The NFC's top seed is still up for grabs

Thanksgiving week dished out plenty of surprises in the NFL, particularly in the NFC. Here are five takeaways from Week 13 and a glimpse at the postseason, after Seattle shook up the playoff picture Monday night.

1. It’s anyone's top seed in the NFC

There’s a new No. 1 in the NFC, after the San Francisco 49ers dropped to 10-2 Sunday afternoon. With a head-to-head win over the 49ers on November 11 and after a 37-30 win over the Vikings on Monday, the 10-2 Seahawks now have an edge in the NFC West.

The 10-2 New Orleans Saints, who defeated Seattle, 33-27, in Week 3, also have the projected No. 1 seed in the conference.

The Niners now hold the fifth seed but get a chance at redemption Sunday, with a road test in New Orleans. The Saints already clinched a playoff berth on Thanksgiving, with a 26-18 win over Atlanta, and have the 49ers, Colts, Titans and Panthers left on the schedule.

As for last year’s Super Bowl runner-up, the Rams caught fire against the Cardinals in Week 13 and sit one game behind Minnesota in the race for the sixth seed. Los Angeles faces Seattle, Dallas, San Francisco and Arizona over the next month and could shake up the playoff picture even further with some luck and positive results.

It’s anyone’s guess who will come out on top in the NFC, but one thing is for sure. This conference is far superior to its counterpart in 2019.

2. The Ravens appear locked in at No. 1 in the AFC

The AFC experienced its own upheaval Sunday, as the Ravens snuck past the 49ers, and the Patriots succumbed to the Houston Texans. With the Pats’ second loss of the season, New England moved down a rung in the playoff picture and became the projected No. 2 seed, as Baltimore moved into first place in the conference.

The Ravens continue to play at an elite level, while the defending Super Bowl champions seem out of sorts on offense. Tom Brady and his receiving corps found a spark in the final minutes of the fourth quarter and nearly came all the way back against Houston, but the Pats’ overall offensive performance since Week 9 has provided reason for doubt.

The Patriots also slipped behind the Ravens in the odds to claim Super Bowl LIV. Baltimore is now the +275 favorite to win it all, and Lamar Jackson is nearly a shoo-in for MVP.

3. The Jets are the punching bag of the NFL’s bottom-dwellers

The team everyone expected to go 0-16 is now 3-2 in its last five, as Miami shocked the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday with a 37-31 home win. The Dolphins’ first of three victories started in Week 9, with a 26-18 rout of the New York Jets, a squad many believed had playoff potential ahead of the season.

Instead the Jets are 4-8 and somehow outplayed both the Dallas Cowboys and Oakland Raiders but couldn’t usurp the league’s weakest competition. On Sunday, New York flubbed up again, as it lost to another winless team. The previously 0-11 Bengals notched win No. 1 of the season in a 22-6 drubbing in Andy Dalton’s return as starting quarterback.

The Bengals maintain possession of the No. 1 draft pick in 2020, but the Giants, Dolphins, Lions, Cardinals and Falcons are all in the running if Cincinnati can string together a few more victories. All of the aforementioned teams have been eliminated from the postseason, as well.

4. Nick Foles is a future trade piece in Jacksonville

The latest chapter in Nick Foles’ saga as an NFL quarterback came to a close Sunday, when the Super Bowl LII MVP got benched in favor of Gardner Minshew during the second half of Jacksonville’s 28-11 loss to Tampa Bay.

In Foles’ first three drives of the game, he turned the ball over on each possession, and the Bucs responded with scores every time. The former Eagles quarterback went 7-for-14 through the air, with 93 yards, an interception and two lost fumbles.

The Jaguars’ average margin of defeat in Foles' four starts this season is 18.25 points. On Monday Jacksonville head coach Doug Marrone announced Minshew will be the starter going forward.

Now the Jaguars must decide what to do with Foles and his contract. In 2019 the quarterback signed a four-year, $88 million contract, with $50.125 million in guaranteed money. The best-case scenario is for Jacksonville to find a trade partner, but Foles’ recent output hasn’t made him the most enviable asset.

5. The NFC East has gone south

The 3-9 Redskins are in the playoff hunt in Week 13. The NFC East is that bad. On Sunday, Washington did the unthinkable and won a game on the road in Carolina, 29-21, and now has the slimmest of hope to win the NFC East.

It’s not entirely out of the question, because Dallas (6-6) sent its fans home with a Thanksgiving Day disappointment after a loss to the Buffalo Bills, and the Eagles (5-7) dropped the ball in Miami, of all places.

The only NFC East team eliminated from the playoffs is the 2-10 Giants. The Eagles face New York in Week 14 and Week 17, with a trip to Washington and a home matchup against Dallas in between. Dallas must visit Chicago and host the Rams before the showdown in Philly and a home contest with Washington, and the Redskins get each of their division foes once, plus Green Bay.

It’ll be an ugly battle for a postseason berth, but hey, at least the winner will get a home game against a mightier NFC squad, because of the NFL’s wacky playoff system. What a time to be alive and a member of the NFC East.

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