Tag: NFL Playoffs

NFL insider isn’t counting Bengals out of playoff race just yet

One expert isn’t going to be the one to say the Bengals are done.

The Cincinnati Bengals might have to win out to make the playoffs now that the record sits at 4-7 during the bye week.

No easy task, to say the least — but some aren’t giving up.

When asked which team under .500 still has the best shot at the playoffs, ESPN’s Dan Graziano still took the Bengals:

I have to say the Bengals, even though I don’t think they can get there anymore. If things fall apart for some of the teams on the back end of the AFC race and Cincinnati runs the table to sneak in, it is going to be a formidable opponent because it has a championship-caliber offense. (And if the Bengals do run the table, I have to assume that means the defense is playing better).

If the Bengals could just find a way to field an even league-average defense during the bye week, making a playoff push would still be a slim possibility — assuming Joe Burrow can keep going at his MVPish level.

Out of the bye, the Bengals play the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 13, one of five AFC teams left on the schedule over their last six games.

With a little help in an AFC that has been all over the place, the Bengals could still make a run, but the inability to close out games against good teams looms large over the bye.

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Bengals match cringe-worthy history with another close loss

The other teams who matched this sour mark…didn’t finish seasons very well.

After a quiet first half, the Cincinnati Bengals‘ offense woke up in the second half Sunday night against the Chargers. Down 27-6 early in the third quarter, Cincinnati rallied to tie the game 27-27 in the fourth. But special teams miscues and the Achilles heel that is the Bengals’ defense reared their ugly heads at the worst time when the Chargers scored with 18 seconds left to score a 34-27 win.

That marked Cincinnati’s fifth loss this season when they score at least 25 points. That is tied for the most in the NFL history, a feat only two other teams had accomplished — the 2018 Buccaneers and the 2020 Jaguars. There are still six games left for the Bengals, who enter their bye week this week.

The Buccaneers finished 5-11 while the Jaguars endured a nightmare 1-15 season, the season that landed them Trevor Lawrence in the following draft…but also led to the bigger nightmare season that was the Urban Meyer era.

The Bengals are now 4-7 entering their bye week. Their remaining schedule is as such: vs. Pittsburgh, at Dallas, at Tennessee, vs. Cleveland, vs. Denver, at Pittsburgh.

Joe Burrow and Ja’Marr Chase can only do so much. One can only wonder where this team would stand if the defense didn’t completely fall apart. As it stands, they are now two games back in the Wild Card race. The Broncos hold the last spot at 6-5. Losing yet another heartbreaker dealt a major blow to their playoff hopes. And the offense is far from the ones to blame.

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Golden Tate believes the Seahawks can ‘shock the world’

Golden Tate believes the Seahawks can ‘shock the world’

It is simply amazing the world of difference even a single win can mean in the NFL. The Seattle Seahawks likely saved their season from going under with their 20-17 upset win over the San Francisco 49ers. It may only be a single win, but it was the difference between falling to 4-6 or improving to 5-5, which puts them right back in the middle of the NFC West hunt.

Folks around the league are noticing it, such as former Seattle Seahawks wide receiver Golden Tate. On Good Morning Football, Tate explained how this team can potentially “shock the world” given the opportunity presented to them in the near future.

Namely, the Arizona Cardinals, who Seattle faces twice in the next three weeks. Including this weekend, for a crucial divisional showdown.

When Tate says the next few weeks could “make or break” the Seahawks’ season, he is not exaggerating. Arizona is the only team in the NFC West with a winning record, but they are only 6-4. Seattle, Los Angeles and San Francisco are all close behind with identical 5-5 records. In fact, the NFC West is the only division in football where not one team is below .500 on the year.

Facing the Cardinals twice in a three-week span is a tall order, but an excellent opportunity to potentially find a way to get back into first place.

Right now, the NFC Playoff picture looks like the North is going to send three teams to the postseason – Detroit, Green Bay and Minnesota. In the East, the Eagles look back to their usual winning ways, but the Washington Commanders are perhaps the shock team of the conference. Should all those teams qualify for the playoffs, then the only path for a West team to get in the dance would be to win the division outright.

So, why not Seattle? Like Showtime Tate said, it’s make or break time.

