<\/div>\n<\/p>\n
AFC (Ranked in order of probability of making the playoffs not where they would make it)<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n 1. Tennessee Titans<\/b><\/span>– remaining schedule: @ Houston, vs. Pittsburgh, @ Indianapolis<\/span><\/p>\n They’ve clinched the AFC South and a first-round bye. <\/span>But that Pittsburgh game could decide home field throughout playoffs<\/span><\/p>\n 2. Pittsburgh Steelers<\/b><\/span>-: @Baltimore, @Tennessee, vs. Cleveland<\/span><\/p>\n They’ve practically clinched playoff spot, but the next 2 weeks aren’t kind. <\/span>The Baltimore game should determine who wins the North and the Tennessee game then decides home-field throughout. <\/span>Followed by a bye week against Cleveland.<\/span><\/p>\n 3. Denver Broncos<\/b><\/span>-: @Carolina, vs. Buffalo, @ San Diego<\/span><\/p>\n As much as it pains me to say, this is practically guaranteed. <\/span>They have a 3-game lead with 3 games to go. <\/span>Week 15 at Carolina (while the Chargers go to KC) might delay the inevitable for another week. <\/span>But Week 16 hosting Buffalo, while the Chargers go to Tampa Bay, should definitely clinch it. <\/span>Otherwise it’s Week 17 at San Diego for all the marbles.<\/span><\/p>\n 4. Indianapolis Colts<\/b><\/span>-: vs. Detroit, @ Jacksonville, vs. Tennessee<\/span><\/p>\n They are in, but wins over Detroit and Jacksonville will make it official, and they will probably go to Denver in round 1. <\/span>(There’s an outside chance they go to New England on wild-card weekend. <\/span>Wow.) <\/span><\/p>\n 5. Baltimore Ravens<\/b><\/span>-: vs. Pittsburgh, @ Dallas, vs. Jacksonville<\/span><\/p>\n The schedulers didn’t do them any favors. <\/span>The Jaguars game is the only gimme; but with that easy game, the one-game lead they already have, and their strong conference record, they are pretty close to locking up the 6th<\/sup> seed and could jump over Pittsburgh to get the AFC North if they can pull it off this weekend.<\/span><\/p>\n 6. New York Jets<\/b><\/span>-: vs. Buffalo, @ Seattle, vs. Miami<\/span><\/p>\n Their fate is still in their hands, if they win all three (not easy I know, especially on the road against Seattle) they will win the East no matter what the Pats do. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n 7. Miami Dolphins<\/b><\/span>-: vs. San Francisco, @ Kansas City, @ NYJ<\/span><\/p>\n Technically they too control their own fate. <\/span>If they win all three of their games, they will win the East. <\/span>But not one of those games are a gimme. <\/span>They could just as easily lose all 3 of those as they could win the East.<\/span><\/p>\n 8. New England Patriots<\/b><\/span>-: @ Oakland, vs. Arizona, @ Buffalo<\/span><\/p>\n Their conference record hurts them in a tie-breaker so they have the least control over their fate. <\/span>They could win all 3 and still not make it in. <\/span>Of course, if the Dolphins lose to the Niners but beat the Jets, the Pats can make it. <\/span>But if they lose any of these games they are definitely out.<\/span><\/p>\n 9. San Diego Chargers<\/b><\/span>-: @Kansas City, @ Tampa Bay, vs. Denver<\/span><\/p>\n See: Denver Broncos. <\/span>The Chargers are technically alive but to get in they have to be lucky and consistent. <\/span>This year they have been neither.<\/span><\/p>\n NFC (Again, ranked in order of probability of making the playoffs not where they would make it)<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n 1. New York Giants<\/b><\/span>– remaining schedule: @ Dallas, vs. Carolina, @ Minnesota<\/span><\/p>\n They have won the East and a first-round bye. <\/span>But they have only a one-game lead for home field, and that Panthers game should decide who gets it.<\/span><\/p>\n 2. Arizona Cardinals<\/b><\/span>– vs. Minnesota, @ New England, vs. Seattle<\/span><\/p>\n They have won the West and will host a playoff game but there is no way this team climbs into the Top 2 seeds.<\/span><\/p>\n 3. Carolina Panthers<\/b><\/span>– vs. Denver, @ NYG, @ New Orleans<\/span><\/p>\n They are 10-3, only 1 game out of the top spot in the NFC and they still haven’t clinched a thing yet. <\/span>With their schedule there is still a chance they don’t make the playoffs; of course there’s also a chance they have home-field throughout. <\/span>Welcome to 2008.<\/span><\/p>\n 4. Tampa Bay Buccaneers<\/b><\/span>– @ Atlanta, vs. San Diego, vs. Oakland<\/span><\/p>\n They have a one-game lead, a strong conference record, and a Week 17 game against the Raiders. <\/span>That should be enough to get them in the playoffs. <\/span>But it might not be. <\/span>These next 2 weeks are tough; they have to win at least one of those to clinch their spot in. <\/span>Or of course they could win all 3, win the South, and be the 2 seed. <\/span>Seriously, what a crazy year.<\/span><\/p>\n 5. Minnesota Vikings<\/b><\/span>– @ Arizona, vs. Atlanta, vs. NYG<\/span><\/p>\n They have a one-game lead in the North, but they might be without Frerotte and they have a tough schedule. <\/span>They could lose all three of those. <\/span>But if they win any two they clinch the North.<\/span><\/p>\n 6. Chicago Bears<\/b><\/span>– vs. New Orleans, vs. Green Bay, @ Houston<\/span><\/p>\n If they Vikings do lose all three, the Bears can win the North. But with this schedule, they have no guarantees either. <\/span>If the Vikings win just one of their last three games, the Bears need to win all three of theirs to win the division.