NFL's 2008 Playoff Picture, Seedings Still Unclear

At the beginning of the season, who would have thought that the best team in the league would be the Tennessee Titans? Or that their quarterback would be Kerry Collins instead of Vince Young? Who would have thought that the New England Patriots, only a year removed from a 16-0 regular season, would be struggling to make the playoffs without Tom Brady?

Every season has its unique twists and turns, but this year is quite different from others in recent memory. There are currently twenty teams at or above .500, meaning that there could be as many as eight "winning" teams that are sent home before January. There are no true front runners either; the Titans and Giants lead their respective conferences in wins but neither was able to win in week 15. The league hasn't been this wide open in quite a while and the general feeling among fans is that any team really could make a run in the playoffs to claim the championship.

So, with two weeks to go, it's time to put on the thinking caps and figure out which teams will make it to pro football's "second season".

In the NFC, the Giants and Cardinals have the East and West division titles wrapped up. The Vikings have a one game lead over the Bears in the North and the Panthers have a two game lead over the Buccaneers and Falcons in the South.

Minnesota can clinch their division with a win or a Chicago loss, but the Vikings play an offense-oriented Falcons team at home in week 16 while the Bears play 5-9 Green Bay. Fortunately for Vikings fans, Atlanta has been crumbling since their big win in week nine and the Bears will have to play a Packers team that has played well in its last three games despite losing. The advantage here should go to Minnesota.

The NFC South is a much tougher race to call, given the fact that the only team not in contention anymore is New Orleans. Carolina can clinch the division with a victory against the Giants, but if they lose the door remains open for Tampa Bay and Atlanta to make week 17 very interesting. Each team has split their season series with the other two but Tampa Bay and Atlanta would go to the playoffs if they won out and Carolina lost to the Giants and Saints. An examination of recent trends would indicate that the Panthers, who have been improving since week 12, will defeat the Giants and capture the South title. Atlanta, as mentioned previously, is falling apart and will most likely lose to the Vikings. Tampa Bay will play at home against the Chargers and should win, putting them into the postseason as the NFC's fifth or sixth seed depending on how the Cowboys do.

In the AFC, the Titans and Steelers have nothing but home field advantage to play for after clinching their division titles in the South and North divisions. There is a three-way tie at 9-5 in the AFC East and the Broncos just need to win one more game to bring home the AFC West crown.

The only way for Denver to miss the playoffs is if they lose their last two games while the Chargers win their final two. Week 16 could be the gateway to a decisive week 16 showdown between the two teams in San Diego. This week's Chargers-Buccaneers game wasn't expected to mean so much at the beginning of the year. Denver is at home against Buffalo, a team that has lost seven of its last eight games, so the expectation has to be for the Broncos to clinch the AFC West.

The three-way tie in the East is a real bear - the only way things can finish up neatly is if one team wins out, one team splits two games, and one team loses out. Miami and the New York Jets own tiebreakers over New England, but the Patriots face Arizona and Buffalo (easy schedule) while the Dolphins and Jets play Kansas City and Seattle respectively before playing each other in week 17. The Dolphins are going to have their hands full with the frisky and frustrated Chiefs who have kept their games close in the second half. Seattle won for the first time in seven games last week and as long as Brett Favre refrains from throwing cosly interceptions the Jets should be in the divisional driver's seat headed into the regular season's final week of play. That gives Miami a chance to play spoiler in New York, and I think the Patriots will win their division while the Jets and Dolphins BOTH sit at home while the Ravens play in the Wild Card round after a 10-6 finish.

Projected Playoff Seeding:

NFC

1. Carolina

2. New York Giants

3. Minnesota

4. Arizona

5. Dallas

6. Tampa Bay

AFC

1. Pittsburgh

2. Tennessee

3. New England

4. Denver

5. Indianapolis

6. Baltimore