take place in the individual divisions, many arch-rivals meet and soon the question could arise for some teams whether they want to spare prominent players on the last match day. In combination with the more than opaque and unpredictable Covid-19 situation, the NFL is heading for a highly dramatic season finish.
Finally, an overview of the remaining programs of all NFL playoff candidates as well as the current first round games:
AFC
Kansas City Chiefs (11-4) @ Bengals, @ Broncos (PO)
New England Patriots (9-6) vs Jaguars, @ Dolphins
Tennessee Titans (10-5) vs Dolphins, @ Texans
Cincinnati Bengals (9-6) vs Chiefs, @ Browns
Indianapolis Colts (9-6) vs Raiders, @ Jaguars
Los Angeles Chargers (8-7) vs Broncos, @ Raiders
Buffalo Bills (9-6) vs Falcons, vs Jets
Baltimore Ravens (8-7) vs Rams, vs Steelers
Cleveland Browns (7-8) @ Steelers, vs Bengals
Pittsburgh Steelers (7-7-1) vs Browns, @ Ravens
Miami Dolphins (8-7) @ Titans, vs Patriots
Denver Broncos (7-8) @ Chargers, vs Chiefs
Las Vegas Raiders (8-7) @ Colts, vs Chargers
First Round Bye:
Kansas City Chiefs (#1 Seed)
Wild Card Round Matchups:
Miami Dolphins (#7) @ Tennessee Titans (#2)
New England Patriots (#6) @ Cincinnati Bengals (#3)
Indianapolis Colts (#5) @ Buffalo Bills (#4)
NFC
Green Bay Packers (12-3) vs Vikings, @ Lions (PO)
Dallas Cowboys (11-4) vs Cardinals, @ Eagles (PO)
Tampa Bay Buccaneers (11-4) @ Jets, vs Panthers (PO)
Arizona Cardinals (10-5) @ Cowboys, vs Seahawks (PO)
Los Angeles Rams (11-4) @ Ravens, vs 49ers (PO)
San Francisco 49ers (8-7) vs Texans, @ Rams
New Orleans Saints (7-8) vs Panthers, @ Falcons
Minnesota Vikings (7-8) @ Packers, vs Bears
Philadelphia Eagles (8-7) @ Football Team, vs Cowboys
First Round Bye:
Green Bay Packers (#1)
Wild Card Round Matchups:
Philadelphia Eagles (#7) @ Dallas Cowboys (#2)
San Francisco 49ers (#6) @ Los Angeles Rams (#3)
Arizona Cardinals (#5) @ Tampa Bay Buccaneers (#4)
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