NFL: NFC Playoff Picture

[Marc the Habs Fan]

Correct me if wrong but if eagles lose tonight, skins can win division next week?

Yes. Skins would be 8-7 in that scenario. Eagles would be 6-9. Giants could finish 8-8 but Skins have tie-breaker over them.

 

[Canada4Gold]

Am I correct in saying the Giants are out barring a PHI/WAS tie if Philadelphia wins tonight?

PHI and WAS would be 7-7, they play each other so unless they tie 1 of them would get to 8, and both hold the tiebreaker over the Giants if the Giants win out to get to 8-8?

They wouldn't officially be out if Philly wins tonight they would need a tie.

 

[tarheelhockey]

^ Yes, I read that in an article just a few minutes ago. For all practical purposes, the Giants are out if Philly wins.

 

[hockeykicker]

basically what i can find here are the possibilities on nfc east

giants- out if eagles win
if eagles lose, skins lose final two, eagles beat skins, giants beat vikings, giants beat eagles then they in

skins: if eagles lose tonight, skins can win nfc east next week with win
if eagles tonight win, skins can take commanding with a win next week meaning skins have to lose to dallas and eagles must beat giants

eagles: if they win tonight, they can take lead next week vs skins. they cannot clinch next week (skins could top them with a win over dallas and eagles loss to ny)
if they lose tonight, they could be eliminated next week vs skins (if they win that game they hold tiebraker but can still lose if skins win over dallas and giants beat eagles)

 

[Canada4Gold]

even more reason to cheer for the Eagles then. Locks up Carolina home field and essentially knocks out the Giants so the league might considered suspending OBJ.(not gonna happen anyway)

 

[zombie kopitar]

Carolina has narrowly escaped 2 shootouts, which they probably should have won much easier.

It makes for great football, but I don't think they're better than the Cardinals. I just want to see that NFC conference matchup. Sticking with a Pats/Cards Super Bowl

 

[Canada4Gold]

Carolina has narrowly escaped 2 shootouts, which they probably should have won much easier.

It makes for great football, but I don't think they're better than the Cardinals. I just want to see that NFC conference matchup. Sticking with a Pats/Cards Super Bowl

Carolina has had big leads like 4 times now and let teams back into it. They really need to continue driving on offense, seems like when we get a big lead we go 3 and out a lot. Not having Stewart hurt today. But actually getting big leads in a good sign. The Cards could have lost to the 49ers a couple weeks ago if the refs had been better.

 

[Marc the Habs Fan]

if eagles tonight win, skins can take commanding with a win next week meaning skins have to lose to dallas and eagles must beat giants

If Skins win next week in Philly, they win the division. They would have swept the Eagles and win an 8-8 tiebreaker as a result.

 

[What the Faulk]

Carolina has narrowly escaped 2 shootouts, which they probably should have won much easier.

It makes for great football, but I don't think they're better than the Cardinals. I just want to see that NFC conference matchup. Sticking with a Pats/Cards Super Bowl

Winning shootouts is a negative? You know what happened when the Cardinals play close games? They lose to backup QBs.

 

[Blitzkrug]

Yep.

Tonight is essentially meaningless for the Eagles since they still control their own destiny.

Philly gets in if they beat Washington next weekend + a win either tonight or against the Giants in week 17.

Washington gets in with a win Saturday

The Giants get in if they win out, the Eagles beat Washington on Saturday and if the Skins lose to the Cowboys in week 17.

 

[Avs_19]

Still no clinch for the Vikings since the Falcons and Seahawks won.

I think the only way they don't make the playoffs now is if they lose out, Seahawks lose out, and Falcons win out.

That would leave all three teams with a 9-7 record and the Vikings would lose the tiebreaker.

 

[Marc the Habs Fan]

Still no clinch for the Vikings since the Falcons and Seahawks won.

I think the only way they don't make the playoffs now is if they lose out, Seahawks lose out, and Falcons win out.

That would leave all three teams with a 9-7 record and the Vikings would lose the tiebreaker.

Correct. Somehow Falcons would be ahead of both due to strength of victory - SOV most likely being boosted big time due to their win against a 14 or 15 win Panthers team in this scenario.

Then SEA knocks out MIN due to h-2-h win.

 

[Avs_19]

Correct. Somehow Falcons would be ahead of both due to strength of victory - SOV most likely being boosted big time due to their win against a 14 or 15 win Panthers team in this scenario.

Then SEA knocks out MIN due to h-2-h win.

That would really suck.

On the other hand, Vikings would win the division if they win their last two.

 

[misterchainsaw]

Correct. Somehow Falcons would be ahead of both due to strength of victory - SOV most likely being boosted big time due to their win against a 14 or 15 win Panthers team in this scenario.

Then SEA knocks out MIN due to h-2-h win.

Yeah, even though I had Atlanta's scenario for elimination correct (they needed to lose), I somehow said Minnesota would clinch with a win and an NFC East team + TB losing. I also missed NYG being eliminated (if you ignore the possibility of ties) if PHI wins tonight, although I don't see that happening.

Rough week last week for me considering the scenarios were relatively simple compared to earlier in the year

 

[hockeykicker]

looks like the nfc east is gonna come down to next saturday night, skins win and clinch, eagles win and pretty much clinch

 

[Canada4Gold]

I wouldn't just assume the Eagles beat the Giants week 17 if they win next week. WAS win + PHI loss week 17 could easily happen. It's not some outlandish scenario.