<\/span><\/p>\n 7. Green Bay Packers<\/b><\/span>– @ Jacksonville, @ Chicago, vs. Detroit<\/span><\/p>\n They are the only North team to have a few easy games left. <\/span>If they Vikings do lose all 3, and the Bears lose to the Saints; the Green Bay\/Chicago Week 16 game could be for the NFC North. <\/span>Of course the Packers could beat the Jags, beat the Bears, and then lose to the Lions in Week 17, which would make the 8-8 Vikings NFC North champs again. <\/span>Crazy.<\/span><\/p>\n 8. Atlanta Falcons<\/b><\/span>– vs. Tampa Bay, @ Minnesota, vs. Rams<\/span><\/p>\n They do control their own fate. <\/span>If they win all 3 of those, they lock up the final spot. <\/span>But that might be asking a lot. <\/span>If they beat Tampa or<\/i><\/span> the Vikings, then a win over the Rams should still clinch the final spot.<\/span><\/p>\n 9. Philadelphia Eagles<\/b><\/span>– vs. Cleveland, @ Washington, vs. Dallas<\/span><\/p>\n I say 10 wins for the Falcons should<\/i><\/span> clinch, because if the Eagles win their final 3 games, they too will have 10 wins but will have 1 fewer loss (damn you tie games!) <\/span>I don’t think they will beat both Washington and Dallas, but I do think they will beat the Browns and one of the other games. <\/span>Which means they would be 9-5-1 and would force someone to get 10 wins to lock up the final spot.<\/span><\/p>\n 10. Dallas Cowboys<\/b><\/span>– vs. NYG, vs. Baltimore, @ Philadelphia <\/span><\/p>\n We all know where I stand. <\/span>They won’t make it. <\/span>But if they beat the Giants, the Ravens, and the Eagles AND the Falcons lose at least one game, then the Cowboys would be in. <\/span>But I see them losing two, maybe all three, of those.<\/span><\/p>\n 11. Washington Redskins<\/b><\/span>– @ Cincinnati, vs. Philadelphia, @ San Francisco <\/span><\/p>\n They are currently the leader for the “Best Team to Finish Last in Their Division” Award. <\/span>I knew one team would get the shaft from the NFC East being too deep and right now it’s the Skins. <\/span>The Cincinnati game is an easy one, but the Eagles and traveling to the Niners are tough games. <\/span>They have to win all 3 and have Dallas and Atlanta lose one game for them to get in.<\/span><\/p>\n 12. New Orleans Saints<\/b><\/span>– @ Chicago, @ Detroit, vs. Carolina<\/span><\/p>\n Their conference record makes them the longest shot, as does their schedule. <\/span>But if they win all three of those, and if the Falcons, Cowboys, Eagles, Redskins, and Vikings all lose at least 1 game then the Saints could make it. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n And just exactly how do 21 teams still have a shot at the playoffs? <\/span>Well the 11 teams that are officially eliminated are a combined 35-107-1. <\/span>These final 3 weeks are going to be a really enjoyable race…unless you’re a Lions fan.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Leaky Pipes didn’t want to be too negative, so he returns this week with a look at some NFL playoff scenarios.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"newspack_sponsor_sponsorship_scope":"","newspack_sponsor_native_byline_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_native_category_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_style":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_placement":"inherit","inline_featured_image":false,"newspack_ads_suppress_ads":false,"newspack_popups_has_disabled_popups":"","_":"","_author_alias":"","cap-aim":"","cap-description":"","cap-display_name":"","cap-first_name":"","cap-jabber":"","cap-last_name":"","cap-linked_account":"","cap-newspack_employer":"","cap-newspack_job_title":"","cap-newspack_phone_number":"","cap-newspack_role":"","cap-user_email":"","cap-user_login":"","cap-website":"","cap-yahooim":"","newspack_article_summary":"","newspack_email_html":"","newspack_email_type":"","newspack_featured_image_position":"","newspack_hide_page_title":"","newspack_hide_updated_date":false,"newspack_post_subtitle":"","newspack_show_share_buttons":"","newspack_sponsor_byline_prefix":"","newspack_sponsor_disclaimer_override":"","newspack_sponsor_flag_override":"","newspack_sponsor_only_direct":"","newspack_sponsor_url":"","newspack_article_summary_title":"Overview:","newspack_show_updated_date":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"newspack_spnsrs_tax":[],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-5176","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sports","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5176","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/33"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5176"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5176\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5176"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5176"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5176"},{"taxonomy":"newspack_spnsrs_tax","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/newspack_spnsrs_tax?post=5176"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=5176"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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