The NFL playoff picture is a little confusing but gets less and less cloudy each week. Can you hear the deep-toned narration of John Facenda with a twist? He would have said, "And hopes that were high in the heat of September, can wilt and die in the chill of December." Are you in the mood yet? Let's try to clear things up one team at a time. In the NFC, the (13-2) Atlanta Falcons have cliched the NFC South and are the #1 seed in the playoffs. The (11-4) Green Bay Packers are NFC North champs and can stay at the #2 seed and a first-round bye with a win in Minnesota. They could drop to seed #3 with a loss and a win by San Francisco and Seattle. The (10-4-1) San Francisco 49ers are in the playoffs but need a win at home versus Arizona to clinch the NFC West. They'll be the #3 seed with a win but ascend to #2 with a first-round bye if the Packers lose. They drop to #5 with a loss and a win by Green Bay and Seattle. The (10-5) Seattle Seahawks are in the playoffs. They'll become NFC West champs with a win & San Francisco loss. They'll be the seed #3 with that scenario but ascend to #2 if Green Bay also loses. If they lose, they're still locked in as the #5 seed by virtue of the tie-breaker by earlier head-to-head wins over Minnesota & Chicago. The (9-6) Washington Redskins become NFC East champs and are playoff seed #4 with a win at home versus Dallas. If they lose, they're in as seed #6 but only if both Minnesota and Chicago lose. The (9-6) Minnesota Vikings can only make the playoffs as seed #6 with a win at home versus Green Bay or a loss combined with losses by New York and Chicago. Then they would win over Chicago based on a better divisional record. The (9-6) Chicago Bears can only make the playoffs and become seed #6 if they win at Detroit and the Vikings lose at home to Green Bay. The (9-6) Dallas Cowboys can only make the playoffs with a win at Washington. They lock in as the #4 seed and are NFC East champs. The (9-6) New York Giants need the most help to get in as NFC Seed #6. They must win at home versus Philadelphia and need losses by Dallas, Chicago and Minnesota. Take a giant breath as I get you ready for a much easier AFC playoff picture. The (12-3) Houston Texans wrap up the AFC South & a #1 seed with a win at Indianapolis. However, they slide down to the #3 seed with a loss and a win by Denver and New England. If they lose along with a New England loss, they lock into the #2 seed with a Denver win. The (12-3) Denver Broncos are already AFC West champs and AFC seed #2. They can become the #1 seed with a win at home versus Kansas City and a loss by Houston. They can drop to playoff seed #3 with a loss, a Houston loss and a New England win. The (11-4) New England Patriots are already AFC East champs and AFC seed #3. However, they can become the AFC #1 seed with a win at home versus Miami coupled with losses by Houston and Denver. They drop to seed #4 with a loss and a Baltimore win. The (10-5) Baltimore Ravens are already AFC North champs and sit at seed #4. They can become playoff seed #3 with a win at Cincinnati and a New England loss. A loss keeps them at the #4 seed. The (10-5) Indianapolis Colts are in the playoffs and locked in as AFC seed #5. The (9-6) Cincinnati Bengals also have clinched a wild-card berth and become AFC seed #6 regardless of scenarios. The first round of the NFL playoffs follow on January 5th and 6th featuring games in both conferences with the #3 seed hosting seed #6 while the #4 seed hosts seed #5. I hope that puts clarity into possible NFL playoff scenarios for you. By Mike Handzelek
 

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