Things were much clearer in the NFC with all the seeded teams settled without any tiebreak situations. The Dallas Cowboys led the league with their 15-1 record; the only defeat coming at the hands of the then 4-3 Philadelphia Eagles 28-24 at Lincoln Financial Field in Week 9.
New Orleans also got a bye in the playoffs, only losing at Buffalo in Week 3 29-20, and a thriller at home to those Dallas Cowboys in Week 15 27-24.
The Minnesota Vikings were a further game back. After starting out 5-0 the Vikings dropped their only home game to Baltimore in Week 6 28-7. A second non-conference defeat occurred the following week in Pittsburgh 31-24, and the only loss to an NFC team happened in Carolina where the Panthers beat them 16-3 in Week 15.
San Francisco would have qualified with a .500 record, but three wins, two of which they were heavy favourites against, to end the season over the Eagles 20-13, the Lions 28-21, and the Rams 42-23 saw them finish 9-7, with the win over Detroit getting them to 4-4 at home.
Green Bay took the #5 seed, but lost both division games against the Vikings: 38-28 in Minnesota for Week 4; 27-24 at home in Week 8.
The final team also lost both meetings against their division winner. Carolina dropped the first one 20-13 at the Louisiana Superdome in Week 9, and then losing during the final day of the season in overtime 23-20 in a game of two halves.
NFC Wildcard Matchups
#6 Carolina Panthers @ #3 Minnesota Vikings
#5 Green Bay Packers @ #4 San Francisco 49ers.
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