Another week of NFL action is in the books, which means that more teams have been officially eliminated from playoff contention at this latter stage of the season. In the end, only 14 teams make the playoffs, while the other 18 are left on the outside looking in.
After Week 13, a total of five teams were already eliminated. This week, that number jumped up to nine, which is nearly one third of the league.
Nine teams have been eliminated from the NFL playoffs so far
These are the teams that have already been erased from the playoff picture:
- New York Giants (2-11)
- Arizona Cardinals (3-10)
- New Orleans Saints (3-10)
- Las Vegas Raiders (2-11)
- Tennessee Titans (2-11)
- New York Jets (3-10)
- Cleveland Browns (3-10)
- Washington Commanders (3-10)
- Atlanta Falcons (4-9)
There are still four weeks remaining in the regular season, so all of these teams will have a while to look in the mirror and reflect on what went wrong this season.
For the New York Jets, this will be the 15th consecutive season that the team failed to qualify for postseason play, which is the longest current streak in the NFL. The Jets last made the playoffs in 2010 when they made a run all the way to the AFC Championship.
The nine already-eliminated teams will likely get some company in the very near future, too. Teams like the Cincinnati Bengals (4-9) and Minnesota Vikings (5-8) are teetering on the edge of elimination.
While nine teams have been eliminated, no team has clinched a playoff berth yet.