It's Not Too Early to Start Talking About the Wild Card

If the playoffs were to start today, the Giants, Bears, Saints, and Seahawks would earn the division spots. The Falcons' 5-3 record would earn them one Wild Card, but the other one would be up for grabs among 5 teams, each with 4-4 records: the Cowboys, Eagles, Vikings, Panthers, and Rams.

The Panthers' losses to the Cowboys and Vikings relegate them to the middle of the pack. Man, those 2 losses are even more painful now.

The looming schedule includes a home game against St. Louis and a hostile road game in Philadelphia. I hate to call any game a "must win," but it appears that both of these games will be just that.

At the beginning of the season, while visions of Super Bowls danced in our heads, was there a single person who even suggested that we'd have to assess our chances of merely making the playoffs?