NFL standings, playoff picture 2023: Where Jaguars stand after Week 7

The Jaguars improved to 5-2 in Week 7 and are still the only AFC South team with a winning record.

The Jacksonville Jaguars won a fourth straight game when they beat the New Orleans Saints on Thursday. The team’s back-to-back losses in September are far in the rear view mirror and the Jaguars now sit 5-2 with their playoff aspirations very much in tact.

Jacksonville has been helped by the fact that no other team in the AFC South has been able to stay above .500. The closest are the Houston Texans, who remain at 3-3 after a Week 7 bye.

The Indianapolis Colts had a chance to stay a game behind the Jaguars, but gave up a go-ahead touchdown with 15 seconds left in a wild, 39-38 shootout loss to the Cleveland Browns.

There’s plenty of football left to be played, including three more divisional games for the Jaguars, but here’s where things currently stand in the AFC South and the rest of the NFL with Week 7 in the books:

April 2 East playoff update as Sixers have chance to clinch playoff berth

Here is the latest playoff update as the Philadelphia 76ers have a chance to clinch a playoff berth.

The Philadelphia 76ers have six games left now before the playoffs get set to begin and there is more movement entering play on Saturday. The Sixers will host the Charlotte Hornets on Saturday afternoon with a chance to clinch a playoff berth with a win and some help amid all of the chaos that is the East standings.

Until the conclusion of the regular season on April 10, we are going to regularly update the Eastern Conference standings and where the Sixers are at on an everyday basis while also taking a look at who they could possibly face in the Eastern Conference.

March 31 East playoff update as Sixers move up to No. 3 in the standings

Here is the March 31 East playoff update as the Philadelphia 76ers moved up to No. 3 in the standings.

The Eastern Conference playoff race continues to be a wild one as things have been interesting on an every-night basis in the East. The Philadelphia 76ers have been moving up and down even on nights they don’t even play. On an idle Wednesday night, the Sixers moved up to No. 3 in the East.

March 30 East playoff update as Sixers fall to No. 4 in the standings

Here is the latest Eastern Conference playoff update as the Philadelphia 76ers fall to No. 4 in the standings.

The Eastern Conference playoff race continues to be a jumbled-up mess as there continues to be movement in the standings every day which makes every game that much more important. The Philadelphia 76ers fell to the Milwaukee Bucks which caused some more movement in the East.

Cardinals are 5th in NFC entering Week 17

Five teams in the NFC have now clinched a playoff berth.

The Arizona Cardinals spent most of the season as the No. 1 team in the NFC. However, after three straight losses, they are now a wild card team. All four division leaders now have better records than the Cardinals.

This is what the NFC playoff standings look like entering Week 17.

Green Bay Packers, 12-3
Dallas Cowboys, 11-4
Los Angeles Rams, 11-4
Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 11-4
Arizona Cardinals, 10-5
San Francisco 49ers 8-7
Philadelphia Eagles, 8-7

The Minnesota Vikings, Atlanta Falcons and New Orleans Saint are all just behind the Eagles and 49ers at 7-8.

The Cowboys are ahead of the Rams and Bucs based on a 9-1 conference record, while the Rams are ahead of the Bucs because of their head-to-head win in Week 3. The 49ers hold a head-to-head tiebreaker over the Eagles for the sixth seed.

What happened in Week 16?

The Packers beat the Browns 24-22 no Christmas Day to stay atop the conference.
The Cowboys obliterated Washington 56-14 on Sunday night.
The Rams held off the Vikings 30-23 to take the NFC West lead over the Cardinals. They clinched a playoff berth with a win.
The Bucs clinched the division with a 32-6 win over the Carolina Panthers.
The Cardinals dropped their third straight game, losing 22-16 to the Indianapolis Colts. They clinched a playoff spot, though because the 49ers and Vikings both lost.
The 49ers lost to the Tennessee Titans 20-17 on Thursday night.
The Eagles won their third game in a row, beating the New York Giants 34-10.

Coming up in Week 17

The Packers play the Vikings at home on Sunday night.
The Cowboys host the Cardinals.
The Rams take on the Baltimore Ravens on the road.
The Buccaneers face the four-win New York Jets on the road.
The 49ers are at home against the four-win Houston Texans, who have won three in a row.
The Eagles take on the Washington Football Team on the road.
The Saints host the Panthers.

