NFL playoff scenarios: Baltimore Ravens in the wild card hunt

With two weeks left in the National Football League's (NFL) competitive regular season, many teams are starting to show frayed nerves - particularly in the NFC East.

A pair of two-time Super Bowl-winning coaches let off steam following conference defeats on Sunday.

Beleaguered Washington Redskins coach Mike Shanahan walked out of his news conference and New York Giants helmsman Tom Coughlin called his offense "pathetic" and questioned the effort of some of his players.

Frustration on losing teams like the Redskins (3-11), who fell 27-26 to the Atlanta Falcons, and New York Giants (5-9), 23-0 losers to the NFL-best Seattle Seahawks, is hardly a surprise as the days dwindle down.

But the Dallas Cowboys need to regroup in a hurry after their stunning 37-36 home loss to the Green Bay Packers because their playoff future still rests in their own hands despite dropping to 7-7.

"This is one of the hardest losses that I've experienced," said Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, whose team led 26-3 at halftime. "That's a shame that we've lost that ballgame."

Cowboys wide receiver Dez Bryant, who had 11 catches for 153 yards and a touchdown, agreed but brought some shame on himself by walking off the field with 1:21 left in the game.

"I was wrong," Bryant told reporters on Monday during a visit to a children's hospital. "I couldn't watch Green Bay kneel the ball down on the field after a tough loss like that.

"I was very emotional. I cried when I got into the locker room. I didn't want to show that stuff on the sideline."

Stakes are high, especially for teams in the hunt to join the Super Bowl tournament.

Only the Seahawks (12-2) had clinched a playoff spot in the NFC ahead of Monday night's game between the Baltimore Ravens and Detroit Lions, while three AFC teams have booked their berths leaving eight positions waiting to be secured. The Ravens beat the Lions 18-16.

The Ravens, defending Super Bowl champs, improved to 8-6 and control of the AFC wild card. But Baltimore still faces the New England Patriots and Cincinnati Bengals. 

Detroit (7-7) has hurt its playoff chances by losing four of its past five, falling out of sole possession of first place in the NFC North to third place behind the division-leading Chicago Bears and Green Bay.

The Cowboys can still advance and host a playoff game if they can beat Washington on the road next week and NFC East-leading Philadelphia in Dallas in their regular season finale.

Dallas seemed to be in disarray as quarterback Tony Romo threw two interceptions in the last three minutes, and coach Jason Garrett said Romo should not have switched a call from a running play to a passing play that led to a pick.

"I think he'll be the first one to tell you he probably should have run the ball in that situation," Garrett said.

Dallas abandoned a running game that had been productive earlier in the contest, and the defense could not make stops.

Green Bay scored touchdowns on all five second-half possessions before taking a knee to run out the clock at the end. Dallas, banged up on defense, has yielded 82 points in losing their last two games against back-up quarterbacks.

"The second half was a complete debacle," cornerback Brandon Carr said. "We couldn't get off the field once again."

Shanahan abruptly left his news conference, tired of being asked about his future with the Skins after announcing last week he was benching last year's brilliant rookie quarterback Robert Griffin III to safeguard against possible injury.

Coughlin, winner of two NFL titles in the last seven years, said after the Seattle whitewashing: "I told the players who prepared and gave great effort that I appreciated what they did.

"And I told those that were obvious they had not, that I felt sorry for them because they're missing the whole point."

Even three-time Super Bowl-winning QB Tom Brady showed frayed nerves in a quick post-game press conference following the New England

Patriots' 24-20 loss to AFC East rivals Miami that kept the Pats from clinching the division title.
"We had plenty of chances all day," said Brady. "We made some good plays, and we made some (expletive) plays. Thank you."

 National Football League playoff race after Monday's game, based on order of potential seeding. (x - clinched playoff spot)
AMERICAN FOOTBALL CONFERENCE
1. x Denver (11-3)
2. New England (10-4)
3. Cincinnati (9-4)
4. x Indianapolis (9-5)
5. x Kansas City (11-3)
6. Baltimore (8-6)

Still alive
7. Miami (8-6)
8. San Diego (7-7)
9. Pittsburgh (6-8)

Eliminated
10. N.Y. Jets (6-8)
11. Tennessee (5-9)
12. Buffalo (5-9)
13. Oakland (4-10)
14. Jacksonville (4-10)
15. Cleveland (4-10)
16. Houston (2-12)

- - - -
NATIONAL FOOTBALL CONFERENCE
1. x Seattle (12-2)
2. New Orleans (10-4)
3. Philadelphia (8-6)
4. Chicago (8-6)
5. Carolina (10-4)
6. San Francisco (10-4)

Still Alive
7. Arizona (9-5)
8. Green Bay (7-6-1)
9. Detroit (7-7)
10. Dallas (7-7)

Eliminated
11. St. Louis (6-8)
12. N.Y. Giants (5-9)
13. Minnesota (4-9-1)
14. Tampa Bay (4-10)
15. Atlanta (4-10)
16. Washington (3-11) (Editing by Peter Rutherford and Frank Pingue)