It’s Week 15 of the NFL season and there’s a veritable cornucopia of playoff clinching scenarios on the horizon.
(Per usual, the NFL is in the business of dominating the collective attention of the Western Hemisphere.)
Hunger Games references aside, a collection of 27 different scenarios are in play for six respective teams with postseason aspirations. Some have clinched, while others are fighting for an official pass to February football.
The fact that the 11-2 Falcons are still fighting for their playoff seeding should lend some perspective to this convoluted series of events.
On that note, let’s break down the array of likely outcomes while eliminating any exponential explosions of unnecessary possibilities.
And perhaps words that start with the letter “e.”
NFC
Atlanta Falcons (11-2)
The Falcons have already secured their playoff berth by winning the NFC South.
What they’d really enjoy, however, would be the type of security that comes with home field advantage throughout the playoffs.
In order for that to occur, Atlanta would need a win over the defending Super Bowl champion Giants, a 49ers loss against the Patriots and a Packers tie or loss at the hands of the Bears.
Nailing down a first-round bye would also require a Falcons victory and loss by one of the other aforementioned teams.
Unfortunately, the usually road-warrior Giants are in no mood to fall below .500 away from New York. They’ll piggyback off their 52-17 obliteration of the Saints and parlay it into a fairly dominant win over the Falcons.
Roddy White’s chirping about New York’s wide receiver inferiority will have Victor Cruz and the Giants caging the birds down in Atlanta.
Matt Ryan’s 32-4 home field cushion will have to wait for another week.
San Francisco 49ers (9-3-1)
If the 49ers win, they’re in.
If the 49ers win and the Seahawks lose—then they win the NFC West.
And if they want to “tie” their way into the playoffs, well, ya’ll are free to peruse these endless possibilities.
In any case, San Francisco has quite the obstacle in the form of the New England Patriots standing in its way. Bill Belichick’s club owns a 20-game winning streak at home in the month of December and a 21-game run during the second half of the schedule.
The Patriots basically don’t lose at home or in games that matter most in the regular season.
But all good things inevitably come to an end. And that end will amount to a remarkable defensive effort by the 49ers in a late-game scenario.
A 27-24 final score will have San Francisco sitting pretty for the playoffs. Better yet, the Seahawks will feel their road woes at the worst possible moment in a loss to the Bills.
The NFC West title in the hands of the 49ers after Week 15? Count on it.
(I’ll be accepting trash-talk-a-plenty via Twitter in case things end differently.)
Green Bay Packers (9-4)
Brandon Marshall might really dislike the Packers. But Green Bay really hates waiting this long for a division title.
The Packers can clinch the NFC North with a win over the Bears on Sunday. They’ll capitalize on this opportunity—at the very least to prove that their 15-1 record last season wasn’t a fluke.
Marshall’s Charlie Brown Christmas tree-fueled smack talk notwithstanding (hello tongue twister), the Packers will not need any additional motivation for this divisional matchup. The Bears are thoroughly depleted across the board and are essentially in a five-week freefall.
Aaron Rodgers will exploit nickel corner Kelvin Hayden, who’s filling in for the NFL’s interception leader Tim Jennings. Hayden’s two touchdowns and 114.4 efficiency rating allowed to opposing quarterbacks will doom his efforts in defending Rodgers and Green Bay’s prolific receiving corps.
The Packers will be a division winner come Sunday afternoon.
AFC
Houston Texans (11-2)
The Houston Texans can do one of two things:
Further the dismantling of their credibility with a loss to the Colts or,
Secure the AFC South division crown with a win over a team led by a rookie quarterback.
Andrew Luck is a legitimate MVP contender—and the Colts are a definite playoff team—but Arian Foster and the Texans’ zone blocking scheme will tear apart Indianapolis’ run defense.
The NFL’s touchdown leader will run Houston to victory and a division title.
Indianapolis Colts (9-4)
Worry not Colts fans—your team is headed for the playoffs.
It just won’t become official this week.
Cincinnati already won on Thursday night and—as alluded to in the previous section—Houston will hold the Colts at bay in an effort to reaffirm its NFL legitimacy.
Luck’s incredible rookie campaign must wait until next week to officially become historic.
Baltimore Ravens (9-4)
The current AFC North leaders are a fraudulent bunch and will be exposed by Peyton Manning and the Broncos on Sunday.
Baltimore is no longer a defensive powerhouse—it ranks 24th in the league in total defense. The Ravens surrender an average of 376.2 yards and 21 points per game.
Manning will continue his career dominance of the Ravens with three touchdown passes and just under 300 yards passing.
With the Bengals winning earlier in the week and Steelers taking down the Cowboys in the Big D (our prediction), Baltimore will not clinch a playoff spot.
And with the Giants and Bengals on the schedule to end the season, January football is looking more and more like a tenuous prospect for the Ravens.
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