Hot streaks by the Rams and Packers have made the wild-card race in the NFC a whole lot more interesting than it looked a week or two ago.
Entering Week 14, when the Vikings visit the Raiders, the NFC is top heavy with the Eagles, 49ers and Lions in the top three spots followed by the 6-6 Falcons sitting fourth as leaders of the South. The 9-3 Cowboys are in command of the first wild card followed by the Vikings, Rams, Seahawks and Packers all at 6-6 and fighting for the last two wild cards.
Toss in the 5-7 Buccaneers and 5-7 Saints and the final five weeks of the regular season are probably going to be chaotic.
According to Sumer Sports, these are the playoff chances for the aforementioned clubs.
- Packers – 57.8%
- Saints – 55.6%
- Falcons – 49.2%
- Seahawks – 47.7%
- Vikings – 44.1%
- Rams – 22.8%
- Buccaneers – 20.5%
Here are the games that matter most for the NFC wild-card race in Week 14.
- Buccaneers at Falcons, 12 p.m. Sunday
- Panthers at Saints, 12 p.m. Sunday
- Rams at Ravens, 12 p.m. Sunday
- Vikings at Raiders, 3:05 p.m. Sunday
- Seahawks at 49ers, 3:05 p.m. Sunday
- Packers at Giants, 7:15 p.m. Monday
The Giants stink so the Packers are probably going to win and get to 7-6. The 49ers are awesome so that bodes well for the Seahawks dropping to 6-7. The Vikings-Raiders game is a toss up so we could see the Vikings at 7-6 or 6-7. The Ravens are really good so we’re likely looking at the Rams dropping to 6-7. The Panthers are awful so count on the Saints improving to 6-7. The Bucs-Falcons game could go either way, so 5-8 or 6-7 for the Bucs and 7-6 or 6-7 for the Falcons.
It’s messy, but if you’re a Vikings fan all you need to know is that the Packers are probably going to be 7-6 so a win over the Raiders if extremely important.
It gets greasier in Week 15 when we get these critical matchups.
- Rams at Raiders, 7:15 p.m. Thursday
- Vikings at Bengals, 12 p.m. Saturday
- Buccaneers at Packers, 12 p.m. Sunday
- Giants at Saints, 12 p.m. Sunday
- Falcons at Panthers, 12 p.m. Sunday
- Commanders at Rams, 3:05 p.m. Sunday
- Eagles at Seahawks, 7:15 p.m. Monday
The Bucs aren’t a gimme for the Packers, but playing at home in December definitely favors Green Bay, so this is screaming “THE PACKERS ARE 8-6.” The Bengals don’t have Joe Burrow so even though Minnesota is playing on the road they have a decent chance to win, so long as Josh Dobbs or whoever is playing quarterback doesn’t turn the ball over 50 times.
It won’t do any good to look beyond Week 15, so just know that the Packers and Rams each riding three-game win streaks are new hurdles the Vikings have to avoid to maintain their playoff spot.
