The 2020 NFL regular season is winding down to a close, meaning that the playoff race is heating up like crazy.
The AFC’s No. 1 seed has one obvious frontrunner, the 13-1 Kansas City Chiefs, and two other competitors in the 11-3 Buffalo Bills and 11-3 Pittsburgh Steelers. The NFC, on the other hand, is a battlefield right now for who can claim the conference crown.
Obviously, no team from the NFC East is going to claim the NFC’s top spot, so I’m not spending any time discussing them.
Right now, the Green Bay Packers (11-3) sit in the driver’s seat. If Green Bay, who already has the NFC North crown, can squeak out wins against the Tennessee Titans (10-4) and Chicago Bears (7-7) in their final two games, they will undoubtedly win the NFC. Their 10-2 conference record give them an edge, but if things go wrong for the Packers in the next two weeks, another team can swipe the No. 1 seed.
The main rival to Green Bay’s top-seed hopes are the New Orleans Saints (10-4), who boast an 8-2 conference schedule. The Saints can attribute a lot of their success to their utter dominance against their divisional opponents. Really, even at the start of the season, the Saints were the projected favorites to win the NFC South, with only the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (9-5) being their real competition.
The Saints have been perfect against their divisional rivals so far this year, sweeping both the Buccaneers and the Atlanta Falcons, who sit at a lowly 4-10. The Saints have already picked up a win against the cellar-dwelling Carolina Panthers (4-10) and will play them in Week 17 after a home game against the 6-8 Minnesota Vikings.
At this point in time, really only the Packers and Saints are projected to win the NFC’s top seed, but the NFC West has two sleeper teams that can still technically win it.
The Seattle Seahawks (10-4), who currently lead the NFC West, have the worst conference record of the four top-seed contending squads at 7-3, with an ugly loss against the New York Giants (5-9) being their biggest blemish so far. Seattle has a crucial stretch coming up, with de facto NFC West title game in Week 16 against the Los Angeles Rams and an in-division Week 17 match against the floundering San Francisco 49ers (5-9).
The aforementioned Rams (9-5) temporarily handed the Seahawks the NFC West lead after an embarrassing 23-20 loss to the then-winless New York Jets (1-13). This loss, which I believe to just be a stumble, casted a lot of doubt on the Rams going forward. The Rams have an elite defense headlined by defensive tackle Aaron Donald, who is arguably the frontrunner for defensive MVP this year, and cornerback Jalen Ramsey.
The Rams will have a tough matchup against the Seahawks in Week 16. Los Angeles will need their offense to keep pace with Seattle’s in order to take back their division. Following Seattle, the Rams will take on Arizona Cardinals (8-6) at home. The Rams will need to win the remainder of their schedule, and for the above mentioned NFC contenders to flop, if they want to secure the NFC West and the No. 1 seed.
In my opinion, this is really a fight between the Packers and Saints, but I’ll take the Saints to win it due to their weak schedule ahead. The Packers are a talented bunch, but the Titans have an offense capable of keeping up with them. Running back Derrick Henry is a terrible mismatch for Green Bay’s lowly run defense. I think the Packers will struggle with the Bears but ultimately defeat them as well. But, I don’t see Green Bay winning Weeks 16 and 17 like I can for New Orleans.
