The current NFL system in place is designed to create parity around the league. Over the years the initiatives to create a fair and competitive league have been met with various successes and failures, but when one takes a simple glace at the NFL standings, it’s clear that these measures do have their merits.
What we’re finding in the 2015 NFL season after nines weeks (and one Thursday night game) is that their are a few elite teams at the top of the heap, a few struggling teams at the bottom, and a whole heap of teams in the middle. This is most evident in the Wildcard races in both conferences, but perhaps more so in the always competitive NFC.
If the season ended today, the Carolina Panthers (8-0), the Green Bay Packers (6-2), the Arizona Cardinals (6-2), the New York Giants (5-4), the Minnesota Vikings (6-2), and the Atlanta Falcons (6-3) would be the NFC’s playoff teams, and are currently the only clubs in the conference with above .500 records. With that said, a simple look at the standings reveals that practically every team in the conference is still in the playoff hunt. To be certain, there are many questions to be answered about the NFC playoff picture.
The Panthers and Falcons pace the NFC South, but while the Panthers have managed to hold off all comers this years, but the Falcons have dropped three of four contests after starting 5-0. They remain in firm control of a Wildcard berth, but the New Orleans Saints (4-5) and the steadily improving Tampa Buccaneers (3-5) remain in the race as well, as improbable as that may seem.
The Cardinals are the top team in the NFC West right now, but the St. Louis Rams (4-4) and Seattle Seahawks (4-4) are nipping at their heels. When the Seahawks play host to the Cards on Sunday Night Football this week, a win for the ‘Hawks could completely flip the balance of power in the division. It’s been a very tough year for the fourth NFC West squad the San Francisco 49ers, but at 3-5 they’re technically still in the hunt as well.
The NFC East always seems to come right down to the wire. The Giants currently pace the division at 5-4, but they are about to face a dominant Patriots squad, and all their divisional rivals remain in the mix and have a game in hand. Indeed, the Philadelphia Eagles (4-4) seem as though they may be getting hot at the right time, and that could be terrible news for the Giants. Washington, (3-5) has been up and down this year, but remains firmly in the mix in the divisional race, and even at 2-6, it’s still a bit too early to count out the Dallas Cowboys, especially with Tony Romo set to return as soon as Week 11.
In the NFC North, the Vikings and Packers are jockeying for position at 6-2 in what could be a race that goes all the way down to the wire. The Packers are coming off back-to-back demoralizing defeats (something that they just aren’t used to), while the Vikings still don’t seem to be getting a lot of respect around the league in spite of a hot start. The Chicago Bears (3-5) are a long shot to make a run at the division, but are still on the outside looking in at a Wildcard berth, while it’s been a tough year for the 1-7 Detroit Lions. They’ll bounce back, but this is a very important moment in the franchise’s history.
While it would be naive to suggest that every single team that is statistically in the hunt has legitimate playoff aspirations, it does seem fair to state that ten or eleven teams are very real possibilities to be playing football in January, and that’s saying something about the parity of this league. Not every team is evenly matched, and certainly some divisions are tougher than others (looking at you, NFC West), but that fact that we’re just past the halfway point of the season and so many teams are still playing meaningful games is great for the league and great for the fan bases. With eight more weeks of regular season football on the horizon, it’s shaping up to be a photo finish in the NFC. Sit back and enjoy, folks. The playoff push is on.
