A lot of ball game left—an entire half-season. That won’t prevent us from tracking the conference playoff standings to see how fickle they can be throughout the year.
It’s a three-team race in the NFC West with the San Francisco 49ers leading the charge. Let’s take a look at where the Niners sit in the NFC standings.
NFC Playoff Picture after Week 7
- Green Bay Packers (4-1-1 overall, 3-0-1 in the NFC)
- San Francisco 49ers (5-2, 5-1)
- Philadelphia Eagles (5-2, 4-1)
- Tampa Bay Buccaneers (5-2, 3-2)
- Detroit Lions (5-2, 2-1)
- Seattle Seahawks (5-2, 2-2)
- Los Angeles Rams (5-2, 0-2)
- Chicago Bears (4-2, 3-2)
- Carolina Panthers (4-3, 2-1)
- Dallas Cowboys (3-3-1, 2-3-1)
- Atlanta Falcons (3-3, 2-3)
- Minnesota Vikings (3-3, 1-2)
- Washington Commanders (3-4, 1-4)
- Arizona Cardinals (2-5, 2-3)
- New York Giants (2-5, 2-3)
- New Orleans Saints (1-6, 1-4)
As of today, if you’re not three games over .500, you’re on the outside looking in.
After two weeks, the Packers were thought of as the class of the NFC. They were fortunate to beat the Cardinals last week. That offense is a mess, and yes, I know they scored 27 points. Jordan Love threw for 179 yards. That does not look like a trustworthy team, despite their record.
The same is true for the Eagles, who feel like the most fraudulent team in the playoffs. I wouldn’t want to play anybody else. Jalen Hurts is coming off a career game where he threw for 326 yards. However, the Vikings had four or five chances in Philly’s territory and scored only once. That was Carson Wentz. The current quarterbacks in the playoff picture are scoring three times, at worst. That’s the difference in that game.
The three most dangerous teams might be ranked fifth and sixth. The Bucs just lost Mike Evans for a considerable amount of time, and who knows when or how often the Rams will have Puka Nacua. But Seattle’s defense and Detroit’s offense might be the two best units in the conference. Come playoff time, the question will be whether Sam Darnold or the Lions’ defense can hold up on their end.
The Bears and Cowboys defenses are at the bottom of the barrel, so it’s difficult to imagine them making a run, even though their offenses can explode at any time.
This might be the first time you’re finding out that the Panthers have a winning record. That may not last long as Andy Dalton is expected to start this week.
The Falcons, as we found out, are just not a good team. They don’t throw the ball over the middle and only involve two players offensively.
I wouldn’t count out the Minnesota Vikings. Kevin O’Connell needs his quarterback healthy.
Washington was an obvious regression candidate coming into the season, and it’s played out that way.
The current landscape of the NFC shapes up well for the 49ers to not only make the playoffs, but also do damage once they get there. Of course, they can’t afford any injuries and need Ricky Pearsall and Brandon Aiyuk healthy, not to mention Brock Purdy. It’s not realistic to expect the defense to hold opponents to ten points as they did in Week 7.
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