By Anthony Martinez, Sports Editor
While the NFL playoffs are not here yet, they are rapidly approaching. Without any clear direction of how the season will pan out, it is good to look at the current situation and possible scenarios in the last quarter of the season.
At this point, only four teams have been officially eliminated from the playoffs. This includes the Detroit Lions, Jacksonville Jaguars, Houston Texans, and New York Jets, and many teams are close to following them in these next few weeks.
While those teams’ fates are sealed, the top teams in the league are still jockeying for a position. The National Football Conference (NFC) overall appears to be a bit stronger and specifically top-heavy as five teams in the NFC have a record that is as good or better than the number one seed in the American Football Conference (AFC).
Currently, three teams in the NFC have the same record at the top at 10-3. These include the Green Bay Packers, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and the Arizona Cardinals.
Due to tiebreaker rules, the Packers currently sit at the top, and it’s ironic considering how bad the season began for them. In week one, they got dismantled by the New Orleans Saints.
Everyone overreacted and thought the season was lost, however, since that game and outside of the game that Aaron Rodgers was hurt for, they have gone 10-1, again putting them in front to make another run for the Super Bowl.
The defending Super Bowl champions, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, are perhaps the most talented team in the league, led by the greatest player of all time, Tom Brady. It’s still a stacked team, just like last year, and while their defense hasn’t been a solid as last year, many people consider them the favorite to get out of the NFC.
The Arizona Cardinals were leading most of the season and have recently been brought back down to Earth. They lost to the Packers who had several key injuries when they played, and they also just lost to the Los Angeles Rams which surrenders their lead. Deandre Hopkins is set
to miss the rest of the season with a knee injury, so it has been a rough number of weeks for the talented Cardinals.
The Dallas Cowboys and Los Angeles Rams both have a record of 9-4, and have both been inconsistent. Both teams have had hot streaks and lost a game or two.
The Cowboys balanced offense and defense, that caused turnovers, have made them a legit threat to go as far as anyone in the playoffs. The Rams, under Matthew Stafford, have maybe the most explosive offense in the league and a defense that creates pass rush and interceptions. If either team catches fire in the playoffs, they can go as far as anyone.
Rounding out the sixth and seventh seed currently are the San Francisco 49’ers and the Washington Football Team. On the bubble are several teams, but the Minnesota Vikings seem the most likely to get in the playoffs out of all of them.
The AFC is incredibly tight as well. Like the NFC, the top three teams, The New England Patriots, the Tennessee Titans, and the Kansas City Chiefs, have the same record at 9-4.
The England Patriots are as hot as any team in the NFL. They have won seven games in a row, with some games being incredibly dominant. Their defense has been the best in the NFL, allowing a league-best, 15.4 points per game, and all of this is with a rookie quarterback, Mac Jones. They have a legendary head coach leading them, and teams should be worried.
The Tennessee Titans are a somewhat surprising inclusion only due to the fact that Derrick Henry has been hurt for weeks, and they are still at the top. They have played good team football, and if Henry can come back for the playoffs, the league is in for some trouble.
The Kansas City Chiefs are peaking at the right time. They have been to the Super Bowl for the last two seasons, were led by an explosive offense, but a lot of the season early on was disappointing and out of character. They have gotten back on track, winning the last six games in a row, and even if their offense has had some inconsistent performances, the Chiefs seem to be back.
The rest of the conference has some contenders worth mentioning. The Baltimore Ravens are hugely inconsistent, but are still led by the most dynamic running quarterback of all time. The Los Angeles Chargers are as talented as anyone, and Justin Herbert is a fantastic young quarterback who just keeps getting better.
The Indianapolis Colts play great defense and run the ball as well as anyone. The Buffalo Bills may only be 7-6 which includes a couple of random losses. They still are as good as anyone in the entire league despite their record. When the playoffs begin, no one is going to want to match up with the Bills in the first round.
The AFC teams currently on the bubble are the Cleveland Browns, Cincinnati Bengals, and Denver Broncos.
A lot can happen in the next four weeks, but as it stands now, this is where the league is at, and how it plays out will be worth watching.
