With three weeks to go in the regular season, nine NFC teams have a realistic shot to claim one of the seven playoff spots up for grabs. This does not mean all the other teams have been mathematically eliminated. It just means that I wouldn’t invest heavily in their chances. Of the nine, only two have a direct line to the top seed and first-round bye – the Los Angeles Rams and the Seattle Seahawks.
This is a very fluid situation, with an awful lot of moving parts. For instance, I am not currently counting the Dallas Cowboys among those nine teams.