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49ers on the wrong side of mediocrity in USA TODAY NFL power rankings

A steep fall for the 49ers in the USA TODAY power rankings:

The San Francisco 49ers can’t get the benefit of the doubt any longer. This year’s club hasn’t been able to flip the proverbial switch after a slow start, and the problems that plagued them through the first 10 weeks cropped up again in another dreary loss to the Seattle Seahawks.

USA TODAY’s NFL power rankings acted accordingly and dropped the 49ers all the way out of the top half of the league and into No. 18 overall – a well-earned seven-place dip from No. 11 where they resided after a Week 10 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Perhaps the 49ers do have a switch to flip and they do so with their backs against the wall and a brutal stretch coming up where they visit the Green Bay Packers and Buffalo Bills in back-to-back weeks. If they fight their way out of the 5-5 corner they’re backed into and get a couple wins over two playoff teams, then we can revisit their place in the NFL hierarchy.

Linebacker Fred Warner summed it up after the team’s 20-17 loss to the Seattle Seahawks.

“Yeah, it’s not like us,” Warner said of the team’s penchant for face-planting in crucial situations. “But that’s what we’ve shown this year, so I guess until we stop doing that, that’s who we are.”

The 49ers are 5-5, last place in their division and on the outside looking in at the NFC playoff picture. Pedigree doesn’t count for anything in the postseason formula, and until they prove they’re that caliber of team, they deserve to plummet into the range of mediocrity in the power rankings.

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What are the Broncos’ chances of making the NFL playoffs?

DVOA gives the Broncos a 66.8% chance of making the NFL playoffs this season.

Following a big win over the Atlanta Falcons (6-5) on Sunday, the Denver Broncos (6-5) remain in position to make the NFL playoffs in 2024.

The Broncos seem unlikely to catch the Kansas City Chiefs (9-1) in the AFC West, but securing one of the AFC’s three Wild Card seeds is within reach.

If the season ended today, Denver would make the playoffs as the conference’s seventh and final seed. Here’s a look at the standings following Week 11.

AFC Playoff Picture

  1. Kansas City Chiefs (9-1)
  2. Buffalo Bills (9-2)
  3. Pittsburgh Steelers (8-2)
  4. Houston Texans (7-4)
  5. Los Angeles Chargers (7-3)
  6. Baltimore Ravens (7-4)
  7. Denver Broncos (6-5)

The Broncos will have to fend off the Indianapolis Colts (5-6) and Cincinnati Bengals (4-7) to reach the postseason. Denver will host Indy (Week 15) and travel to Cincinnati (Week 17) later this season.

So, what are the Broncos’ chances of pulling it off?

The Athletic gives Denver a 49% chance of reaching the postseason. ESPN is slightly more optimistic with a 51% chance. DVOA has the most optimistic outlook, giving the Broncos a 66.8% chance to reach the playoffs.

Up next for Denver is a road game against the Las Vegas Raiders (2-8), followed by a home game against the Cleveland Browns (2-8). After that, the Broncos will have a bye ahead of the final four games of the season.

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NFC playoff picture in Week 11 with Cardinals on bye

A look at the NFC standings and playoff race as the Cardinals are idle in Week 11.

The Arizona Cardinals are on their bye week and sit in first place in the NFC West at 6-4 and are fourth in the NFC playoff picture.

What does the NFC playoff race look like?

This is how things stand currently, although it does include the Thursday night game that had the Philadelphia Eagles beat the Washington Commanders and give them a leg up in the NFC East.

NFC playoff seedings, Week 11

  1. Detroit Lions, 8-1
  2. Philadelphia Eagles, 8-2
  3. Atlanta Falcons, 6-4
  4. Arizona Cardinals, 6-4
  5. Minnesota Vikings, 7-2
  6. Green Bay Packers, 6-3
  7. Washington Commanders, 7-4

In the mix are the 5-4 San Francisco 49ers and the 4-5 L.A. Rams, Seattle Seahawks and Chicago Bears.

The Cardinals can move up to the third seed if the Falcons lose to the Denver Broncos.

Every game every week now matters, but the Vikings-Titans game and Packers-Bears game will impact the Packers and Vikings and whether the standings remain the same.

San Francisco and Seattle play each other, which could make both teams 5-5 or could tie the Niners with the Cardinals at 6-4.

