National Football League

Plenty to play for last four weeks for most teams

Published Dec. 7, 2011 2:10 a.m. ET

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With four weeks left in the regular season, the Philadelphia Eagles and Buffalo Bills are reduced to playing a spoiler role.

Neither team appears capable of ruining any contender's playoff chances, though.

Miami, Arizona and Seattle also could be planning their January vacations. They've been out of it for a while, but those teams are playing well right now and seem intent on taking others down with them.

Denver was going nowhere at 1-4 under Kyle Orton. Then Tim Tebow stepped in and led the Broncos to six wins in the past seven games, including five second-half comebacks.

Two teams - Green Bay (12-0) and San Francisco (10-2) - have locked up division titles, and five other teams are 9-3 and headed toward the postseason barring collapses. There are 10 teams at .500 or better fighting for the remaining five playoff spots.

Much can happen over the final month of the season. Every team hopes to get hot and ride that momentum all the way to a Super Bowl title as the Packers did last season. Some are fighting just to get in and have a chance. Others are playing for nothing but pride.

No team has been a bigger disappointment than the Eagles (4-8). The defending NFC East champions had enormous expectations after adding several big-name players in an offseason spending spree to join Michael Vick, LeSean McCoy and DeSean Jackson.

Instead, they turned out to be the worst team money could buy. All of those new stars on defense - Nnamdi Asomugha, Jason Babin, Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie and Cullen Jenkins - struggled to play together and couldn't make up for the inexperience of offensive-line-coach-turned-defensive-coordinator Juan Castillo.

After blowing fourth-quarter leads in five of their first six losses, the Eagles have struggled mightily the past two weeks. They've been outscored 69-34 in losses to New England and Seattle. Though they are mathematically alive in a mediocre division, the only question left is whether coach Andy Reid will lose his job.

''I'm not concerned about coach Reid's situation,'' Vick said. ''I think everything is going to be just fine. We've had our bad breaks, games that we should have won, put ourselves in awesome positions to be in the ballgame and just couldn't pull it out whether we did it on offense or defense.

''Honestly, I just don't think coach Reid had anything to do with that. We all have watched the games, we've all seen it, we were all a part of it, we know the reasons why we didn't pull them out and it wasn't Coach's fault. To hear that, it kind of upsets me.''

Unlike the Eagles, the Bills (5-7) are where they were supposed to be at this point. They've already won one game more than last season so they're improving. But a surprising 5-2 start behind quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick raised expectations only to have them shattered by a five-game losing streak. Now the Bills are headed toward their seventh straight losing season instead of the playoffs.

''It's hard to realize where we are right now and where we were when we started the season with all the hope,'' said Fitzpatrick, who has struggled since signing a $59 million, six-year contract in October. ''It's unfortunate that we find ourselves in this spot.''

The Eagles have games remaining against two contending teams: the New York Jets (7-5) and NFC East-leading Dallas (7-5). The Bills could play a role in determining who wins the race in a close AFC West. They play San Diego (5-7) on Sunday and Denver (7-5) on Dec. 24.

Seeing Philadelphia or Buffalo on the schedule isn't going to scare anyone. It's a different story for teams that still have to play the Dolphins, Cardinals and Seahawks.

The Dolphins opened 0-7 and rumors that coach Tony Sparano was on the verge of getting fired were intense. But they've won four of five and players are desperately trying to save Sparano's job.

''He needs to stay, man,'' linebacker Karlos Dansby said. ''I'm going to push for him. We just started slow. We have a great coach. He knows what it takes now to put us in a position to win ballgames. It just takes time, man. Rome wasn't built in one day. Can't turn your back on him right now. Can't do it. Got to let him stay.''

The Cardinals started 1-6, but have won four of five, including a 19-13 overtime victory over the Cowboys on Sunday. At 5-7, they're two games behind three teams fighting for the two wild-card spots.

''We were 1-6 and we were playing just as hard ... fighting just as hard as we were the first week,'' quarterback Kevin Kolb said. ''You don't see that everywhere and that's a big reflection of our leadership, our coaches, and the players we have in the locker room. We just need to keep plugging and keep getting better.''

The Seahawks also are 5-7, a big turnaround after a 2-6 start. They beat the New York Giants on the road and beat AFC North-leading Baltimore last month.

''These guys are in it, they want to do well,'' Seattle coach Pete Carroll said. ''There's a great attitude in the locker room. These guys are fired up about working. They have not backed off yet, there's no time. Maybe some teams quit at this time of year, but we're still trying to do something.''

The Chargers didn't quit after a six-game losing streak dashed a 4-1 start. They routed Jacksonville on Monday night and pulled within two games of the Broncos and the Raiders. If San Diego wins its next three games, the Week 17 matchup at Oakland might be for the division.

''There won't be any quit in us. There never has been,'' quarterback Philip Rivers said. ''Teams that have quit don't fly across the country and do what we did on Monday night. We've got a lot of resilient guys.''

What happens over the course of the last four games reveals a lot about the character of players and coaches, and can determine the future direction of several franchises.

In some places - perhaps Philadelphia - it could signal change.

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AP Sports Writers John Wawrow in Orchard Park, N.Y., Steven Wine in Davie, Fla., Bob Baum in Tempe, Ariz., and Tim Booth in Seattle, contributed to this report.