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Packers trail Lions 17-3 at halftime, bodes well for Saints playoff standings

The Green Bay Packers went into halftime with a double-digit deficit against the Detroit Lions, helping the New Orleans Saints playoffs hunt

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Things are off to a great start for the New Orleans Saints in Week 17. They’re set up to go into halftime with a 35-3 lead over the Carolina Panthers, while the Green Bay Packers are stewing over a 17-3 deficit against the Detroit Lions. These situations combine for serious implications for the NFC playoff standings.

If the Saints and Lions both hold onto their leads and win their games, the Saints would clinch a first-round bye in the playoffs, demoting the Packers to the third seed. While that alone won’t guarantee the road to Super Bowl LIV runs through New Orleans, the extra time to rest up would do a lot to help a Saints team managing injuries at multiple important positions — starting defensive backs Vonn Bell, Marcus Williams, and Eli Apple were each inactive against Carolina with various issues.

In order to get the first seed in the NFC, the Saints need the Packers to lose to the Lions while the San Francisco 49ers lose to the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday night. That would give the Saints and Seahawks first-round byes as the top two seeds, while the Packers would have to host a playoff game against the Minnesota Vikings next week. The wild-card 49ers would have to go on the road to play the NFC East winner, which has yet to be determined.

It’s a lot to keep track of, but we’ve got you covered. Check back later for updates, and keep rooting for the Lions to pull off this upset.

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No surprise here: 100% of NFL experts pick Saints to beat Panthers

Week 17’s NFL expert picks favor the New Orleans Saints by a landslide over the Carolina Panthers, while other games are much more close.

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The New Orleans Saints have a lot going their way ahead of Sunday’s game with the Carolina Panthers. For one thing, the Panthers will be starting their third-string quarterback — Will Grier, a rookie out of West Virginia. On top of that, he’ll be without his best wide receiver (D.J. Moore, who was ruled out with a concussion) and a keystone piece on defense (linebacker Shaq Thompson, who is also injured). That makes for a tall order for Grier against a team with Super Bowl aspirations, despite the Saints’ own losses in the secondary (starting safeties Vonn Bell and Marcus Williams, and number-two cornerback Eli Apple were ruled out).

According to the experts surveyed by NFL Pickwatch, Grier and the Panthers don’t have much a shot at upsetting Drew Brees and the Saints. 100% of the picks sampled from around the NFL media sphere are expecting the Saints to march out of Charlotte with a win, which is one of only two unanimous decisions of the week. The Green Bay Packers are also receiving 100% certainty in their chances at defeating the Detroit Lions.

A few other teams came close, such as the Kansas City Chiefs (98% over the Los Angeles Chargers), the New England Patriots (98% against the Miami Dolphins), and the Dallas Cowboys (95% versus the Washington Redskins). But on the whole, Week 17 is shaping up for a competitive slate of games. Here’s hoping the Saints beat the Panthers while the Seattle Seahawks beat the odds to overcome the San Francisco 49ers (who were picked to win by 73% in Seattle). It sure would help the Saints’ playoff standings.

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Broncos coach Vic Fangio has an idea to fix NFL’s playoff seeding

Broncos coach Vic Fangio has an idea that he believes could fix the NFL’s playoff seeding problem.

The NFL’s playoff seeding system is flawed because division winners are ranked higher than non-division winners even if they have a worse record. A team that has a losing record (such as 7-9) could host a playoff game if they play in a bad division and win their division.

That kind of scenario could come into play in the NFC this year.

The Cowboys currently lead the NFC East with a 7-7 record. If the season ended today, Dallas would host the 49ers (11-3) in the first round of the playoffs. San Francisco would be punished for playing in a better division than Dallas. That shouldn’t happen.

Broncos coach Vic Fangio has an idea that would prevent that kind of scenario from happening in the future.

“Since the league went to 32 teams, which was when the Texans came in in 2002, my ideal suggestion — which has never been put forth in front of anybody important — I don’t think there should be divisions,” Fangio said on Dec. 11. “I think you’ve got 16 in each conference. Everybody should play each other once. That’s 15 games. Then if you want a 16th game, you play a natural rival from the other conference — Jets and Giants play every year, Eagles-Steelers, Texans-Cowboys, etc., play every year.

