As the National Football League’s season is nearing its end, talk about the playoffs has begun. Week 13 of the NFL season had many games with playoff implications, with only 4 weeks remaining in the regular season.

On December 2, the Seattle Seahawks punched their playoff ticket with a decisive 34-7 win over Drew Brees and the New Orleans Saints on Monday Night Football on ESPN. This moves Seattle’s record to 11-1, which is the best in the NFL. A big part of the Seahawks’ success is their home record at Century-Link field. The Seahawks are 13-0, so far, over the past two seasons at home.

All- pro safety Earl Thomas thinks the team is hard to beat in Seattle, per Seahawks.com.

“Everybody knows it’s hard to come in here and beat us.” said Thomas. “We’ve been having the same success on the road, but when we play at home magic happens.”

New Orleans Saints quarterback, Drew Brees thinks the Seahawks are the team to beat in the NFC, per Bleacher Report.

“As of right now,” said Brees, “it’s looking like the road to the super bowl goes through here.”

Quarterback Russell Wilson is having a fantastic sophomore season, and is in the MVP talk. Running back Marshawn Lynch is having another 1,000 yards rushing season, and has the sixth most rushing yards in the league this season post week 13.


The two teams close to Seahawks in the NFC West are the 8-4 San Francisco 49ers and the 7-5 Arizona Cardinals. This Seahawks have a four game lead in the division going into their week 14 matchup with the 49ers.

The 49ers hold the second wild card spot in the NFC behind the Carolina Panthers. The 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick is having a rough second season but the team still has one of the leagues best defenses.

The Cardinals are in second place for a chance at the NFC wild card spot. Quarterback Carson Palmer is having a solid season with the help of wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald.

The last place team in the division, the St. Louis Rams, sit at a 5-7 record. With the way the West looks right now, and with their franchise quarterback, Sam Bradford out for the season, the Rams don’t have a chance at the playoffs.

Other teams did not have such good luck. The Chicago Bears, who had a 6-5 record going into their tilt with the Minnesota Vikings, came out with an overtime score of 23-20 on a Blair Walsh field goal. This was a big game for the Bears in the tight NFC north division.

Backup quarterback Josh McCown is playing fantastic in quarterback Jay Cutler’s absence with groin and ankle injuries with the help of wide receivers, Alshon Jeffrey and Brandon Marshall, are both having 1,000 receiving yard seasons.

The defense this season has been the biggest problem thus for the 2013 Chicago Bears. When asked if the team’s defense needs to change, Head Coach Marc Trestman plans on continuing the same plan, defensively for Chicago, per CBSMinnesota.com.

“Not at this time,” said Trestman. “We’re going to talk about- we always have a personnel meeting. We talk to the players, but as if this moment, no.”

The two top teams in the division, the Bears and the Detroit Lions, both played crucial games.

The Lions played the Green Bay Packers on Thanksgiving day and defeated the Packers 40-10, in Green Bay’s absence of Pro-Bowl quarterback, Aaron Rodgers. This gives Detroit a 1 game lead in the division.

Another key factor is that the Lions have defeated the Bears twice this season in both meetings, 40-32 in week 4, and 21-19 in week 10. This means that if the division end in a tie, the Lions would have the advantage.

The Packers are slowly declining, losing 4 and tying 1 game over the pass five. The losses coming against the Bears, Eagles, Giants, and Lions. The tie was to the Vikings. The team is farther back in the race for the wild card spots. Fourth string quarterback Matt Flynn is starting at quarterback after quarterbacks Seneca Wallace and Scott Tolzien had bad starts for the team.

As for the Vikings, they sit at a 3-8-1 record, in turn, they have no chance of making the playoffs this season. Running back Adrian Peterson is having a record breaking season. In week 13 against the Bears, he broke the 10,000 rushing yard mark, a very big accomplishment for a running back, as he is one of the only running backs to do this.

The NFC east, a very tight division as of week 13. Two teams sit atop the division, the Dallas Cowboys and the Philadelphia Eagles. Both teams have a record of 7-5. The Cowboys have the advantage after the cowboys defeated. They play each other in week 17 of the season, which might decide the division. After week 13, the Cowboys beat the Raiders on Thanksgiving day, 31-24, and the Eagles beat the Cardinals, 24-21.

Eagles quarterback Nick Foles had led the team into playoff contention, with the team holding tied for second to be in the wild card round. A quarterback controversy almost happened between Nick Foles and Michael Vick, but head Coach Chip Kelly put that to rest, per philly.com.

“As long as he can stay healthy,” said Kelly. “Thats what I’ve qualified it this whole time. How many quarterbacks have gone down this season in the NFL? It’s a pretty high amount.... When you have a quarterback who is durable and can last, that’s when you know you’ve got a guy...”, regarding Foles.

Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo is having one of his best seasons yet, becoming one of the leagues best quarterbacks in the process. The cowboys have had a very solid season so far, looking to finally win the NFC East after a few tough seasons.

The third place team, the New York Giants, started off the season 0-6, the franchises worst start ever. The team now currently sits at 5-7, winning 5 of their last six. They have defeated the Redskins, Packers, Raiders, Eagles, and the Vikings. They lost to the Dallas Cowboys.

Giants quarterback Eli Manning has been a turnover machine this season, second in interceptions only to the New York Jet’s quarterback, Geno Smith.

The team in last place in the east is the Washington Redskins, have a 3-9 record after losing to Giants in week 13, and got eliminated from playoff contention. The teams quarterback Robert Griffin III is having a rough season, with his knee that is still bothering him from his injury last season.

The NFC South is a tough race between two teams after week 13, the New Orleans Saints and the Carolina Panthers both have 9-3 records. These two teams play each other in week 14 on Sunday Night Football. New Orleans hold the two seed

The Panthers are one of the feel good stories of the season, after a 1-4 start, they have won 8 straight games, after a losing season last year. Cam Newton has become one of the star players in the NFL. He is now the leader of the team. In week 13, the Panthers beat the Buccaneers 27-6.

Head coach Ron Rivera knows after the Saints lost on MNF to the Seahawks, they aren’t the juggernaut they thought they were, per NFL.com.

“ I learned that they’re beatable,” said Rivera. “... But it was good to see, give you a little bit of a jump, a little bit of a head start on our next opponent.”

After the Saints loss to the Seahawks, this is a must win game to try to retake the top spot in the division. Drew Brees is having a career season, with the help of coach Sean Payton who is reunited with the team after being suspended last season.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Atlanta Falcons are both tied for last place in the division at 3-9 records, respectively.

The Falcons are having a awful season after getting to the NFC championship game last season. Matt Ryan, the teams quarterback hasn’t had his best weapon, wide receiver Julio Jones since week 5, when he had a season ending injury to his foot.

The Buccaneers had a rocky start to the season when they released Josh Freeman after a losing streak to start the season. Rookie quarterback Mike Glennon has done very well for the team but they still have found ways to lose games.

Both of these teams are eliminated from postseason contention.

With 4 weeks left in the NFL regular season, it’s do or die time for all 32 teams.

Post Week 13 NFC Playoff Picture: 1.Seattle Seahawks (11-1) 2. New Orleans Saints (9-3) 3. Detroit Lions (7-5) 4. Dallas Cowboys (7-5) Wild Card: 5. Carolina Panthers (9-3) 6. San Francisco 49ers (8-4) On the Bubble: 7. Philadelphia Eagles (7-5) 8. Arizona Cardinals (7-5)