TornadoCouplet

Detroit has one of the worst defenses in the league and Dobbs is a scarier matchup for them than Kirk due to his mobile abilities. Once Jefferson is back I see Minnesota running the table and Detroit will once again be doomed to a meaningless final wild card participation trophy seed.

Late run: Minnesota. They are the best team in the North right now and once Jefferson is back, it's over. They MIGHT have a tough time in Denver tomorrow night but after that I think they run the table, including twice against Detroit.

Collapse: Detroit. Their defense is still one of the worst in the NFL and their schedule isn't as easy as previously thought. They face Chicago twice, and Fields in the past has torched this defense. Denver has seemingly got their act together after that embarrassment against the Dolphins so that could be a trap game for Detroit. New Orleans isn't terrible and have a solid WR corps that can easily embarrass Detroit's secondary. The Dallas game of course is an automatic loss for Detroit. I'm thinking Minnesota finishes the season 12-5 while the Lions collapse down the stretch and finish 9-8 while they limp into the final wild card seed participation trophy via tiebreaker like they did in 2016.

Burrow is not even close to a disappointment, and he was never considered a "generational talent" either. In fact, his rise to become the #1 overall pick kinda appeared out of nowhere when Chase Young was the consensus #1 for over a year. Also, Burrow lead an historically inept franchise to a Super Bowl appearance.

Will Heller.

He's old and out of touch. He needs to retire.

Minnesota is going to beat Detroit for the division. Minnesota is one of the most complete teams in the NFL on both sides of the ball and the injury to Kirk actually helped Minnesota. Dobbs is looking better than Kirk, and mobile QB's are Detroits achilles heel. It would not shock me if Minnesota runs the table and gets the #1 seed over the 49ers via tiebreaker due to their soft schedule moving forward. Every team they face looks beatable, including Detroit.

Detroit is worse than what their record shows. They have had a very soft schedule for the most part, and they are lucky that they have faced back to back inept coaches in McDaniels and Staley otherwise they would have lost their last two. Their defense remains one of the worst in the NFL, with their stats being padded against a ton of shitty QB's this season. This is basically 2011 all over again with a high powered offense but dog shit defense. They are easily 1 and done in the playoffs. Why other people can't see that the Lions are pretenders is baffling.

The Eagles by the numbers are actually bigger pretenders than Detroit. Hurts is a mediocre passer and is being carried by that o-line and his NFL best receiving corps. Their secondary is also one of the worst in the NFL. They are going to drop a ton of games as their schedule becomes brutal post BYE week. They are also one and done in the postseason.

The 49ers had very bad injury luck after their 5-0 start, but they came out the BYE week healthy AND got a huge upgrade on defense with Chase Young. They should easily win the NFC West, but I think Minnesota wins the #1 seed via head to head tiebreaker. Still, the 49ers are one of the most complete teams in the NFL and are going to be very dangerous in the postseason.

The NFC South is irrelevant and are losing in the 1st round. The Saints should take it, but who cares since it's a participation trophy seed.

Based on how things look as of right now, here is what I think the NFC playoff picture will look like

Vikings: 13-4 (wins tiebreaker against the 49ers)

49ers: 13-4

Eagles: 12-5 (Wins tiebreaker against Dallas)

Saints: 9-8

Wild card

Cowboys: 12-5

Seahawks: 10-7 (Wins tiebreaker against Detroit)

Lions: 10-7

Wild Card Round

49ers destroy the Lions 48-13

Seahawks beat the Eagles 30-27

Cowboys destroy the Saints 41-10

Divisional round

Vikings win a close one in OT against the Seahawks 27-24

49ers defeat the Cowboys 24-17

NFC Championship

49ers win their revenge matchup against the Vikings 34-30

Dobbs > Cousins. Nothing against Cousins but Dobbs football IQ is through the roof. I firmly believe he can lead the Vikings to win the North.

Yeah Fields isn't coming back till the Lions game. They're gonna want to play spoiler and they know Detroit's achilles heel is mobile QB's.

CJ Stroud needs to be in the MVP picture as well. Dude is already looking like a future HOF'er.