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NFL

6 NFL Teams That Must Finish Strong to Make the Playoffs

Getty Images

Getty Images

Buckle up because we’re entering the home stretch of the NFL season.

And what a finish we’re going to have.

All the bye weeks are over, every team has four games left and 21 of the league’s 32 clubs are either in or within one game of a playoff spot.

Currently, only six teams have been eliminated: the New York Jets, Tennessee Titans, Jacksonville Jaguars, Oakland Raiders, New York Giants and Washington Redskins.

Yet the NFC South ensures it’ll be a wacky finish, since the division leading Atlanta Falcons boast a woeful 5-7 record.

“We’ve given ourselves the opportunity to play meaningful football in December,” Philadelphia Eagles head coach Chip Kelly said this week. “And in this league, every week is a whole different deal.”

In the NFL, with just 16 regular season games, it’s not how you start but how you finish.

Consider the 2012 Baltimore Ravens and the 2010 Green Bay Packers, two teams that punched their postseason tickets via wildcard spots and parlayed them into Super Bowl rings. The former isn’t the greatest example of having a December to remember; the Ravens went 1-4 in December. But thanks to an opportunistic defense and a hot quarterback, Joe Flacco, the Ravens defeated the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl XLVII. The Packers, meanwhile, regrouped after losing two road games with victories at Lambeau Field over the Giants and the Chicago Bears en route to a victory in Super Bowl XLV.

Not too long ago, the Arizona Cardinals had a stranglehold on the NFC West. Well, their sparkling 9-1 record has lost its luster after losing quarterback Carson Palmer and, subsequently, losing two games by a combined score of 48-21.

“Every win is important,” said Richard Sherman, whose Seattle Seahawks are 8-4 after winning four of the last five games. “You want to get as many wins as you can and put yourselves in position to make a great run in the playoffs.”

Click here to take a closer look at six teams.

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