By Stephen Oh
Accuscore.com

The Packers not only won over the lowly Browns, their playoff chances (up over 25 percentage points) rose because of the Bears and Vikings losses. The Vikings only dropped -1.5 points because they lost a game they were expected to lose and they did have some good moments. The Bears, however, were blown out again due to a lack of a running game and Jay Cutler turnovers. These poor statistical performances negatively impact the Bears simulations for Week 8 through 17 and this is the reason why their playoff chances are down dramatically.

The Eagles and Cowboys both capitalized on the Giants struggles. The Eagles chances improved because they beat a division rival. The Cowboys chances improved because they beat a Wild Card competitor, in Atlanta. The Cowboys will likely find themselves in 2nd place to win the division next week behind whoever wins the Eagles-Giants game. This assumes their revived passing offense leads them to another win at home (vs Seattle).

The 49ers actually improved their chances despite losing last week. This is due to the strong performance from Alex Smith vs Houston. If Smith can improve the SF offense they still have a decent 20 percent chance of catching Arizona thanks to their Week 1 win at Arizona. The Cardinals saw their playoff chances improve to over 80 percent thanks to an impressive win over the Giants and a defense that is improving each week.

The Saints are approaching Colts territory with a 99 percent + chance of making the playoffs. Their Week 8 game vs the Falcons obviously will have a huge impact on playoff chances. While the Saints can ‘afford’ to lose a game, if Atlanta, down -12.5 points this week, can run the ball well and beat the Saints their playoff chances will increase by double digits. Currently, the Saints are a heavy 80 percent favorite in their game.