Tag: Playoff Picture

NFL won’t flex Week 14’s Saints-49ers game

The NFL won’t flex its Week 14 game between the New Orleans Saints and San Francisco 49ers despite implications for the NFC playoff picture.

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The NFL will not flex Week 14’s game between the New Orleans Saints and San Francisco 49ers despite the matchup’s big playoff implications, the Saints announced Monday. Right now, the 49ers are the projected top seed in the NFC playoff picture, while the Saints trail them by a game. A head-to-head win would give the Saints a tiebreaker should both teams finish the season with the same record, guaranteeing the road to Super Bowl LIV runs through New Orleans.

It’s a shame that the NFL is keeping the game in its early afternoon time slot, which means a noon kickoff in the central time zone. The game won’t reach as many viewers as it would in more prominent time slots. CBS is likely to feature the Kansas City Chiefs’ visit with the New England Patriots in the late afternoon slot, while Sunday Night Football is scheduled to show the Seattle Seahawks’ road game against the Los Angeles Rams.

Keeping the Rams in prime-time is a puzzling decision to say the least. They’re a distant third-place in their own division at 6-4, and could very well see their season end against the Baltimore Ravens on Monday Night Football. In three night games this season, Rams quarterback Jared Goff has completed a combined 61% of his throws while scoring three touchdown passes against four interceptions. If he continues to play poorly, L.A. is at real risk of missing the playoffs after losing last year’s Super Bowl.

All of that said, it benefits the Saints to host the 49ers earlier in the day. West Coast teams have to adjust to an abbreviated schedule on game days when moving out east, forcing them to wake up earlier or risk having fewer hours with which to prepare. Considering how dominantly San Francisco is playing right now, Saints fans should hope for any advantage they can get.

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NFC playoff picture: Panthers all but out of the race after Week 11 loss

Here’s an updated look at the NFC playoff picture after Week 11.

Technically the Panthers aren’t out of the playoff race, but realistically their loss to the Falcons on Sunday made reaching the postseason impossible in 2019.

Here’s an updated look at the NFC playoff picture after Week 11.

Playoff teams

1. San Francisco 49ers (9-1)
2. Green Bay Packers (8-2)
3. New Orleans Saints (8-2)
4. Dallas Cowboys (6-4)
5. Seattle Seahawks (8-2)
6. Minnesota Vikings (8-3)

Still in the race

7. Los Angeles Rams (6-4)
8. Philadelphia Eagles (5-5)
9. Carolina Panthers (5-5)

According to FiveThirtyEight’s playoff predictions, Carolina now has just a 4% chance of making it this year.

Ron Rivera will continue trying to win games as best he can, both to save his job and because that’s what NFL coaches do. It would be prudent of him to give the younger players on his roster more snaps, though.

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NFC Playoff Picture Week 11: Cowboys in danger of being cropped out

The window is narrowing for the Cowboys after a Week 10 loss. Where do they stand?

The Dallas Cowboys once again got off to a slow start in a regular-season contest, and their playoff lives could soon feel the brunt of these failures. In a glass-half-empty view of things, the Cowboys are losing pace with several wild-card teams and their hopes for a playoff bye are almost invisible at this point. The team has received the necessary help over the last two weeks, but Sunday night’s 28-24 loss to the Minnesota Vikings eroded whatever assistance they could have capitalized on.

In the glass-half-full view of things, the team is still dominant in their division, sitting 4-0 with four blowout victories no less, indicating they still have a very strong chance to get into the dance, where anything can happen. The team’s offense is powerful enough that they can win against anybody, provided they get a clean game of decision making from their coaching staff. Easier said than done, of course. Last year the team was 4-5 after nine games and won six of their final seven games to capture the division.

For now, by virtue of their Week 7 shellacking of the rival Philadelphia, the Cowboys sit atop the NFC East with a 5-4 record thanks to the head-to-head win over the Eagles. Beyond that, the NFC field is leaving Dallas behind.

Here’s a look at the entire NFL Playoff Picture entering Week 11.

NFC Playoff Seeding as of Week 11

  1. San Francisco 49ers (8-1)
  2. Green Bay Packers (8-2)
  3. New Orleans Saints (7-2)
  4. Dallas Cowboys (5-4)
  5. Seattle Seahawks (8-2)
  6. Minnesota Vikings (7-3)

AFC Playoff Seeding as of Week 11

  1. New England Patriots (8-1)
  2. Baltimore Ravens (7-2)
  3. Houston Texans (6-3)
  4. Kansas City Chiefs (6-4)
  5. Buffalo Bills (6-3)
  6. Pittsburgh Steelers (5-4)

The win over the Eagles is the only significant victory Dallas can lay claim to. That will have to change and they’ll have an opportunity to make that statement in several upcoming games. The schedule no longer looks as daunting as it once did.

The team will play the AFC’s best and reigning Super Bowl champion New England (8-1) in two weeks, but the Buffalo Bills (6-3) have lost two of three and will have to travel to Dallas on a short week for Thanksgiving. Neither they nor the Chicago Bears (4-5) present much in the way of offense for the struggling Cowboys’ defense to worry about. With the 3-5-1 Detroit Lions front-ending this four-game stretch, Dallas shouldn’t have an issue emerging from this stretch 3-1, and in the driver’s seat for the division crown.

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Broncos still have a chance to reach NFL playoffs

Mathematical, the Broncos still have a shot of reaching the NFL playoffs.

It’s a longshot, but the Denver Broncos still have a shot to reach the 2019-2020 NFL playoffs. If the season ended today, the Broncos would be the AFC’s 12th seed. That obviously wouldn’t be good enough to punch a postseason ticket but Denver has a shot in a wide-open conference.

The Kansas City Chiefs (6-4), Oakland Raiders (5-4) and Los Angeles Chargers (4-6) all rank above the Broncos in the AFC West so Denver’s best hope would be to make it as a Wild Card team, the AFC’s sixth seed.

The Broncos’ competition for that last playoff spot will include the Raiders, the Indianapolis Colts (5-4), Tennessee Titans (5-5), Jacksonville Jaguars (4-5), Chargers and Cleveland Browns (3-6).

Denver has less than a 1% chance of reaching the postseason, according to projections from FiveThirtyEight.com, but with seven games remaining, the Broncos still have a mathematical chance.

Asked about Denver’s playoff chances on Monday, Broncos coach Vic Fangio said the team is focusing on Sunday’s game against the Minnesota Vikings and not looking ahead.

“Our whole focus is trying to get to 4-6,” Fangio said. “As bad as that sounds, we’re trying to win the game we play this week.”

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