Week five of the NFL season is in the books. Let’s take a look at the scenario if the NFL playoffs started today. Teams that begin 5-0 are as close to a lock to make it, although, surprisingly four teams in history have choked. Crazy enough, two teams did it in the same season. The 2009 Denver Broncos and the 2009 New York Giants did not make the playoffs. The 1993 New Orleans Saints and the 2003 Minnesota Vikings were the other two that stumbled and fell out of the picture. 0-5 means lights out, folks. No team has made it to the playoffs, yet, after that horrendous start. Take that with a grain of salt. With the recent expansion to 17 games and seven playoff spots, anything can happen in the 2023 NFL season.
AFC
East
Miami Dolphins (4-1): #2 seed gets another easy win this week with 0-5 Carolina coming to town before next week’s big road game in Philadelphia.
Buffalo Bills (3-2): #7 seed. The Bills should stay close with the Dolphins with next two layups against the Giants and Patriots.
New York Jets (2-3): Eagles love Metlife Stadium. A big win here against an undefeated team puts the rest of the league on notice.
New England Patriots (1-4): Kaboom!
North
Pittsburgh Steelers (3-2): #3 seed somehow getting it done. How much longer can the defense support the offense?
Baltimore Ravens (3-2): #6 seed. Loads of drops from the receivers lost them a huge divisional game.
Cleveland Browns (2-2): If this team is healthy off the bye, it can give the undefeated 49ers a headache at the Dogpound this weekend.
Cincinnati Bengals (2-3): Tore up awful Cardinals defense this week. QB is hurt and needs injury rest. Season will be over sooner than later.
South
Jacksonville Jaguars (3-2): #4 seed loves playing football across the pond?
Indianapolis Colts (3-2): #5 seed. Impressive and can win with either quarterback under center.
Houston Texans (2-3): This division is so unpredictable.
Tennessee Titans (2-3): Very inconsistent, but still a team to watch.
West
Kansas City Chiefs (4-1): #1 seed. Easy road through end of month.
Los Angeles Chargers (2-2): Cowboys come to town on MNF. With wins in the next two weeks, it puts the league on alert.
Las Vegas Raiders (2-3): Two softball games coming up. Let’s see what they can do with it.
Denver Broncos (1-4): May not have a chance at another win until late December.
NFC
East
Philadelphia Eagles (5-0): #2 seed with a tough road coming up.
Dallas Cowboys (3-2): #7 seed may be looking from the outside if they can’t beat a quality team, which they haven’t in five games so far.
Washington Commanders (2-3): Schedule is brutal. Will need to take advantage of next few weeks before their season is over.
New York Giants (1-4): It’s not the quarterback. Just the same one-dimensional game year after year.
North
Detroit Lions (4-1): #3 seed. Fun to watch. Their division to lose.
Green Bay Packers (2-3): You can’t come back every single game and it shows.
Chicago Bears (1-4): Not winning for a year and then catching a team off a big bounce spot means nothing. Cupcake Bowl this week vs. 1-4 Vikings.
Minnesota Vikings (1-4): Atrocious.
South
Tampa Bay Buccaneers (3-1): #4 seed coming off bye has the Lions coming to town.
Atlanta Falcons (3-2): #6 seed has a well-rounded game. Need to string it together.
New Orleans Saints (3-2): All the tools to win this division.
Carolina Panthers (0-5): Maybe they can catch Fish looking ahead this week…
NFC West:
San Francisco 49ers (5-0): #1 seed. Annihilated the ‘Boys last week. Go on road to challenge the Browns in what may be game of the week.
Seattle Seahawks (3-1): #5 seed. Momentum off the bye. On the road facing the shaky Bengals.
Los Angeles Rams (2-3): Don’t let that record fool you. They are a dark horse team this season.
Arizona Cardinals (1-4): At least they aren’t as bad as people expected.
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