5. Seattle (10-3), Wild Card #1

The Seahawks are perhaps the hottest team in the NFL heading into the final four weeks of the regular season, having won their last three games by a combined score of 93-33. Their remaining schedule isn’t easy, however, though their home game against the Colts this coming weekend looks less concerning after the unfortunate Achilles tendon injury suffered by Daniel Jones on Sunday. After that, it’s a critical home date against the Rams that could potentially catapult them into the conference’s top seed followed by potentially tricky road trips to Carolina and San Francisco.

6. San Francisco (9-4), Wild Card #2

The 49ers took the week off but didn’t gain any ground in the NFC West with the easy wins by the Rams and Seahawks. However, they did move up one spot in the overall conference standings due to the Bears loss to Green Bay and subsequent fall to the bottom of the list of teams currently in the postseason picture. The 49ers and Bears now have the same record but San Francisco earns the higher seed thanks to a superior record against NFC teams, 8-2 to 6-3. However, that likely won’t matter in the end if these two teams are in a tiebreaker after Week 18, because they have a head-to-head matchup on tap in Week 17 in San Francisco. The 49ers first two opponents coming out of the bye are the 2-11 Tennessee Titans at home and the Jones-less Colts in Indy.

7. Chicago (9-4), Wild Card #3

The Bears didn’t go down without a fight at Lambeau Field, rallying from a 14-3 halftime deficit to tie the game at 21-21 in the fourth quarter, but Josh Jacobs’ two-yard touchdown run with 3:32 left carried the day for the Packers and snapped Chicago’s five-game winning streak. The Bears had gone all the way from a game out of the playoff picture to the conference’s top seed with that winning streak, but have now yo-yoed back to the seventh seed. They could spring right back, however, with a rematch against the Packers in Chicago in Week 16. The Bears will need to hold serve this coming weekend against a three-win Cleveland team because their two games after the Green Bay rematch are at San Francisco and versus Detroit.

The Lions kept their playoff hopes from going on life support last Thursday night with an impressive 44-30 home win over the Cowboys and their own high-powered offense. Now they will try to prove they are as serious a Super Bowl contender as they were considered before the season when they head to Los Angeles to take on the Rams. Detroit’s chances of winning the NFC North are significantly hampered by its two losses to Green Bay, though it could also get its own sweep of the Bears in Week 18. The Lions’ 5-4 record against NFC opponents also trails all three teams currently holding Wild Card spots.

Like the Buccaneers, the Panthers will be hard-pressed to overtake the teams ahead of them in the Wild Card race, so their playoff fate is likely to come down to those two games against Tampa Bay. Carolina’s other two games are a trip to New Orleans this coming weekend and a home game against Seattle that is sandwiched between the two tilts with Tampa Bay. It’s possible that tiebreakers could come into play if the Bucs and Panthers split those two games, in which that upcoming game against the Seahawks could prove pivotal if the tiebreaker still comes down to common opponents. The Buccaneers beat Seattle in Week Five.

The Cowboys’ playoff hopes are still pretty slim after their loss to Detroit, but they have not yet been eliminated and their chances improved a bit on Monday night. NFL.com had their chances of making it into the postseason pegged at 6% before the Eagles game but now have them at 10%. At least the remaining schedule is somewhat favorable for the Cowboys. Three of their final four opponents have losing records (Vikings, Commanders, Giants) and the fourth is a Chargers team dealing with significant injury concerns.

What Lies Ahead for Tampa Bay:

The Buccaneers don’t have to wait long for a chance to get the bad taste from Week 14 out of their mouths, as the Falcons will come to town for a prime-time game on Thursday. With the Panthers likely to be favored in New Orleans on Sunday, the Bucs can ill afford another loss, particularly to a conference opponent. Between that aforementioned home-and-away doubleheader against Carolina, the Bucs will also travel to Miami to face a Dolphins team that has won four in a row and five of its last six.