Get more Cardinals and NFL coverage from Cards Wire’s Jess Root and others by listening to the latest on the Rise Up, See Red podcast. Subscribe on Spotify, YouTube or Apple podcasts.

 

49ers schedule: Week 11 game vs. Seahawks a virtual must-win

The 49ers need to beat the Seahawks for a bunch of reasons.

There’s a clear path to the postseason for the San Francisco 49ers that started in Week 10 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and continues in Week 11 against the Seattle Seahawks.

The game at Tampa Bay was a virtual must-win for the previously 4-4 49ers. A loss to fall to 4-5 could have been catastrophic. Alas, they pulled out a 23-20 victory on the road. While it was a significant win, it was only Step 1 for the 49ers. Perhaps more important is Sunday’s matchup against the Seattle Seahawks.

It doesn’t appear as though the 49ers’ road back to the playoffs will ever be easy this season. They could simply win the rest of their games and punch their ticket that way, but with games coming up in Green Bay, in Buffalo, at home against the Lions, Dolphins and Rams, and in Arizona, the likelihood they win out is slim. That puts a handful of other scenarios on the table.

There are too many different ways this can all play out to start listing them here, but there’s a real chance tiebreakers come into play for either the division or a wild card spot. The bottom line for Sunday’s game is that the 49ers can’t drop another game in the division after losing to the Cardinals and Rams earlier in the year.

NFL tiebreakers for the division start with head-to-head record. The 49ers would sweep the season series with the Seahawks with a win Sunday and climb further ahead of them in the standings. If the teams split their head-to-head matchups, which the 49ers would if they beat the Rams and Cardinals, then the next tiebreaker is record within the division.

San Francisco needs a trio of wins in the division down the stretch, and their second time through the NFC West begins Sunday.

There’s a wild card element to factor in as well.

The first tiebreaker for wild card teams is head-to-head matchup. We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it next week when the 49ers visit the No. 7 seed Green Bay Packers. The next tiebreaker is conference record, and San Francisco’s three NFC losses early in the year put them behind the curve in that category.

Racking up NFC wins is going to be imperative to not only have a playoff-caliber record, but also for getting a potential tiebreaker edge.

San Francisco could still make the postseason if they lose Sunday. A win makes the path much easier though, and finding out what it looks like with a loss to Seattle is probably a version of the playoff picture they’ll want to avoid.

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2 teams stand between the Broncos and the NFL playoffs

Broncos fans should root against the Bengals and Colts over the next eight weeks.

As we enter the final stretch of the 2024 NFL season, the Denver Broncos (5-5) are in position to make the playoffs for the first time since 2015.

Each conference sends four division winners and three wild card seeds to the postseason each fall. Right now, the Broncos are the AFC’s seventh seed, which would make them the conference’s third and final wild-card berth in 2024.

Denver is extremely unlikely to catch the Kansas City Chiefs (9-0) in the AFC West, but the Broncos could secure a wild card spot with a few key victories. If we assume the teams ranked above Denver will stay above them, the Broncos will have two key teams below them to fend off.

The Indianapolis Colts (4-6) are currently the No. 8 seed. Indy is on a three-game losing streak and they just made a quarterback change, so the Colts don’t appear to be Denver’s biggest threat. The Broncos will host Indy in Week 15.

Right below the Colts are the Cincinnati Bengals (4-6), and they are probably the biggest threat to Denver’s playoff hopes. The Broncos will go on the road to face the Bengals in Cincinnati in Week 17. That game could have massive playoff implications.

As things stand now, the Bengals and Colts are the two teams standing between Denver and the postseason. If the Broncos win those matchups, the team should be positioned to make the playoffs.

The Miami Dolphins (3-6) also aren’t dead yet, but they have a big hole to try to climb out of, and they aren’t on Denver’s schedule. The New York Jets (3-7) will also attempt to get back into the mix, but the Broncos already have a head-to-head tiebreaker victory over the Jets.

So the two key teams that Denver fans should be rooting against over the next eight weeks are the Bengals and Colts. If Cincy and Indy trip up and the Broncos keep up their current pace, Denver will make the NFL playoffs this fall.

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Broncos can still make the NFL playoffs in 2024

With upcoming games against the Colts (home) and Bengals (away), the Broncos control their playoff fate.

