Chiefs, Seahawks contenders; Steelers, Falcons pretendersBy Jeffri Chadiha NFL.comPublished: Dec. 10, 2015 at 04:11 p.m. 
Welcome to the time of year when things really become interesting in the NFL. The next four weeks will bring clarity to the currently muddled playoff picture. As usual, there are plenty of teams hoping they can do enough to keep playing well into January.Since there are so many squads still vying for postseason spots, it's worth handicapping the field at this stage. In doing so, it's also wise to operate under a designated set of rules. So this space will be devoted to teams that: 1) have a record of at least .500 or better; 2) are within one at least one game of claiming a wild-card spot; and 3) aren't alone in first place in their division. Those factors alone allow for this project to be confined to 11 teams.There are other benefits, as well. That criteria means we can avoid dissecting the chaos that is the NFC East. It also allows for certain assumptions to be made: for example, that the postseason field will include Carolina, Arizona, New England, Denver and Cincinnati (all of whom already have won 10 games). Those factors further alleviate the need to evaluate the possibilities of all those teams hovering around the 5-7 mark. Nobody needs to waste time working out the probability of miracles happening.Besides, there are plenty of candidates worth discussing. So here are the best guesses at who are the real contenders left in the postseason race and which teams are going to be best remembered as pretenders:NFCGreen Bay Packers (8-4, tied for first in NFC North): It would be easy to say the Packers completely turned around their entire season with a 27-23 win over Detroit that ended on a Hail Mary touchdown pass from Aaron Rodgers to Richard Rodgers. It also would be very wrong. As exciting as that victory was, it revealed the same issues that led to this team losing four of its previous five games. It's easy to forget now that Green Bay trailed 20-0 at one point, and that the final play was set up by a bogus facemask penalty. This team is still struggling with its passing game and ability to score points. However, the Pack did win, and they are well-positioned to capture either the division or a wild-card spot. The two biggest hurdles on their schedule will be the final two games: a road trip to Arizona and the regular-season finale at home against Minnesota. Given that Green Bay needed a miracle to beat Detroit last week, it's hard to see the Packers beating the Cardinals. The Minnesota game is a different story. The Packers beat the Vikings, 30-13, in Minnesota already, and they should have a far more pronounced advantage in Lambeau Field. FINAL VERDICT: CONTENDER Minnesota Vikings (8-4, tied for first in NFC North): It's difficult to make sense of the Vikings these days. When they were 7-2, they were one of the league's top feel-good stories, a plucky squad that ran the ball well, played strong defense and displayed enough grit to earn hard-fought victories. But there's been a different story in Minnesota over the last three weeks. Green Bay routed the Vikings, 30-13. The Seahawks blasted them, 38-7. If not for a 20-10 win over Atlanta -- and everybody seems to be beating the Falcons these days -- Minnesota might be in full-scale panic mode. This is a team that still has to play at Arizona this week and at Green Bay in the regular-season finale. Even if the Vikings win their final two games, there's a good chance they lose to both the Cardinals and the Packers. Nobody wants to minimize a potential 10-win season, but it's apparent that Minnesota might be limping its way into the postseason. FINAL VERDICT: CONTENDERSeattle Seahawks (7-5, second in NFC West): Does anybody else think Seattle is becoming more dangerous with each passing week? The Seahawks have won five of their last six games, with their offense displaying impressive big-play ability. Seattle has scored at least 29 points in each of its last four games. Over the last three contests, undrafted running back Thomas Rawls has averaged 130.3 yards, while quarterback Russell Wilson has completed 76.7 percent of his passes (with 11 touchdowns and no interceptions). It's scary enough to deal with Seattle's defense. Throw in an offense that is thriving without Marshawn Lynch (who's recovering from a sports hernia operation) and tight end Jimmy Graham (who's on injured reserve), and the Seahawks look like they have another Super Bowl run left in them. They won't catch Arizona for the NFC West title, but they're good enough to beat any team come January. FINAL VERDICT: CONTENDERTampa Bay Buccaneers (6-6, tied for second in NFC South): There's a lot to like about the Bucs right now. After starting the season 1-3, they've won three of their last four. Rookie quarterback Jameis Winston has become more confident with each passing week, and a young team is starting to believe in its potential. The next three games on the schedule are also quite winnable: the Saints at home, the Rams on the road and back home again for the Bears. The Bucs currently are good enough to finish with nine wins. Their problem is that it will take 10 victories to vault them into this year's postseason dance. Tampa Bay is already two games behind whoever doesn't win the NFC North (either Green Bay or Minnesota), and they're one game behind a Seattle team that has plenty of momentum. The good news here is that Tampa Bay is growing up faster than most thought after finishing with the league's worst record in 2014. The bad news is that there's too much ground for them to make up in this race. FINAL VERDICT: PRETENDERAtlanta Falcons (6-6, tied for second in NFC South): No team in the NFL has been imploding faster than Atlanta. They started the season with five straight wins. They've gone 1-6 since, with all the good vibes associated with the start of the Dan Quinn era evaporating in the process. So where to start with this bunch? If the Falcons aren't being plagued by quarterback Matt Ryan tossing back-breaking interceptions at the worst possible time, then they are being disappointed by a defense that seems to miss too many tackles in critical moments. Too often, the Falcons have dealt with both those problems -- as well as others -- in the same game. If all that weren't bad enough, a 23-19 loss to Tampa Bay put Atlanta into a hole that is likely too deep to escape in the coming weeks. The Falcons also will see the undefeated Panthers twice in the next three weeks. That's not how you want to start a turnaround. FINAL VERDICT: PRETENDERFor the AFC....link
