Return to Football

I sort of took 2015 off from blogging and I can't imagine that I'll continue doing it on anything resembling a regular basis. But I always enjoyed tracking the football playoffs and I thought this year I would continue that.

AFC

1. New England Patriots - No one in the AFC is completely healthy and no one is dominant right now. That being said, New England still has the best record by one game and they are starting to get weapons back from the injury list. They also have officially won the East, the first AFC team to win it's division. Their defense is still not good though. They will probably hold the #1 seed unless fall to the Jets in Week 16 but even then the odds still are favorable that they will keep home field.

2. Cincinnati Bengals - Conference record is the tie-breaker for now against Denver but they two teams will decide things head-to-head in Week 16. The big question is when is Andy Dalton coming back? The Bengals should be good enough to secure the division with a win against San Francisco this week, especially if AJ McCarron doesn't throw a bunch of picks. But a loss to Denver would probably relegate the Bengals to the #3 seed. But I think the Bengals would be fine with the #3 seed if it meant that Dalton was 100% in time for the playoffs. Much will depend on what happens this weekend.

3. Denver Broncos If Denver wins against Cincinnati and the Patriots lose to the NY Jets, Denver could find itself at the #1 seed as they would have tie-breakers against both teams. But if they lose to Cincinnati, #3 is pretty much guaranteed no matter what New England does. I don't know what Manning's status is for the playoffs but it will be interesting to see how Brock Osweiler does against Pittsburgh. If he plays well and Denver wins, he may stay in against Cincinnati. But if Denver goes down for a second week in a row, Manning could be back in for the Monday nighter.

4. Indianapolis Colts - The Colts are tied with Houston right now, but Indy currently has the tiebreaker. Honestly both teams are reeling badly. Indy will be on their #3 QB while Houston will be playing it's back-up. At this point, it is not unreasonable to suggest that Jacksonville could rise up and win this division in the last week. Whoever wins the head-to-head match-up this week has the inside track but this divisional crown will come down to the wire among three less than good teams.

5. Kansas City Chiefs - See below.

6. NY Jets - The Chiefs, Jets, and Pittsburgh Steelers are all tied at 8-5 but the Chiefs and Jets have the tie-breakers that push them ahead of the Steelers. Of all of them, Kansas City has the easiest schedule and will probably keep the #5 spot. It's not impossible for them to win the West still, although they would need Denver to seriously tank. The #6 spot on the other hand is up for grabs. Pittsburgh closes the season against Baltimore and Cleveland, both games they should easily win. So that leaves the game against Denver as the only one they won't be favored in. The Jets have Dallas, New England, and Buffalo to close their season. This is tougher road to hoe. If Pittsburgh loses to Denver, the Jets will have a little breathing room and a loss to New England won't be quite so dire. But this spot will also probably come down to the Week 17 match-ups.

NFC

1. Carolina Panthers - Unless there is major injury that happens, we could save ourselves some trouble and just put Carolina in the Super Bowl now. They will be hosting the NFC playoffs at the very least.

2. Arizona Cardinals - Hot teams can come and spoil the parties, but I think that given the way the NFC has been this year, I'll be a bit disappointed if the NFC Championship game is not Arizona vs. Carolina. Arizona hasn't clinched the division yet, but should do so this weekend.

3. Green Bay Packers - Minnesota has fallen flat over the last couple of weeks and that has allowed Green Bay to retake the division lead. I think Minnesota has a slightly easier schedule though, so the Week 17 match-up between these two teams could decide the division title and the #3 seed.

4. Washington Redskins - Like the AFC South, someone has to win the NFC East and take the #4 seed. Washington has the inside track at the moment despite their being a three-way tie between them, Philadelphia and the NY Giants. I think Washington's schedule also gives them the best opportunity to take the division, but I think the winner is going to be 8-8 at best when Week 17 is done.

5. Seattle Seahawks - See below.

6. Minnesota Vikings - Seattle and Minnesota are pretty much set as rounding out the playoffs. They have a two game lead on everyone else and it's just a matter of how the seeding shakes out. Seattle is hot right now but they are probably too far behind Arizona to catch them for the division so the #5 seed and a trip east is probably in store for them. Minnesota is less hot but still good enough that they should both hold on to the #6 spot and may even challenge Green Bay for the division. Whether they take the division or not, it is somewhat likely that the Week 17 match-up between these two will be replayed the following week in the Wild Card round of the playoffs.