With just a month to go in the NFL season, the contenders are emerging, teams are making a late push, and pretenders are beginning to falter. This year is no different. NFL Wild Card races are coming down to the wire and a few teams who started off hot are going to be scoreboard watching for their future.
Trying to figure how these divisions is going to be more difficult and figuring out how to play a slot machine online. Lining up all of the necessary parts for a playoff run in the NFL is about as tricky as lining up all those 7’s in Vegas. But someone has to win it.
Unfortunately for a few teams, those pieces are not lining up and they are going to be missing out on the festivities.
3 Teams Trending Down in NFL Wild Card Races
Pittsburgh Steelers
Remaining schedule: at Colts, vs Bengals, at Ravens, at Seahawks
In what was a surprise, the Steelers started off 6-3 in 2023 but there was always something about them that made fans and experts alike scratch their head. They were winning but it sure wasn’t pretty. Defense may win championships, but you do need a semi-competent offense to pair with it.
To kick off the year, most of the ire was directed toward offensive coordinator, Matt Canada. The frustration was well-founded because the Steelers offense was beyond anemic under his watch. They were averaging just 16.6 points per game and were held to 10 or fewer points four times. Then, they made the move that everyone was expecting: they fired Canada.
In the following week, the Steelers’ offense exploded for over 400 yards for the first time since Week 2 of the 2020 season in a win over the Joe Burrow-less Bengals. However, the 16 points they scored was an indication of what’s to come. Despite moving the ball, they still managed just one touchdown.
The following two games were indications of what this team is. The Steelers fell to two of the worst teams in the NFL in the Cardinals and Patriots. The defense is great, and T.J. Watt is easily one of the most elite pass rushers in the NFL. However, even the greatest defenses in the league at least have a semi-decent offense to give the ball back to. With or without Kenny Pickett, Pittsburgh’s offense is one of the worst in the NFL.
The final four games could very well end up in four losses for this Steelers team. They are certainly an obvious choice in our list of teams trending down in NFL Wild Card races.
Minnesota Vikings
Remaining schedule: at Bengals, vs Lions, vs Packers, at Lions
This Vikings team has been all over the place in 2023. Last year, the Vikings were one fraud watch after managing 13 wins but 11 were by one score. As fun as it is to win those close games, it was not sustainable. Especially considering all four losses were by multiple scores and were blown out of the water twice.
This year, it’s been one thing after another. They started off the year 1-4, lost Justin Jefferson and Kirk Cousins, and have been in a similar boat as the Steelers. Brian Flores has rebuilt the defense but, overall, the offense has not played well.
Minnesota made a trade for Joshua Dobbs and he provided a glimmer of hope. The team even won five in a row before dropping the next two.
In Week 14, they faced off against a bad Raiders team and subsequently won the ugliest football game we’ve seen in years, 3-0. There was another glimmer of hope as Jefferson was slated to return. He was promptly knocked out of the game and even taken to the local hospital.
Just like with last year, this is not a sustainable model for success and Minnesota is going to be on the outside looking in when the playoffs begin. They have four very losable games to close out the year. Let’s assume their downward trend in our NFL wild card races will continue.
The NFC South
Wm. Glasheen USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin
The NFC South as a whole is trending downward and it’s looking like whoever ends up coming out of this one is going to have a losing record and no other teams will make the playoffs.
After Week 14, three of the four teams sit at 6-7 with the Panthers at the button with the number-one pick heading their way…but it was traded to Chicago. So, the poor get poorer in that regard.
In terms of tiebreakers, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers sit in first with the Falcons and Saints following in tow. None of these teams are playoff-worthy yet there will be a four next to one of their names.
The Buccaneers have at Packers, vs Jaguars, vs Saints, and at Panthers. Falcons have at Panthers, vs Bears, at Colts, at Saints. Saints have vs Giants, at Buccaneers, at Rams, vs Falcons.
It’s not impossible that we have three 8-9 teams and the winner of this pillow fight of a division gets an angry NFC East second place finisher. We’re almost ready to forget them in our NFL Wild Card races.
