There are essentially 11 teams vying for 7 playoff spots. Take away the three NFC south teams with losing records competing for 1 playoff spot, and you have 9 teams vying for the 6 remaining playoff berths.
Let’s talk about the NFC South first. Tampa leads with a 6-7 record, but both Carolina and the Falcons have 5-8 records, only a game behind. The likely scenario is one of these teams wins the NFC South with an 8-9 record.
Of the 6 remaining spots, 4 of them are almost locks. The 49ers and Vikings will almost surely win their Divisions. But the Cowboys and Eagles are fighting for the top seed in the NFC and the NFC East title. The Eagles finish with 3 consecutive games against division opponents, all of whom have winning records. If they lose two of them against the Cowboys and either the Giants or Commanders, the Cowboys can win the NFC East.
12-1 Eagles
10-3 Vikings
9-4 49ers
10-3 Cowboys
That leaves 4 teams competing for the final wildcard spots.
7-5-1 Commanders
7-5-1 Giants
7-6 Seahawks
6-7 Lions
After starting 1-4, the Commanders have a record of 6-1-1, including beating the then undefeated Eagles. After starting the season 1-6, the Lions have won 5 of their last 6 games, including a win against the then 10-2 Vikings. Both of these teams are hot. Meanwhile the Giants are falling apart, winning only 1 game since starting the season 6-1. And the Seahawks have to play the 49ers, and the Chiefs. But the Commanders have games against both the Eagles and Cowboys to close the season, and play the Giants again next week.
It will be a fight to find out who wins the final playoff spots. There is a lot of drama remaining in these final 4 weeks of the season.
