Throughout the life of this column, I’ve wrestled with the quality of teams beyond the top 10. My bar has shifted from 10 to 15, but the sentiment remained the same: lop off the bottom half of this league and start over with the real competitors.
This weekend, my thoughts shifted just slightly. I am very much looking forward to this year’s playoffs because I think there are prospective No. 7 seeds in both conferences that could very easily pull major upsets. The Indianapolis Colts and Miami Dolphins, for example, are both holding on to 10-plus percentage chances of reaching the postseason. In the NFC, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers loom just outside of the playoff picture along with the Arizona Cardinals. Over the course of 2024, these teams have been very dangerous in stretches and could be again in the right situation. The Cardinals lost to the Buffalo Bills by a touchdown in the season opener. The Buccaneers beat the Philadelphia Eagles before Philadelphia’s two-month long win streak.
