Last week, the Detroit Lions were barely clinging to the final playoff spot in the NFC race. This week, after pulverizing the Washington Commanders and regaining their mojo on offense, they could very well finish the week in the NFC North’s top spot.
But that doesn’t mean a very tight and competitive playoff race isn’t ahead. The pretenders are starting to separate from the contenders, and there are at least eight teams with a very good chance to win one of the conferences’ seven playoff spots.
Here’s
a closer look at the NFC playoff standings with a big “Monday Night Football” game to be played.
NFC North standings:
- Packers: 5-2-1
- Lions: 6-3
- Bears: 6-3
- Vikings: 4-5
The Packers still temporarily hold the top spot despite having one fewer win than the Lions and Bears. That’s because their tie counts as a “half-win,” and 5.5 wins in eight games is a better winning percentage (.6875) than six wins in nine games (.6666). But if the Packers lose on Monday night against the Philadelphia Eagles, they will drop to third in the division—and nearly out of a playoff spot entirely (more on that later).
Those pesky Bears continue to cling onto the Lions’ leg. Their 10-point comeback win over the Giants has them keeping pace with Detroit. They have now won six of their last seven. While the team is flawed, they are spirited and never act like they’re out of a game. But we’ll see what the Bears are really made of shortly. They play the Vikings, Steelers, Eagles, Packers, Browns, Packers, 49ers, and Lions to finish out the season.
Minnesota’s high lasted an entire week. The Ravens handled them fairly easy, and now the Vikings’ season is on life-support once again. Their next two games are divisional games, though, (vs. Bears, at Packers), so a pair of back-to-back wins would get them right back in this thing.
NFC playoff picture:
Division leaders:
- Seahawks: 7-2
- Eagles: 6-2
- Packers: 5-2-1
- Buccaneers: 6-3
Wild Card race (top three advance)
- Rams: 7-2
- Lions: 6-3
- Bears: 6-3
- 49ers: 6-4
- Panthers: 5-5
- Vikings: 4-5
- Cowboys: 3-4-1
- Cardinals: 3-6
- Falcons: 3-6
- Commanders: 3-7
The Lions jump a spot from the seven seed to the six seed thanks to a loss from the 49ers. In fact, it was another terrible week for the NFC teams now outside of the playoff picture. The Panthers, Vikings, Cardinals, Falcons, Commanders, Saints, and Giants all lost and look pretty hopeless right now—the Niners lost as well, but more on them in a bit. The only team in the conference that doesn’t hold a playoff spot and also didn’t lose this week are the Dallas Cowboys, who are currently on a bye.
While this isn’t close to mathematically true, it certainly seems like there are only eight teams that are playing well enough right now to contend for a playoff spot: the four division leaders (Seahawks, Eagles, Packers, Buccaneers), plus the Rams, Lions, Bears, and 49ers. But the playoffs are big enough for just seven of those eight teams.
Who is the odd one out?
The 49ers seem like a logical candidate given all of the injuries they’ve endured, but their remaining schedule is insanely easy. They still face the Cardinals, Panthers, Browns, Titans, Colts, Bears, and Seahawks,.
Chicago is another popular choice here because they are barely squeaking by each week (6-3 record despite sporting a -8 point differential), and they’re about to hit that tough stretch of games mentioned above.
Detroit also has a really tough stretch of games ahead, and their play has been inconsistent, to say the least. But if the Lions have found a working combination of Dan Campbell as the offensive play caller, they’re as dangerous as anyone.
That leaves the Packers, a team that always seems to play to their competition. Their two losses have come against the lowly Browns and Panthers, they barely squeezed by the Cardinals, and they tied a bad Cowboys teams. Their only “easy” game left is a trip to the Meadowlands to face the Giants, so they’ll need to rebound quickly.
Overall, the Lions are in a good spot, and whether Green Bay loses on Monday night or not, they have a pretty firm grasp of their own destiny in the NFC playoff picture.
