NFC Playoff Picture

While the 14-2 Minnesota Vikings and Detroit Lions will battle for the first seed in the NFC, the clinched second seed and NFC East Philadelphia Eagles winners will have a relaxing final week of the regular season. With nothing to play for, the Eagles coaches and starters can rest, prepare, and study for their upcoming wildcard playoff matchup hosted in Lincoln Financial Field. Sitting at an impressive 13-3 record, quarterback Jalen Hurts will look to take his contending team back to the Super Bowl after losing a heartbreaker two years ago by the dynasty in the Kansas City Chiefs. Despite two fluky losses at the beginning of the season, the Eagles went on a ten-game winning streak before losing to the impressive Washington Commanders on a last-second touchdown in a game where Jalen Hurts was out due to a concussion sustained. Improving from their 2023 campaign, the Eagles were able to win hard games in difficult environments in contrast to last year where the team completely fell apart in the second half of the season. These great efforts allow the Eagles to get a well-deserved rest in week 18 in addition to hosting at least two playoff games minimum. 

As for their players, newly acquired Saqoun Barkley from their divisional counterpart New York Giants surpassed his extremely high expectations in his first year on a team with a great offensive line and running scheme. Saqoun this season leads the league with over 2000 rushing yards with 13 rushing touchdowns to go with it. He has clearly been worth his potential league-leading $47 million including incentives through the 2026 season. To compliment Jalen Hurts and Saquon Barkley, teams have been so focused on their running ability which has allowed their superstar receivers A.J. Brown and Devonta Smith who have combined this season for almost 2000 receiving yards and 15 receiving touchdowns despite each player sustaining injuries throughout this season. What has made the Eagles a true contender this season is their new defensive coordinator Vic Fangio. After a complete failure and dumpster fire with the Miami Dolphins in the 2023 season, the Eagles led by Fangio have entirely turned it around as a previously known horrible defense now leads the league in defensive yards allowed per game and is tied in second touchdowns allowed too. Compared to last year's lacklustre Dolphins defence, the Eagles defence on paper is the most impressive starting eleven in football. To prove, Georgia alumni Jalen Carter, Jordan Davis, Nakobe Dean and Nolan Smith J.R. have collectively been great in quarterback pressures and stopping the run. Additionally, rookie cornerbacks Quinyon Mitchell and the infamous Cooper DeJean have had impressive starts to their bright careers limiting their opposing receivers to bad performances. Probowler Darius Slay Jr. and C.J Gardner-Johnson have been leading veterans helping shape this young defence into the strong force they currently are. Going into the playoffs, the Eagles will either host the Packers or Commanders which will not be easy in the slightest but should favour the Eagles due to their home-field advantage, ability to rest their starters this week, and overall being a deeper team with more star power on both sides of the ball. While the NFC is loaded this year, the Philadelphia Eagles are on course to return to the Super Bowl once again.

Moving down the order, after failing to win the NFC West in 2023, the Los Angeles Rams are back to where they are used to as champions of their division. The first time they have done so in the post-Aaron Donald and Jalen Ramsey era. Super Bowl champion head coach and offensive play caller Sean McVay despite his team's many injuries has remained calm and consistent leading his team back to the playoffs for the second consecutive year. Future Hall of Fame quarterback Matthew Stafford while playing very inconsistent has proved he can be the best player on the field on any given day. For instance, last week the Rams clinched their division with a win against the Arizona Cardinals in addition to receiving help from the Washington Commanders to improve their strength of schedule over their rival Seattle Seahawks. However, Stafford had no passing touchdowns, threw for under 200 passing yards and only scored thirteen points. On the other hand, Stafford and the Rams scored 44 points in week 14 against the mighty Buffalo Bills proving his inconsistency in performance this season. 

As for his supporting cast, second-year star receiver and former fifth-round pick from BYU Puka Nacua has added another great season to his impressive young career despite missing much of the early portion of this season. The same can be said for former Super Bowl MVP Cooper Kupp who has struggled with injuries throughout the season but has been reliable playing in the slot for his quarterback Matthew Stafford. Young running back Kyren Williams has had a historic season contributing 1299 rushing yards with fourteen rushing touchdowns to go with it. On the defensive side of the ball, Florida State alumni rookies Jared Verse and Braden Fiske have been impressive, to say the least. In addition, Byron Young, this group of the Rams front seven has caused immense pressure on opposing quarterbacks contributing towards the success the Rams have had this season. If the Rams played at a more consistent level, they would be sitting at a much better record than 9-7 and would most likely have been able to rest their starters without dropping to the fourth seed. It has been clear that the Rams despite risking their third-seed position will be resting their key starters according to CBS Sports. A loss to the Seahawks in week 18 in addition to a Buccaneers win against the tanking Saints which they will play hard for to win the NFC South means in all likelihood the Rams will host the loser of the Lions and Vikings season finale. It seems like the Rams could have avoided a more difficult playoff path if they had played better consistently throughout the season. While a secondary Super Bowl appearance for Stafford seems unlikely, the Rams can compete with any team in the NFC when playing at their best.

