There’s one NFC game remaining in Week 9, but it’s between teams ranked 11th and 14th. Even with a win, the Dallas Cowboys would be on the outside looking in of the playoff picture.
Let’s look at the NFC Standings a week a day before the NFL’s trade deadline.
NFC Playoff Picture
We will break the teams up into perceived tiers:
1) Philadelphia Eagles – 6-2 (5-1 in the NFC) 2) Tampa Bay Buccaneers – 6-2(4-2) 3) Seattle Seahawks – 6-2 (3-2) 4) Green Bay Packers – 5-2-1(3-1-1) 5) Los Angeles Rams – 6-2 (1-2) 6) San Francisco
49ers – 6-3 (6-1) 7) Detroit Lions – 5-3 (2-2)
Not only are these the playoff teams, but these are the seven who could beat anybody at any point, whether home or away.
The Eagles had a bye week. We’re still not sold on them. They beat the Chiefs and the Bucs, but lost to the Broncos and the Giants. In high-leverage situations, do you really trust Jalen Hurts to make a play?
The Bucs are another team that is difficult to figure out. They took down the Seahawks and the Niners, but looked helpless against the Lions. Tampa Bay is also banged up, but that seems to be the case with every NFC team.
Seattle is the best team in the NFC, as painful as that may be to read. They’re complete defensively, have a star wide receiver, an offensive line to protect Sam Darnold, and a bright head coach. But if Darnold has to go on the road in the playoffs, all bets are off.
Remember when the Packers were crowned Super Bowl champs after Week 2? Well, they just lost to the Carolina Panthers. They also lost to the Browns and struggled to put away teams like the Bengals, Cardinals, and Steelers. Green Bay just lost Tucker Kraft for the season to an ACL injury. They are on fraud watch.
The 49ers likely lost another starter for the season due to an injury. Mykel Williams was quite good as a run defender, but this was never going to be a team that was going to win with its defense. Brock Purdy appears set to return. Ideally, Ricky Pearsall and Brandon Aiyuk aren’t far behind. If the 49ers are going to make a run, it’s going to be because they score 28+ a game. Sustainable? Unlikely. Doable? Yes.
The next crop of teams is on the outside looking in, and will likely stay that way unless one of these top teams falters. They’re fiesty, but nothing more.
8) Chicago Bears – 5-3 (3-2)
9) Carolina Panthers – 5-4 (3-1)
10) Minnesota Vikings – 4-4 (2-2)
11) Dallas Cowboys – 3-4-1(2-3-1)
12) Atlanta Falcons – 3-5 (2-3)
The Bears’ defense makes Robert Saleh’s look like the ‘85 Bears.
The Panthers have won their last two games by scoring 16 and 13 points. Sandwiched in between that was a 31-point loss to the Bills. The schedule sets up well for Carolina, but when push comes to shove, we have a difficult time believing they can keep up with the upper echelon teams of the conference.
The Vikings upset the Lions, but Detroit seemed to be sleepwalking. Minnesota doesn’t have a quarterback.
The Cowboys have a quarterback, which will always make them dangerous. But that’s another team that can’t seem to get stops.
13) Washington Commanders – 3-6 (1-5)
14) Arizona Cardinals – 2-5 (2-3)
15) New York Giants – 2-7 (1-5)
16) New Orleans Saints – 1-8 (1-6)
These four teams are unserious and there’s no need to waste time discussing them.
