A little less than halfway through the season, some teams are separating in the playoff race. And there are a few surprises.
Here’s what the playoff picture looks like heading into Week 9 of the NFL season, followed by some observations about the current playoffs:
Chiefs, Bills lead the race
Getting the No. 1 seed is huge, and there are two leaders in each conference. The Chiefs are 7-0 as they pursue a third straight Super Bowl championship, and the Lions are 6-1. We’ve seen the atmosphere in Detroit for playoff football; it would be difficult to win there if the Lions have home court advantage through January.
Broncos comfortable inside
Not much was expected from Denver this season, but the Broncos are 5-3 and rookie quarterback Bo Nix has put in some solid performances. Not only are they currently in the playoff field, they are also No. 5 as the top wildcard team. We’ll see if they can keep up that pace, starting with a tough matchup this week at the Baltimore Ravens.
It’s also notable that two of the three AFC wild card teams currently come from the AFC West, with the Los Angeles Chargers in seventh place.
NFC West-leading Cardinals
You’ll notice there are no San Francisco 49ers in the current playoff round. That’s because the Cardinals technically lead the logjam atop the NFC West and the 49ers aren’t one of the wild-card teams. The Cardinals defeated the 49ers earlier this season.
There are three NFC West teams at 4-4 and the last-place Rams are 3-4, which should be a great race to the finish.
