WATCH: Slightly premature 2019 NFC Playoff Predictions
The 2019 season has reached the home stretch. With four games remaining, a clearer NFC playoff picture is coming into focus.
The picture is quite clear for this time of the year this season. The NFC has four teams with at least nine wins and five teams with eight or more victories. Only one team, the Los Angeles Rams, is one game back in the wild card race.
In the NFC East, the Dallas Cowboys and Philadelphia Eagles have struggled mightily, and neither remains above .500. But both are competing for the last of the four division titles in the NFC.
Here is how we predict the NFC seeds to breakdown at the end of the season:
1- New Orleans Saints (10-2)
With Seattle's victory against Minnesota on Monday Night Football, the Saints moved into the top seed in the NFC. The Saints have an interesting slate down the stretch with a home matchup against the 49ers this weekend and then two straight AFC South battles versus the Colts and Titans.
The Saints can probably afford to lose one game and still earn home-field advantage throughout the playoffs.
2- Seattle Seahawks (10-2)
Seattle jumped from a wild card position to a first-round bye with its victory against the Vikings on Monday night. The Seahawks won't have much time to rest, though, because Seattle visits the Rams this Sunday.
Interestingly, the Seahawks can lose that game or fall in Week 15 or 16 and still win the division if they beats the 49ers at home during the season finale.
3- Green Bay Packers (9-3)
The Packers now have a one-game lead over the Vikings in the NFC North, but the two teams have one more showdown this season at Minnesota.
However, other than that, Green Bay has an easy slate on paper. The Packers will face the Redskins, Bears and Lions in their other three contests.
4- Philadelphia Eagles (5-7)
All bets are off when one loses to a two-win team, but the Eagles are still in position to win the NFC East because the Cowboys have lost three of their last four.
Philadelphia only has division games remaining with two matchups against the Giants, one versus the Redskins and a pivotal showdown against the Cowboys during the final quarter of the season.
5- San Francisco 49ers (10-2)
The loss to Baltimore could be viewed as a moral victory with the 49ers holding Lamar Jackson's offense to just 20 points, but it won't be with San Francisco falling from the No. 1 seed to a wild card spot because of the defeat. Seattle currently holds the tiebreaker with San Francisco because the Seahawks beat the 49ers in Week 10.
The 49ers have another tough road trip to New Orleans coming up this Sunday, but the biggest game of San Francisco's schedule remaining is against Seattle in Week 17.
6- Minnesota Vikings (8-4)
With the loss on Monday night, the Vikings fall back one game behind the Packers. That means even if Minnesota beats Green Bay in Week 16, the Packers would win the NFC North if both teams win all the rest of their games.
Green Bay winning three of the last four is likely to happen based on its schedule. The Vikings still have a great chance to make the playoffs, though, because they possess a one-game lead over the Rams and a much easier December schedule than Los Angeles.
