Now with the season heading into the final few games, who will make the playoffs and who won’t? This is an important time and the coming weeks will be extremely crucial for certain teams. Join us as we take a look at who will make the NFC Playoffs and who won’t.
NFC East:
Usually the NFC East makes people as the question, can three teams from the same division make the playoffs? This year it is not the case with the awful struggles of the Dallas Cowboys. If the Cowboys weren’t playing poor enough Tony Romo got injured and a few games later the coach got fired. The coaching change has shown some life in Dallas because since the change they have a 1-1 record. This is merely a down year for the Cowboys, who were expected to be a contender to win the Super bowl in their own stadium. The Washington Redskins, who have been that after thought of the division for a couple years, are performing to a slightly higher level than in previous years with the addition of Donovan Mcnabb at the helm. This 5-6 team has had trouble between the coaching and Donovan Mcnabb, but that problem was settled with a contract extension just a couple of weeks ago. The two front runners for this division are the Giants and Eagles at 7-4. The Giants are currently hurting with leading receiver Nicks injured a couple of weeks ago and Bradshaw having some fumble issues at critical times, but they always find a way to squeak into the playoffs. The Eagles and Michael Vick are the story of the season. Vick is better than ever and leading this team to the top of the division after being in jail just two years ago. Vick will lead the Eagles to the top of this division and the Giants will be in a dog fight for that wildcard position with the Bears or the Packers, and two of the Saints, Falcons, and Buccaneers.
NFC North:
The NFC North was a great battle to the end of last season and it seems to be the same great battle just with the Bears instead of the Vikings. The two potential teams coming out of this division have separated themselves from the lowly Lions and Vikings. The Lions are 2-9 and still rebuilding. With Calvin Johnson, Jahvid Best, Brandon Pettigrew and Matthew Stafford, this young team has a great future ahead of them, but not this year and maybe another top five draft pick will put them over the edge and competing with the elites of that division. The Minnesota Vikings are yet another team that has grossly underachieved. This team recently said hello and goodbye to one of the league’s best all-time receivers Randy Moss and goodbye to coach Brad Childress. The career of Brett Favre looks as if it is yet again coming to an end, but I’m sure he will come back for another season next year, because he just can’t call it quits.
The Vikings have to start looking to the future and see if backup quarterback Jackson will provide the skill and leadership they need going forward or if they have to find an alternative. Even though the Packers have had over 10 injuries this season including starting running back Ryan Grant, they still have the ability to win games with, what I think is the best team in the NFL when healthy. At 7-4 they are quickly approaching the Chicago Bears who are a surprising 8-3. The Bears have been quietly leading the division, but I don’t think that this winning team will stay on top and that the Packers will come out on top of the division, but the Bears could still see playoff action in the wildcard matchup.
NFC South:
Other than the Carolina Panthers, who have lost their top two running backs for portions of this season, this division is the best in football this year. Carolina has a 1-10 record on pace to support Jimmy Clausen with a first overall draft choice. The other three teams have been doing a lot of damage on the league this season. The Buccaneers at 7-4 are the second worse team in this division. This young rising team still needs a couple years to develop into a playoff team, but has had great success this year. Unfortunately for this young squad they will fall just short of the playoffs this year. The two teams that will surely make the post season are the New Orleans Saints and the Atlanta Falcons with 8-3 and 9-2 records respectively. After sobering up from the Super bowl hangover, the Saints have been playing great football and could pass the Falcons, if the Falcons weren’t playing great as well. These teams have both proven that they deserve a spot in the playoffs and you will see both of them there. They still have a game against each other in week 16 of the season, which will have the environment of a playoff games and will likely determine the team that wins the division and maybe the team that wins the conference.
NFC West:
I really don’t want to even mention the NFC West since they don’t have one team above .500 and every team has to play each other twice. This division is led by two 5-6 teams in the Rams and Seahawks. Both of these teams don’t deserve to make the playoffs, but I guess they deserve it more than the 49ers, which just lost Frank Gore for the season, and the Cardinals, who lost Kurt Warner to retirement after last season. I don’t know if I feel worse for the three teams that will lose this pathetic division or the one team that has to go up against either the Saints, Bears, Packers, Falcons, Buccaneers, Giants, or Eagles in a playoff scenario and get embarrassed.