It’s that time of the year. After 11 weeks, the NFL is full of teams whose fans still have grand playoff plans. After 10 games, here is a break-down of who is a contender and who is a pretender in this season’s NFL.

NFC:

The Bears will remain big-time contenders if they can keep Jay Cutler’s jersey cleaner when he returns. By Mike Morbeck (originally posted to Flickr as Jay Cutler) [CC-BY-SA-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Seattle Seahawks: Current record is 6-4, holding the final NFC playoff spot. This is a very young team that is improving each week. With wins against Dallas, Green Bay (controversial but still a W in the standings), New England and Minnesota, the Seahawks are showing the rest of the NFL they can play and play hard. With a pretty easy schedule the rest of the way, I expect the Seahawks to stay where they are. Contender

Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Current record is 6-4, sitting one spot out of the final playoff spot. Not taking anything away from them, but this team has beaten up on the bad teams and lost to the better teams. They remind me of the Cincinnati Bengals of last season. With a difficult schedule the rest of the season, I predict they will fall short of the postseason. Pretender

Minnesota Vikings: Current record is 6-4, sitting one spot out of the final playoff spot as well. Other than their week 3 win against San Francisco, none of their wins have been against contenders. They have used an easy schedule to get ahead. That trend stops now as they play the Bears and Packers twice and the Texans before the season ends. Pretender

New Orleans Saints: Current record is 5-5, sitting two spot out of the final playoff spot. After making us think they were left for dead by starting the season 0-4, the Saints have climbed their way back. The real test for them is in the next few weeks with matchups against the 49ers, Falcons and Giants but I think they will be fine. Contender

AFC:

Indianapolis Colts: Current record is 6-4, sitting 5^th in the playoff spots. So far this season, the surprise success of the Colts has been the talk of the NFL, but Andrew and his team are about to run out of luck. Losing to the Jets? Jaguars? They have to play the Texans twice before the end of the year. The surprise of the NFL so far may be contenders in the future, but they won’t be making the playoffs this season. Pretender

Pittsburgh Steelers: Current record is 6-4, holding onto the final playoff spot. After a shaky start to the year, the Steelers have found themselves. But another problem has risen: Big Ben is hurt. Without him, this team doesn’t do anything. Luckily for them, it shouldn’t be too long before their quarterback returns and they took a Ravens team to the brink without him. Roethlisberger should come back in a few weeks and till then the Steelers stand pat and make the playoffs. After all they are the Steelers. Contender

Despite their cheerleaders, the Bengals are pretenders. By Chris Breeze from May’s Lick, KY, USA (Team Spirit Uploaded by Tabercil) [CC-BY-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

San Diego Chargers: Current record is 4-6, sitting two spots out of the final playoff spot. This team is frustrating; they have so much talent yet they don’t do anything with it. With a tough schedule the rest of the way, the Chargers will fail to make the postseason yet again. Pretender

Tennessee Titans: Current record is 4-6, sitting two spots out of the final playoff spot as well. With impressive wins against Pittsburgh and Detroit, the Titans have kept themselves in the playoff hunt thus far. But bad losses and a difficult schedule keeps the Titans from making the playoffs yet again. Pretender