The race is on for the NFL playoffs as all teams still within a shot are gearing up for a late push heading into the 15th week of action.
There is still a lot to be decided as it pertains to the playoff picture. Most of the league is still mathematically within range of postseason play, which means just about any team can win the Super Bowl, though not realistically speaking.
So far, only the New England Patriots and Carolina Panthers have been eliminated from contention. So there are, in fact, 30 teams still able to qualify.
Of course, that will not be the case for much longer given that there are four weeks to go and byes all done.
The NFL Playoff Picture Heading Into Week 15
The San Francisco 49ers are the only team to have clinched a playoff spot at the current juncture but, with Week 14 now gone, the playoff race is the most contested to this point since the league altered the playoff format to accommodate 14 teams in 2020.
So let’s take a look at the NFC’s division leaders and the teams in wild-card spots.
NFC Side
As mentioned above, the Niners are already in. At 10-3, they hold the head-to-head tiebreaker over the Dallas Cowboys and the Philadelphia Eagles. The Cowboys, also 10-3, own the tiebreaker over Philly as they have one more NFC East win.
The Detroit Lions are 9-4 and lead the NFC North, but their remaining at the top can’t yet be considered a foregone conclusion as the Minnesota Vikings and/or Green Bay Packers might have a say.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers, meanwhile, have tiebreakers over the New Orleans Saints and Atlanta Falcons. So the Baker-Mayfield experiment just might work out.
Like the 49ers and Cowboys, the Eagles are 10-3, but they just lost two games to the aforementioned conference rivals and are in a wild-card spot at the moment. Still, the first runner-up in the NFC East should be road favorites over the winner of the NFC South.
As the NFL season heats up, so does the excitement in the world of sports betting. Fans across various states, including Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, and Ohio, are actively participating in this trend. Even in states like Kentucky, where there isn’t a home NFL team, the enthusiasm is palpable. Fans there are increasingly turning to options like Kentucky sports betting apps to place their bets.
Meanwhile, the Vikings have lost their starting quarterback, Kirk Cousins, for the season. Justin Jefferson, considered to be the best wide receiver in the league, is also out again, having previously missed several games. But the team has managed to remain within a shot and are currently 7-6.
While 6-7 Green Bay suffered a costly loss to the New York Giants on Monday night, they hold the head-to-head tiebreaker over the Los Angeles Rams, as well as the conference record tiebreaker over Atlanta.
AFC Side
In the AFC, the Baltimore Ravens have a stranglehold on the North at 10-3 while the Dolphins have a significant lead in the AFC East at 9-3. They surprisingly fell to the Tennessee Titans on Monday night, having lost wideout Tyreek Hill for a good portion of the game, but they’re still expected to cruise the playoffs.
In the Wild Card spots, the defending Super Bowl champs, the Kansas City Chiefs, have lost two consecutive games and are 8-5, with the margins slim in the AFC West. They have an important head-to-head tiebreaker over the Jacksonville Jaguars, who are well ahead of the Houston Texans in the AFC South.
The Cleveland Browns are now also 8-5, despite Deshaun Watson going down for the season.
Joe Flacco could pull off what would be an incredible comeback feat if he first them to the playoffs.
The Pittsburgh Steelers (7-6) have a common games tiebreaker over the Indianapolis Colts, as well as conference tiebreakers over the Buffalo Bills and Denver Broncos. They also have a head-to-head tiebreaker over the Cincinnati Bengals.
The Colts, meanwhile, have the head-to-head over the Texans, and the conference record tiebreaker over the Bills, Bengals, and Broncos.
It’s going to be an interesting period for NFL fans as 16 teams will drop out of contention over the next four weeks of action. The race is most certainly on.
Main Image: Darren Yamashita-USA TODAY Sports
