They’re in, for all intents and purposes
With Monday night’s game not having any real bearing on the playoff picture in the NFC, it’s time to take a look at where things stand heading into the final four weeks of the regular season. There’s still a little bit of drama to be had in the NFC playoff field, but not a whole lot. A couple of teams have already clinched spots, and although our Minnesota Vikings are not among them, they’ll almost certainly be there soon enough.
Let’s take a look at the NFC playoff field as things currently stand, with some odds thrown in from our friends at FanDuel.
#1 seed – Detroit Lions (12-1, 1st place NFC North, clinched playoff spot, -900 to win division, +270 to win Super Bowl)
Detroit became the first team to wrap up a spot in the postseason with their win over Green Bay on Thursday Night Football. They still haven’t shaken the Vikings to this point, however, and they’ve got a tough one coming up in Week 15. If they’re going to stumble and allow the Vikings to catch them, this might be the best opportunity for it to happen.
Week 15 opponent: vs Buffalo (Sunday late)
#2 seed – Philadelphia Eagles (11-2, 1st place NFC East, clinched playoff spot, -7000 to win division, +550 to win Super Bowl)
The Eagles are officially into the postseason as well, thanks to their ninth straight victory over a feisty Carolina team on Sunday coupled with Arizona losing. They’re one of the hottest teams in the league after a rough 2-2 start, and they’re probably not being talked about enough right now. They’re also hoping for a stumble from Detroit in the hopes of potentially getting into the #1 spot in the conference.
Week 15 opponent: vs Pittsburgh (Sunday late)
#3 seed – Seattle Seahawks (8-5, 1st place NFC West, -135 to win division, +5000 to win Super Bowl)
The Seahawks got the job done on Sunday, completing a season sweep of Arizona to tighten their grip on the NFC West. They’ve got a one-game lead on Los Angeles, who they’ve already lost to this season and who they won’t see again until the final week of the regular season. That’s going to be one of the more interesting races in the NFC over the final four weeks of the season.
Week 15 opponent: vs Green Bay (Sunday Night Football)
#4 seed – Tampa Bay Buccaneers (7-6, 1st place NFC South, -230 to win division, +4300 to win Super Bowl)
Yes, the Buccaneers are the team that has benefitted from Atlanta completely falling apart over the past four weeks, as they’ve ridden a three-game winning streak to the top of the division. This is a team that has enough talent to be a real pain to deal with on Super Wild Card Weekend and, as of now, that’s where the Vikings would find themselves if the season ended today.
Week 15 opponent: at Los Angeles Chargers (Sunday late)
#5 seed – Minnesota Vikings (11-2, 2nd place NFC North, +600 to win division, +1600 to win Super Bowl)
The Vikings turned it on in the second half to blow out Atlanta in Week 15 to keep pace with Detroit, but now they’ve got a couple of tricky ones coming up. Their (seemingly) annual Monday Night clash with Chicago on Monday can’t be overlooked, and that’s followed by a trip to Seattle and a game with Green Bay at home before what could be a huge season finale in Detroit.
Week 15 opponent: vs Chicago (Monday Night Football)
#6 seed – Green Bay Packers (9-4, 3rd place NFC North, +45000 to win division, +1700 to win Super Bowl)
Green Bay’s loss on Thursday night didn’t help the Vikings in terms of trying to catch Detroit, but it did give them some breathing room in the battle for the top Wild Card spot in the conference. The Vikings are now up on the Packers by two games, and with the head-to-head tiebreaker it’s going to take a monumental effort for them to pass Minnesota before the end of the season.
Week 15 opponent: at Seattle (Sunday Night Football)
#7 seed – Washington Commanders (8-5, 2nd place NFC East, +2200 to win division, +5500 to win Super Bowl)
The Commanders had their bye week in Week 14 and. . .well, nothing happened to their playoff positioning. They’re still in the #7 spot in the conference and now have to worry about a hard-charging Rams team that’s coming for their spot. They’re not exactly facing a tough opponent in Week 15, but they have to be careful not to fall into a trap with a rematch with Philadelphia looming the next week.
Week 15 opponent: at New Orleans (Sunday early)
Outside Looking In
#8 seed – Los Angeles Rams (7-6, 2nd place NFC West)
Week 15 opponent: at San Francisco (Thursday Night Football)
#9 seed – Atlanta Falcons (6-7, 2nd place NFC South, ahead of Arizona on conference record)
Week 15 opponent: at Las Vegas (Monday Night Football)
#10 seed – Arizona Cardinals (6-7, 3rd place NFC West, ahead of San Francisco on head-to-head)
Week 15 opponent: vs New England (Sunday late)
#11 seed – San Francisco 49ers (6-7, 4th place NFC West)
Week 15 opponent: vs Los Angeles Rams (Thursday Night Football)
#12 seed – Dallas Cowboys (5-7, 3rd place NFC East)
Week 14 & 15 opponents: vs Cincinnati (Monday Night Football), at Carolina (Sunday early)
#13 seed – New Orleans Saints (5-8, 3rd place NFC South)
Week 15 opponent: vs Washington (Sunday early)
#14 seed – Chicago Bears (4-9, 4th place NFC North)
Week 15 opponent: at Minnesota (Monday Night Football)
#15 seed – Carolina Panthers (3-10, 4th place NFC South)
Week 15 opponent: at Dallas (Sunday early)
#16 seed – New York Giants (2-11, 4th place NFC East)
Week 15 opponent: vs Baltimore (Sunday early)
That’s your look at the NFC playoff picture with Week 14 almost completely in the books, folks. We’ll continue to update this every week between now and the end of the season.
