Playoff races feature bevy of contenders
If your team is not in the NFL playoff race heading into the final four weeks of the schedule, well, that team must be pretty bad.
Except for the Lions, Texans, Jaguars, Bears and the two New York teams, everyone else remains in the conversation for the postseason. Division races in many cases aren’t so much in question, but the wild cards are so uncertain that the likes of Seattle (5-8) and a slew of 6-7 clubs can’t be ignored.
That’s exactly what the league wanted when it added a 17th game and, more specifically, a third wild card in each conference.
Here’s a quick rundown:
NFC: There’s little doubt who will win three of the divisions, with Green Bay (10-3), Tampa Bay (10-3) and Dallas (9-4) all in position to clinch this weekend.
Out West, it’s a two-team contest between the Cardinals (10-3) and Rams (9-4), who beat Arizona on Monday night. Both are in excellent shape to get into the playoffs.
As for the wild-card scramble, it truly is a wild scramble. Heading into Week 14, the Rams and 49ers (7-6) are in the best spots, followed by all those 6-7 teams: Washington, Philadelphia, Minnesota, Atlanta and New Orleans.
AFC: Buffalo’s collapse has handed over the AFC East to New England — yes, the Patriots (9-4) are contending even without Tom Brady. The Bills (7-6) suddenly are looking around the conference landscape to gauge where they stand in the wild-card race that also includes the entire AFC North, plus the Colts, Broncos and Chargers. Maybe even the Dolphins, who have gone from 1-7 to 6-7.
The Titans (9-4) have a twogame lead over Indianapolis (7-6) in the South and won both meetings. But the Colts have made a remarkable surge from a 1-4 start behind the spectacular work of running back Jonathan Taylor, and a playmaking defense that got healthier.
Kansas City’s sizzling finish Thursday night after three quarters of mediocrity against the Chargers stamps the Chiefs — when operating at full efficiency — as a team to fear.
The North is such a garbled tangle that any of the four teams — Baltimore (8-5), Cincinnati (7-6), Cleveland (7-6) or Pittsburgh (6-6-1) — could win it. And the other three might wind up with an early vacation should Buffalo, Indianapolis and one of the West teams close strongly.
Briefly: The Broncos learned a painful lesson last year when they were forced to play a game without a quarterback. So, they’re isolating third-stringer Brett Rypien as a precaution with the new, highly transmissible form of the coronavirus leading to a spike in infections across the NFL. Coach Vic Fangio said Friday that he decided to make Rypien the team’s “quarantined quarterback” this week. “He was not in the meetings, he was in virtual meetings, and when he was out here on the field, he was under strict orders to not be near anybody,” Fangio said. Teddy Bridgewater is the starter and Drew Lock the backup . ... Chargers tight end Donald Parham Jr. was expected to be released from the hospital Friday after being diagnosed with a concussion. Parham left the field on a stretcher during Thursday night’s loss to the Chiefs after his head slammed to the turf while he tried to catch a pass in the first quarter . ... The Ravens listed QB Lamar Jackson as questionable for Sunday’s game against Green Bay because of his sprained ankle.