The absurdly premature playoff picture presents one man's projection for the NFL playoffs, at each given week in the season -- even if that week is unreasonably early. Top AFC seeds : Houston Texans, New England Patriots Other AFC division champs : Baltimore Ravens, Denver Broncos AFC Wild Cards : Pittsburgh Steelers, Miami Dolphins Top NFC seeds : Atlanta Falcons, Chicago Bears Other NFC division champs : New York Giants, San Francisco 49ers NFC Wild Cards : Green Bay Packers, Seattle Seahawks ? Week seven brings our biggest shakeup of the season thus far. We've got new first-round-bye teams in both conferences. It's real. Close your mouth and stop blinking at your computer screen, waiting for it to change. This is what happens here at the Absurdly Premature Playoff Picture. Minds get blown. ? As far as the Bears go, I hope I'm not falling into the trap of over-valueing a team's performance because it happened to be seen by a national audience in primetime. I see the Giants and 49ers as the other two teams that can stake a claim to that spot, but the Bears have the lightest remaining schedule of the three. That's the biggest factor. ? I know I took my sweet time in getting around to taking the Bears seriously, but I think it's time to admit my folly. I can't deny them anymore. My reasoning for holding back on the Bears was Jay Cutler, and no, I haven't come around on Cutler, but it's becoming increasingly clear that the Bears don't need Jay's A game to succeed. I still consider him a good candidate to blow a playoff game, but as far as the regular season goes, Jay can relax, light one up , and let the defense do the heavy lifting.
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