While the NFC South has been one of the worst divisions in football this season, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Atlanta Falcons are both fighting for the last remaining playoff spot in the NFC where the winner will be able to host a playoff game in the wildcard round. For the Buccaneers, quarterback Baker Mayfield has found a new home in Tampa Bay after he was bouncing around the league after the Cleveland Browns decided to move on from their former first-overall pick. Baker has been fantastic this season showing off his improved scrambling and play-making abilities throwing for over 4200 passing yards and 39 passing touchdowns. Their offense has been the only bright spot for this team even after the departure of mastermind Dave Canales. However, head coach and defensive play caller Todd Bowles whose future as head coach of the Buccaneers is still in question, has led his defence to a bad season as their 9-7 record could be much improved if their defenses did not let them down in close games such as the Chiefs or Falcons losses. On the bright side, the Buccaneers skilled position players have been fantastic. For instance, even though Mike Evans has missed portions of the season, he is only 85 receiving yards away from continuing his 1000-yards per season streak all the way to eleven! Costar Chris Godwin is out for the rest of the season after dislocating his ankle against the Ravens. Fortunately, rookie receiver Jalen McMillian has helped fill the void with seven receiving touchdowns and tight end Cade Otton has additionally been helpful for Baker Mayfield in the redzone and on third downs too. The most underrated aspect of the Buccaneers is their running attack. While Rachaad White has been quiet running the ball on the ground, he has made up for it with his receiving game having 393 receiving yards and six receiving touchdowns. Their better running back rookie Bucky Irving has had an outstanding start to his bright career rushing for over 1000 yards and seven touchdowns. All these skilled position players have made Baker Mayfield’s job a lot easier even with a weak offensive line. 

The Atlanta Falcons on the other hand have had a disappointing season for first-time head coach Raheem Morris. The former defensive coordinator of the Los Angeles Rams has struggled to beat winning football teams and their 8-8 record consists of not many great wins outside of their win in week two against the Eagles. While Bijan Robinson, Drake London and Darnell Mooney have all shined in this offense, quarterback Kirk Cousins in his first season with the team has struggled immensely leading them to bench him for their first-round pick quarterback Michael Penix Jr. out of Washington. Penix in his two starts has shown flashes of stardom but their week 17 loss to the Commanders lost the control they had to win the NFC South. The Falcons will need the Buccaneers to lose to the 5-11 Saints who want a better draft pick in addition to the Falcons having to defeat the Carolina Panthers who have looked strong as of late. I do not see a path where the Falcons can make a playoff run even if they luck their way into the playoffs. In contrast, the Buccaneers will have a chance to make a deep playoff push assuming they can win on week 18 as they would have a home game potentially as the third seed. Todd Bowles and his Buccaneers will live and die with the performance of his defence and this will be the biggest issue they need to fix heading into the playoffs.

Going into the 2024 regular season, everyone wrote off the Washington Commanders as nobody believed in Dan Quinn’s team, especially with a rookie quarterback in Jayden Daniels from LSU who did not lead his college team to the playoffs last year. Even with everything working against them, the Commanders beat the odds as they have clinched a playoff spot heading into the final week of the regular season with a surprising 11-5 record. This offence led by Kliff Kingsbury has been one of the best in the league with their versatile ability to run and throw the ball effectively. Jayden Daniels is getting compared to former Washington quarterback Robert Griffin iii who had an outstanding start to his unfortunately short career and was able to run for big plays with his feet and create deep plays for his receivers with his gun-slinging throwing power and accuracy. As for his supporting cast, running backs Brian Robinson Jr. and veteran Austin Ekeler have been great in all three aspects running, receiving, and blocking complimenting Jayden Daniels. Veteran wide receiver Terry McLaurin who was awarded with pro bowl honours this week has been Jayden’s go-to target where this season has had over 1000 receiving yards in addition to twelve receiving touchdowns. McLaurin has finally found the long-term and consistent quarterback that he has waited for his entire career. Acquiring tight end Zach Ertz in the offseason in addition to cornerback Marshon Lattimore brings the veteran presence to this young and hungry team ready to make a push at the playoffs. Going into the playoffs, a win in week 18 against the Cowboys will clinch them the sixth seed which would have them travel to either the Rams or Buccaneers in the first round which will be difficult but more favourable than going to play the Eagles which would be a reality if they lost in week 18 in addition to a Packers victory. The Commanders path in the playoffs will be difficult no matter the circumstances but winning in their last game of the season will be crucial to see how far this team can truly go in the postseason.

At last, the current 11-5 Green Bay Packers have continued their success from 2023 where they made an impressive playoff run as the seventh seed being the first team in NFL history to defeat the second seed in the playoffs in the new playoff format. Just like last season, it is likely that even with a win they will remain the seventh seed forcing them to travel to Philadelphia to play the contending Eagles. Quarterback Jordan Love in his second full season as a starter has been outstanding even battling through tough injuries in the first half of the season. To compliment Love, the Packers this offseason decided to move on from their long-term running back Aaron Jones and signed Josh Jacobs which happened to be a great decision as in his first year, he rushed for 1285 rushing yards in addition to fourteen touchdowns and pro bowl honours. In the receiving game, Christian Watson, Romeo Doubs, Jayden Reed, and Dontayvian Wicks have all carved out their unique roles all contributing to this gunslinger offence. Tight end Tucker Kraft in his young career has also been fantastic helping his team in the receiving game and blocking too. Unfortunately, their best defensive player cornerback Jaire Alexander is out for the remainder of the season including the playoffs with a knee injury. Safety Xavier McKinney who was second in the league in interceptions with seven will have to carry his defence if the Packers want to go on a playoff run. With a slim chance of playing either the Rams and Buccaneers which are difficult teams to play on the road against, they will likely play the Eagles which will stack the odds heavily against them come next week. But, if we learned anything from the Packers these past couple of seasons with Jordan Love is to never doubt them playing against any team as the Packers playing at their best can compete and defeat the best teams in the NFL. While a first-round exit is probable, do not be surprised if this team can go on an impressive run on the road similar to what they accomplished last postseason.

If you want to know what is going on for the first seed between the other two NFC North teams, please look into my last article yesterday going over everything and breaking down their matchup and their playoff futures that lie ahead of them. If you have any comments questions or concerns, please leave me a comment or message me personally. We also have our forum on the community page if you want to comment on anything NFL-related. Please try out our new trivia quiz questioning your NFL knowledge. Thank you for reading and keeping up with our daily blog.