To begin, does anyone believe the playoffs are only 7 weeks away?????  It seems like this season started last week.  Amazing.  Okay, so lets look at the standings and assess the playoff hunt as it looks right now, even though the picture is nowhere near complete.

THINGS I'M PRETTY SURE OF:

New Orleans and Minnesota will almost surely win their divisions and are probably your top two seeds in the NFC.  I don't think anyone who knows anything about football will argue with me here.  Minnesota is 3 games up on Green Bay and holds the head to head tiebreaker, so in essence its a 4 game lead with 6 to go. 

THE NFC West is not going to produce a wild card.  San Fran is sitting there with a mathematical chance at 4-6, but would need a really good run to challenge.  They've made strides, but not quite enough this year.

STILL UP IN THE AIR

The NFC East is about as murky as it gets, with Dallas holding a narrow one game lead.  They have some tough ones upcoming though, with the Giants, Eagles, Chargers and Saints still on their schedule.  Like many of us predicted, this race won't be decided until all 16 games are played.

What will happen with Atlanta and Green Bay?  These were teams I pegged as good wild card candidates, but Atlanta is reeling badly right now at 5-5.  Green Bay still has offensive line woes, which is never a good thing to have if you're making a playoff push.

The Eagles (of course).  Inconsistent play at QB and penelty prone.  Gotta get that crap fixed, and fast.  On the plus side, having the tiebreaker over Chicago helps our wild card chances.

A LOOK AHEAD FOR THE EAGLES

The Birds face Washington at home and then away at Atlanta in the next two weeks.  If we can get these next two, our chances of at least a wild card are well enhanced.  Especially a win over Atlanta, which would give us the tiebreaker.  The next two weeks will clarify the picture at least a little.  On a side note,  we're 11 weeks in and not one NFL team has yet been eliminated from playoff contention.   Although I think that changes this week as Tampa, Cleveland, and St Louis starting gearing up for the race to the number one overall draft pick, the NFL's ultimate booby prize.