PHI loss week 17 + NYG win week 16 also causes PHI to miss if they win next week.

Had they won tonight they would have done themselves a huge favour and made it basically a playin game next week. Now they're gonna have to want to win both otherwise Washington or the Giants would take it by winning their not Eagles opponent game.

 

[hockeykicker]

I wouldn't just assume the Eagles beat the Giants week 17 if they win next week. WAS win + PHI loss week 17 could easily happen. It's not some outlandish scenario.

PHI loss week 17 + NYG win week 16 also causes PHI to miss if they win next week.

Had they won tonight they would have done themselves a huge favour and made it basically a playin game next week. Now they're gonna have to want to win both otherwise Washington or the Giants would take it by winning their not Eagles opponent game.

so basically the nfc east is down to this:

skins win next week: they win nfc east

eagles win next week: they cannot clinch

eagles win next week and eagles beat giants in week 17: eagles clinch

eagles win next week and eagles lose to giants: skins must beat dallas to clinch

 

[Canada4Gold]

Skins win next week they clinch

Eagles need 2 wins in a row, or win next week, Giants loss next week, Skins loss week 17

Skins can also get in with a loss next week and a win week 17 combined with a Eagles loss week 17

Giants need the Skins to lose both and they need to win both(The Eagles play both teams so they are covered in that scenario)

 

[Gene Parmesan]

The Panthers depth on defense is a concern. They let too many teams back into games when they tire.

 

[Marc the Habs Fan]

http://espn.go.com/blog/nflnation/post/_/id/192819/2015-nfl-week-16-playoff-scenarios

NFC

CLINCHED: Carolina -- NFC South + first-round bye

Arizona -- NFC West

Green Bay -- playoff spot

Seattle -- playoff spot

ARIZONA CARDINALS

Clinch first-round bye with:

1) Win

CAROLINA PANTHERS

Clinch home-field advantage with:

1) Win OR

2) ARI loss

GREEN BAY PACKERS

Clinch NFC North with:

1) Win + MIN loss

MINNESOTA VIKINGS

Clinch playoff berth with:

1) Win OR

2) SEA win OR

3) ATL loss

WASHINGTON REDSKINS

Clinch NFC East with:

1) Win

 

[misterchainsaw]

It's so straight forward I'm not even typing out a big long post. Mostly because I was halfway through it and a keyboard shortcut erased it

Atlanta is out if either Minnesota or Seattle win (their only way in is in a 3-way tie)

Washington wins the division if they beat the Eagles this week, which eliminates both the Giants and Eagles. Giants are additionally eliminated if they lose this week. (Philly wins the 3-way tiebreak at 7-9 if the Giants were to win their week 17 matchup and the Skins lose out)

If the Eagles beat Washington this week, then the Eagles win the division if they beat the Giants week 17, Washington wins the division if Philly loses to the Giants and Washington beats Dallas, and New York wins the division if they win both weeks and Washington loses to Dallas.

Carolina needs a win or ARI loss to clinch home field, Arizona needs a win to clinch a first round bye, GB needs a win AND a MIN loss to clinch the division, and MIN needs a win, SEA win, or a ATL loss to clinch the last wild card.

 

[rangerssharks414]

I'm rooting for whatever needs to happen to avoid putting an NFC East game in primetime for Week 17. Hell, it's possible for all of the divisions to be locked up after this week, so then what? Probably an NFC East game anyway...

 

[hockeykicker]

I'm rooting for whatever needs to happen to avoid putting an NFC East game in primetime for Week 17. Hell, it's possible for all of the divisions to be locked up after this week, so then what? Probably an NFC East game anyway...

The only way that happens is if Washington wins. If philly wins either skins/cowboys or eagles/giants is prime time week 17

 

[Big Poppa Puck]

I'm rooting for whatever needs to happen to avoid putting an NFC East game in primetime for Week 17. Hell, it's possible for all of the divisions to be locked up after this week, so then what? Probably an NFC East game anyway...

I think GB-MIN for the North is almost guaranteed to be the SNF game, unless GB wins and MIN loses this week.

Eagles are maxed out on prime time games apparently. (which is truly baffling that they even had so many to begin with)

 

[Canada4Gold]

I'm rooting for whatever needs to happen to avoid putting an NFC East game in primetime for Week 17. Hell, it's possible for all of the divisions to be locked up after this week, so then what? Probably an NFC East game anyway...

If Washington loses this week then both East games matter in determining a winner, so they have to happen at the same time I think, so I doubt that gets put into prime time. Unless they want to play both games at night or something.

In fact I can't find a single game for week 17 that impacts the playoffs but is the only game that matters in such scenario, every game is tied to another one. Even the Vikings/Packers if it's for the division will be tied to the Seahawks game for the loser for the 5th/6th spot. All the AFC is tied together in 1 big cluster****, East/North/West divisions 1-3, KC/DEN, PIT/CIN, the 3 way for 2 WC's for the teams who don't end up winning the divisions. The South if it doesn't get determined this week has Houtson and the Colts playing in separate games.

They do have a rule saying any games tied to each other for playoff positioning week 17 have to be played at the same time don't they? Or is that just a guideline? Because I can't find a single game that stands alone.

If that's just a guideline then I'd bet Vikings/Packers get primetime, but it could go Carolina/TB as the can the Panthers get the perfect season game if they're 15-0 but that will be kind of boring too because the Panthers likely be taking players out of the game in the 2nd half.