Not that it was likely even before the game, but the Denver Broncos‘ loss to the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday made it very hard for the Broncos to attempt to win the AFC West in 2024.

The Chiefs are now 9-0 and Denver (5-5) is also behind the Los Angeles Chargers (6-3). Only the lowly Las Vegas Raiders (2-7) are ranked lower in the division going into Week 11.

While an AFC West title is very unlikely, the Broncos still have a legitimate chance to reach the NFL playoffs as a Wild Card team. If the season ended today, Denver would make the postseason as the AFC’s seventh and final seed. Here’s a look at how the conference shakes up after Week 10.

AFC playoff picture

  1. Kansas City Chiefs (9-0)
  2. Buffalo Bills (8-2)
  3. Pittsburgh Steelers (7-2)
  4. Houston Texans (6-4)
  5. Baltimore Ravens (7-3)
  6. Los Angeles Chargers (6-3)
  7. Denver Broncos (5-5)

The Broncos are just above the Indianapolis Colts (4-6) and Cincinnati Bengals (4-6). Denver will play both the Colts (home) and Bengals (away) later this season, so the team controls its playoff fate.

Can they do it?

The Athletic gives the Broncos a 33% chance to reach the postseason, projecting Denver to finish with a 9-8 record.

ESPN gives the Broncos a 32% chance to reach the postseason (they have the Bengals above them with a 37% chance).

The Indianapolis and Cincinnati games will have huge playoff implications for Denver, but first things first, the next order of business is a home game against the NFC’s Atlanta Falcons (6-4) in Week 11.

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5 takeaways from the Broncos’ 16-14 loss to Chiefs in Week 10

The sky is not falling. Here are five quick takeaways from the Broncos’ loss to the Chiefs on Sunday.

The Denver Broncos fell to the Kansas City Chiefs 16-14 on Sunday after their last-second field goal attempt was blocked. Here are five quick takeaways from the loss.

1. Audric Estime in, Javonte Williams out: Hopefully fantasy football managers listened when coach Sean Payton hinted last week that Estime would be more involved in the second half of the season. Estime dominated the team’s backfield on Sunday with 14 carries for 53 yards. Jaleel McLaughlin mixed in with two carries for 12 yards and even wide receiver Marvin Mims got three carries for 17 yards. Williams only received one carry (for one yard) and just two targets as a receiver out of the backfield. Estime might be the new RB1 going forward.

2. Bad officiating did not cost Denver the game: Yes, there were some questionable calls on Sunday, but the Broncos can’t blame the officials for the loss (more on that in a moment). KC’s formation on the field goal block was legal, and Denver squandered opportunities to win the game in the second half. Blame for the loss falls on the Broncos, not the referee.

3. Denver’s offense disappeared in the second half: After taking a 14-10 lead into halftime, the Broncos’ offense proved to be mostly ineffective until the final drive of the game. Denver’s defense continued to hold up, allowing just two field goals, but the offense didn’t do its part.

4. Alex Forsyth cost the Broncos the game: Listen, this is not a green light to harass players on social media, which is never acceptable. But there’s accountability in professional sports, and players are spotlighted for mistakes (in a professional manner). The Chiefs identified Forsyth as a weak link on kicks earlier in the game, noting that he was too light on his toes and susceptible to a bull rush. KC exploited that on the final play of the game and drove Forsyth back to block the field goal attempt. Forsyth accepted blame after the game, and he’ll probably never make that mistake again.

5. Denver is oh-so-close: After the game, Broncos rookie quarterback Bo Nix said, “I feel like we’re right there, just have to get over that hump.” He’s right. The good news is that Denver just went toe-to-toe with the NFL’s only remaining undefeated team, the defending Super Bowl champions. The bad news is that the Broncos weren’t able to complete the game. “It really played out exactly how we wanted it to, like exactly with the ball, the clock, in complete control of everything,” Payton said. “We just couldn’t finish it.” If the Broncos get over the hump that Nix referenced, they will be a legitimate playoff contender this fall. And they’ll see KC again when the Chiefs visit Empower Field at Mile High in Week 18. Denver was knocked down on Sunday, but the Broncos weren’t knocked out. There’s a lot of football left to play.

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