So far these are the 6 teams currently in the playoffs right now:
And here are the 4 teams on the brink of the playoffs. The NFC South is so bad that either the Saints, Falcons or Panthers will sneak in and that spot is anybody's guess. The Bears would have to win out starting with today's game against Detroit to have any chance whilst the 49ers could leapfrog the Seahawks in to the wild card spots with a win over them tonight before the two lock horns again in a couple of weeks.
Because of the nature of how complicated this playoff picture is I am going to take a somewhat unique take on this and predict each of the teams remaining schedules which will then make it, hopefully, easier to rank who I think will make the postseason and it what seeds so let's start from 1st place onwards.
Arizona Cardinals (9-2):
Week 13: Win @Atlanta
Week 14: Win at home vs Kansas City
Week 15: Lose @ St. Louis
Week 16: Lose at home vs Seattle
Week 17: Win @ San Francisco
Final record: 12-4: NFC West Champions. Their 9 conference wins gives them 1st seed and home field advantage over Green Bay
Green Bay Packers (8-3):
Week 13: Lose at home vs New England
Week 14: Win at home vs Atlanta
Week 15: Win @ Buffalo
Week 16: Win @ Tampa Bay
Week 17: Win at home vs Detroit
Final record: 12-4: NFC North Champions. One less win in the NFC means they have to settle for 2nd in the NFC seedings but they still get a bye week going in to the postseason
Dallas Cowboys (8-3):
Week 13: Win today at home vs Philadelphia *Thanksgiving game*
Week 14: Win @ Chicago
Week 15: Lose @ Philadelphea
Week 16: Lose @ Indianapolis
Week 17: Win at home vs Washington
Final record: 11-5: Finally the Dallas Cowboys are NFC East Champions earning them the 3rd seed and a home playoff game in the wild card round
4th seed: NFC South Winner?
Atlanta Falcons (4-7)
Week 13: Lose at home vs Arizona
Week 14: Lose @ Green Bay
Week 15: Win at home vs Pittsburgh
Week 16: Lose @ New Orleans
Week 17: Win at home vs Carolina
Final record: 6-10
Carolina Panthers (3-7-1)
Week 13: Win @ Minnesota
Week 14: Lose @ New Orleans
Week 15: Win at home vs Tampa Bay
Week 16: Win at home vs Cleveland
Week 17: Lose at Atlanta
Final record: 6-9-1
New Orleans Saints (4-7)
Week 13: Win @ Pittsburgh
Week 14: Win at home vs Carolina
Week 15: Lose @ Chicago
Week 16: Win at home vs Atlanta
Week 17: Lose @ Tampa Bay
Final record: 7-9:
After some crazy final day results during the regular season the Saints lose at Tampa Bay making them the second team to make the playoffs with a losing record. Carolina had a shot to make it in with a win @ Atlanta but they lost meaning the Falcons only have themselves to blame for not winning this dismal division after some narrow losses during the year meaning that Sean Payton's Saints take the 4th seed and the NFC South crown.
Final two spots go to....?
Seattle Seahawks (7-4):
Week 13: Lose today @ San Francisco *Thanksgiving game*
Week 14: Win @ Philadelphea
Week 15: Win at home vs San Francisco
Week 16: Win @ Arizona
Week 17: Win @ St. Louis
Final record: 11-5: The defending Super Bowl Champions sneak in to the postseason and avoid the tie-breaking complications with a win at St. Louis on the final day meaning they take the 5th seed and that they travel to New Orleans during wild card week!
Only one spot remains!:
Philadelphia Eagles (8-3):
Week 13: Lose today @ Dallas *Thanksgiving game*
Week 14: Lose at home vs Seattle
Week 15: Win at home vs Dallas
Week 16: Lose @ Washington
Week 17: Win vs New York Giants
Final record: 10-6
San Francisco 49ers (7-4):
Week 13: Win today at home vs Seattle *Thanksgiving game*
Week 14: Win @ Oakland
Week 15: Lose @ Seattle
Week 16 Win at home vs San Diego
Week 17: Lose @Arizona
Final record: 10-6
Detroit Lions (7-4)
Week 13: Lose today at home vs Chicago *Thanksgiving game*
Week 14: Win at home vs Tampa Bay
Week 15: Win at home vs Minnesota
Week 16: Win @ Chicago
Week 17: Lose @ Green Bay
Final record: 10-6
Chicago Bears (5-6)
Week 13: Win today @ Detroit *Thanksgiving game*
Week 14: Lose at home vs Dallas
Week 15: Win at home vs New Orleans
Week 16: Lose at home vs Detroit
Week 17: Win @ Minnesota
Final record: 8-8
And the 6th seed is: With the 49ers, Eagles and Lions all on 10-6 I've given myself quite the headache to try and work out who gets the 6 seed. According to NFL Tie-Breaking Procedures this is how it goes:
1. Apply division tie breaker to eliminate all but the highest ranked club in each division prior to proceeding to step 2. The original seeding within a division upon application of the division tie breaker remains the same for all subsequent applications of the procedure that are necessary to identify the two Wild-Card participants.
2. Head-to-head sweep. (Applicable only if one club has defeated each of the others or if one club has lost to each of the others.)
3. Best won-lost-tied percentage in games played within the conference.
So according to my calculations as each of the three teams are from different divisions this we skip to step 2 but as the Lions and Niners didn't play each other step 2 doesn't apply so on to step 3 we go.... Time for me to calculate each of these teams conference winning ratios *stay with me*
Detroit Lions: 8-4 in conference games
San Francisco 49ers: 7-5 in conference games
Philadelphia Eagles: 6-6 in conference games
So with a 75% win ratio in the NFC the Detroit Lions make up our NFC playoff picture and will travel to Dallas in wild card week!
Skye's NFC playoff picture summary:
1st seed: Arizona Cardinals (12-4)
2nd seed: Green Bay Packers (12-4)
3rd seed: Dallas Cowboys: (11-5)
4th seed: New Orleans Saints (7-9)
5th seed: Seattle Seahawks (11-5)
6th seed: Detroit Lions (10-6)
*tie-breaking procedures explained above*
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