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#1 seed – Minnesota (predicted NFC Central Divisional Champions)
7 – 1 at the half way mark. Pretty smooth sailing from here with only 1 team with a winning record the rest of the way and that is against the Bears. Will take an upset or two (or to go back to playing Pop Warner football as Eric would say) for the Vikings to not secure the #1 playoff seed.
#2 seed – LA Rams (predicted NFC West Divisional Champions)
Undefeated at the half-way mark. Have a tough 6 week stretch ahead facing Arizona twice, Miami, Cleveland, Buffalo, and New England. Vikings schedule is much easier the rest of the way which will make it difficult for the Rams to hold on to the #1 seed. But in my opinion, they are the team to beat in the NFC.
#3 seed – Philadelphia (predicted NFC East Divisional Champions)
6 – 2 at the half-way mark. 5 tough games remaining as they face Las Vegas, Arizona, Denver before closing against the Giants and Panthers. Need to take care of business against the surprising Panthers and the Giants if they want to secure the NFC East crown.
Wild Card Teams
Chicago
Currently 6 – 2 at the half way mark. Key games remaining against the Colts and Vikings. Could finish the season 12 – 4 and not win the Central Division. They will likely secure the top wild card seed. Can’t afford another loss if they want to win the division.
Arizona
Currently 6 – 2 at the half way mark. 5 tough games the second half of the season against Los Angeles twice, Philadelphia, New England, and Buffalo. Their matchups against the Rams will determine if Cardinals are ready to fly in the NFC West.
New York
Currently 4 – 4 at the half way mark. They find themselves 1 game behind the Panthers for the #6 seed. Fortunately they play them twice. The only other team they will face with a winning record is Philadelphia. Definitely a team that is looking to make a playoff move the second half of the season. 9 wins looks like their floor. If they get swept by Carolina, they may not make the playoffs. On the other hand, it’s not out of the realm of possibility for the Giants to claim the East title if they defeat Philadelphia and Carolina twice.
Carolina
Currently 5 – 3 at the half way mark. They have been riding Mahomes and he has delivered. The most surprising team to me on this list. The second half of their schedule though is quite challenging. They play the Giants twice, Las Vegas, Denver, Los Angeles, and Philadelphia. John Houseman was quoted as saying, “We at EF Hutton believe, if the Panthers make the playoffs, They earn it”.  I suspect though that the tough schedule the rest of the year will be too much for them to overcome.
To those wondering about how the PAFL schedule is created, our schedule mirrors that of the NFL when there were 28 teams in the league. This schedule includes divisional matchups which are rotated every 3 years. For example last year the NFC Central played the AFC East. This year they play the AFC Central. Next year they will play the AFC West. Then the cycle repeats. Note there are different schedules for the 4 teams that finish 5th in their divisions. In effect they form a quasi-division and play each other with 2 games against the team from their own conference. This approach allows for all teams in the PAFL to play all other teams once every 3 years (though the 5th place teams may not always find this true).
Posted on 01 Mar 2022 by Bears
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