Washington back in NFC postseason standing with Dallas
Here’s how the NFL playoff picture looks after Week 12 Sunday games.
NFC
1. New Orleans Saints (10-1): NFC South leader. Beat the Rams? Check. Catch the Rams in win column? Check. Hold them off for the next five weeks? We’ll see. The Saints have the inside track to home-field advantage but begin a stretch of three in a row on the road Thursday night in JerryWorld.
2. Los Angeles Rams (10-1): NFC West leader. With Seattle hanging tough, they’ll have to wait at least one more week to clinch the division.
3. Chicago Bears (8-3): NFC North leader. Enjoying a mini bye after the Thanksgiving win, though apparently no guarantee it will be a sufficient amount of time for Mitch Trubisky to be ready for Week 13 (at Giants).
4. Dallas Cowboys (6-5): NFC South leader. A superior division record gives them the tiebreaker over Washington for now, though the Redskins appear to have a more favorable schedule the rest of the way. 5. Minnesota Vikings (6-4-1): Wild card No. 1. Outlasted Packers to maintain tenuous grip on this berth. 6. Washington Redskins (6-5): Wild card No. 2. Carolina has now lost to Washington and Seattle, but the Redskins own the berth (instead of the Seahawks) for the time being due to a better record in NFC games.
In the hunt: Carolina Panthers (6-5), Seattle Seahawks (6-5), Philadelphia Eagles (5-6), Green Bay Packers (4-5-1), Atlanta Falcons (4-7), Detroit Lions (4-7), Tampa Bay Buccaneers (4-7)
AFC
1. Kansas City Chiefs (9-2): AFC West leader. After becoming the first team to lose a game despite scoring at least 50 points, the rested Chiefs should get back on track in Week 13, when they play their final divisional road game at Oakland.
2. New England Patriots (8-3): AFC East leader. They pulled closer to the Chiefs, whom they defeated in Week 6, in the conference standings while pulling further away from Miami in the divisional table. Best of all, the reigning AFC champs are again in position for a bye after overtaking Pittsburgh.
3. Houston Texans (7-3): AFC South leader. They attempted to notch an eighth consecutive win Monday night amid the passing of founding owner Bob McNair. 4. Pittsburgh Steelers (7-3-1): AFC North leader. The Steelers lost their sixgame winning streak in Denver and dropped from the second seed to the fourth.
5. Los Angeles Chargers (8-3): Wild card No. 1. They are back on track after blowing out Arizona and are now just a game back of Kansas City in the AFC West. 6. Baltimore Ravens (6-5): Wild card No. 2. Now 2-0 with rookie QB Lamar Jackson as the starter, they currently
own the final spot given their record in AFC games (6-3) is better than Indianapolis’ (5-4).
In the hunt: Indianapolis Colts (6-5), Tennessee Titans (5-5), Cincinnati Bengals (5-6), Denver Broncos (5-6), Miami Dolphins (5-6), Cleveland Browns (46-1), Buffalo Bills (4-7)