With only two weeks remaining in the NFL’s regular season, the scramble is on for playoff berths and divisional titles. While a few divisions were locked up this week, others remain up for grabs. Only the Denver Broncos, Indianapolis Colts and New England Patriots are in the postseason, so nine other tickets remain to be punched.
Let’s take a look at five things we learned from Week 15, and what to expect moving forward:
1. The Super Bowl goes through Seattle … again
With the Green Bay Packers getting upset, the Seattle Seahawks are in the driver’s seat of the NFC playoff picture. Seattle’s 17-7 win over the San Francisco 49ers puts it in a position to grab the conference’s top seed with wins over the Arizona Cardinals and St. Louis Rams. It is hard to imagine the Seahawks losing to Ryan Lindley or Shaun Hill with the way their defense is rolling over the past month.
2. The Indianapolis Colts won’t go far in the postseason
Andrew Luck is a great quarterback, but he still makes a ton of mistakes. Luck threw a pick-six to Kendrick Lewis i the first quarter of the Colts’ 17-10 win over Tom Savage and the Houston Texans. Indianapolis clinched the AFC South but is yet to beat any team of considerable note. The Colts are a good team, but they aren’t in the same class of the New England Patriots and Denver Broncos. Squeaking by the Texans pounded that point home.
3. The Philadelphia Eagles are missing the playoffs
Philadelphia lost 38-27 to the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday night, putting a serious damper on any postseason hopes. The Eagles are 9-5 but lose the tiebreakers to the Detroit Lions, Arizona Cardinals and Seattle Seahawks, so even winning out likely means going home. Philadelphia will need to beat the Redskins and Giants, then hope Detroit loses to the Chicago Bears and Packers on the road.
4. The Kansas City Chiefs are alive, and perhaps well
Kansas City finally got on track with a 31-13 beating of the Oakland Raiders on Sunday, led by Alex Smith throwing for a season-high 298 yards. At 8-6, the Chiefs control their own destiny. By winning out, Kansas City would be assured a second consecutive playoff berth. To do so, the Chiefs need to beat the Pittsburgh Steelers at Heinz Field before topping the San Diego Chargers at Arrowhead Stadium. While it won’t be easy, Kansas City has a real chance to become a postseason participant.
5. The Washington Redskins are terrible, and still might not get a QB
By losing to the New York Giants, Washington fell to 3-11 and is almost assured of not winning another game. With the desperate Philadelphia Eagles and Dallas Cowboys on the schedule, the Redskins will get to 13 losses. Should that happen, only the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Tennessee Titans, Jacksonville Jaguars and Oakland Raiders could finish “ahead” of them. Unfortunately, only Jacksonville and Oakland don’t need quarterbacks of that group. Washington is not in prime position to take either Marcus Mariota of Jameis Winston, leaving it in tough position.