“Then keep it at 16 games, but you’ll avoid the problem that’s going to happen this year where probably an 8-8 team is hosting a 12-4 team. You’re going to get the six best teams in each conference. The divisions always float. There are some that are easy some years, some that have a bunch of good teams, that switches back and forth every couple years. I just think that’d be a good way to avoid it.”

The one drawback with Fangio’s plan would be the lack of non-conference games. If a team played a different non-conference opponent each season, it would take 16 years for an AFC team to play against every NFC team.

Would that be better than the current system? Fangio thinks so.

Fangio also isn’t a fan of the league’s proposed 18-game schedule. He suggested a reasonable substitution: two bye weeks.

“I just think 16 is more than enough,” Fangio said. “You can see some of these teams, us included to a degree, the injuries start to pile up. If they want an extra week of TV, give everybody two byes during the season.”

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Packers exit Week 14 as the new No. 2 seed in the NFC

The Packers are the new No. 2 seed in the NFC after Week 14.

The Green Bay Packers beat the Washington Redskins and got some help from others around the NFC, moving Matt LaFleur’s team into the No. 2 seed in the conference after 14 weeks.

The Packers’ win over the Redskins improved their record to 10-3. The help came via the San Francisco 49ers, who beat the New Orleans in a classic shootout at the Superdome, and the Los Angeles Rams, who took down the Seattle Seahawks at the Memorial Coliseum on “Sunday Night Football.”

The Saints and Seahawks are also 10-3. The Seahawks dropped a game below the 49ers in the NFC West and into the No. 5 slot as the top wild card, while the Packers win a tiebreaker over the Saints based on win percentage in conference games. The Packers are 7-2 (.778) against the NFC; the Saints are 8-3 (.727).

The Packers can clinch a first-round bye in the postseason by winning their final three games of the 2019 season. LaFleur’s team plays the Bears at home in Week 15, the Vikings on the road in Week 16 and the Lions on the road in Week 17.

The Packers can also clinch the NFC North crown with any combination of two wins over the final three games. They’ll clinch a playoff spot officially with a win over the Bears and a Rams loss to the Dallas Cowboys in Week 15.

NFC standings

1. 49ers (11-2)
2. Packers (10-3)
3. Saints (10-3)
4. Cowboys (6-7)
5. Seahawks (10-3)
6. Vikings (9-4)

7. Rams (8-5)
8. Bears (7-6)
9. Buccaneers (6-7)
10. Eagles (5-7)*
*Play Monday night vs. Giants

NFC North standings

1. Packers (10-3, 3-0 vs. division)
2. Vikings (9-4, 2-2 vs. division)
3. Bears (7-6, 3-1 vs. division)
4. Lions (3-9-1, 0-5 vs. division)

AFC Playoff race heading into Week 11

The Patriots, Ravens, and Texans are battling for byes while the AFC Wild Card race is getting exciting.

The AFC has two interesting playoff races that don’t have to do with the divisions — because the division races have pretty clear paths. The competition for a first-round bye currently has three teams with clear paths: New England, Baltimore, and Houston. The other interesting thing to look at is the race of the for the wild cards. Buffalo, Indianapolis, Pittsburgh, and Oakland are all vying for two spots with the Titans, Chargers, and maybe the Browns looking frisky if they can run the table.

AFC East

New England Patriots 8-1

This is the toughest stretch of the Patriots season. They should be hoping to go 3-1 over their next four games. A 2-2 record will put the top seed in the AFC at risk — especially if one of those losses is to Houston which is entirely possible. New England should be able to get right the last three games of the season. They should be hoping that the Dolphins game doesn’t matter.

Remaining Schedule: @Eagles, Cowboys, @Texans, Chiefs, @Bengals, Bills, Dolphins

Buffalo Bills 6-3

The Bills looked like they could cruise to 11 wins this season. Now they could be in trouble. They will be underdogs against the Cowboys, Ravens, Steelers, and Patriots. If they lose all those games, the best they can finish is 9-7. They shouldn’t want to rely on tiebreakers to get them into the playoffs.

Remaining Schedule: @Dolphins, Broncos, @Cowboys, Ravens, @Steelers, @Patriots, Jets

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