The Green Bay Packers are still alive and kicking, and the New England Patriots are starting to look unstoppable.
NFL playoff picture and standings 2015: Patriots stay undefeated, move to 10-0
Green Bay beats Minnesota to take a divisional advantage, while Arizona gets a key win over Cincinnati. The Patriots are now 10-0.
After a three-game losing streak that had dropped them into second place in the NFC North, the Packers went into Minneapolis on Sunday and picked up a massive 30-13 victory at TCF Bank Stadium. With the victory, the Packers and Vikings are now both 7-3, and Green Bay has the head-to-head tiebreaker, meaning Minnesota will have to win at Lambeau Field to have a shot at the division.
That's not likely, and Five Thirty-Eight now has the Packers with a 74 percent chance of taking the division. Green Bay was hoping that a Bengals win on Sunday night would give them a chance at catching the Arizona Cardinals for the NFC's second first-round bye.
That didn’t happen, though, as the Cardinals kicked a last-second field goal to beat the Cincinnati Bengals 34-31. They now have a 60 percent chance at a bye, as opposed to Green Bay’s 38 percent.
At the same time, the Carolina Panthers continued their relentless march toward home field advantage in the NFC with a Cam Newton-powered destruction of Washington. They now have a 96 percent chance of getting one of the two byes.
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The Sunday night game also changed things in terms of the AFC's second first-round bye. While the Patriots have the first one locked up, Cincinnati's second-straight loss -- combined with the Denver Broncos' win over Chicago -- means that the Broncos now have a slim 50-48 edge in for the second.
The Patriots helped themselves again on Monday Night Football, beating the Buffalo Bills to move to 10-0 on the season.
Five divisions are almost wrapped up, and Green Bay has a big edge in the sixth, but the NFC East and AFC South are going to stagger to the wire. The New York Giants picked a perfect time for a bye, as losses by the Philadelphia Eagles and Washington mean that they now have a one-game lead at 5-5, with the Dallas Cowboys two games back. That translates to a 58 percent chance of a division title, up 16 points from last week.
The Indianapolis Colts and Houston Texans both won to improve to 5-5 atop the AFC South, and the Jacksonville Jaguars improved to 4-6 with a victory over their own. The Colts remain favored by 54 percent to 34 percent over the Texans with the Jaguars still holding a 10 percent chance.
In the Wild Card race, the Kansas City Chiefs took a big step forward by beating the San Diego Chargers 33-3, and the Pittsburgh Steelers are also in good shape.
In the NFC, the loser of the Packers-Vikings duel will take one Wild Card spot, with the Atlanta Falcons in position for another. The Seattle Seahawks have a good shot to sneak into the final Wild Card, probably battling the second-place team in the NFC East.
AFC playoff standings
1. New England Patriots, 10-0
2. Cincinnati Bengals, 8-2
3. Denver Broncos, 8-2
4. Indianapolis Colts, 5-5
5. Pittsburgh Steelers, 6-4
6. Kansas City Chiefs, 5-5
Still alive
7. Houston Texans, 5-5
8. Buffalo Bills, 5-5
9. New York Jets, 5-5
NFC playoff standings
1. Carolina Panthers, 10-0
2. Arizona Cardinals, 8-2
3. Green Bay Packers, 7-3
4. New York Giants, 5-5
5. Minnesota Vikings, 7-3
6. Atlanta Falcons, 6-4
Still alive
7. Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 5-5
8. Seattle Seahawks, 5-5
9. Washington, 4-6
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