There's a scenario where the Kansas City Chiefs make the playoffs and the Denver Broncos do not as discovered by the great Craig Stout.
Should the Chiefs, Steelers, Jets, and Bengals win out, Kansas City would host New York. Denver would miss the playoffs.
— Bobby Knight Ranger (@barleyhop) December 14, 2015
Go to ESPN's playoff machine and test it out yourself. This would give the Chiefs the AFC West title while the Steelers and Jets would get the two Wild Card spots, leaving nothing for the Broncos. That would be neat for a Chiefs fan!
The problem? Besides the Chiefs not having clinched anything yet. it's pretty darn unlikely to happen. Here are the schedules of each:
Broncos: at Steelers, Bengals, Chargers
Bengals: at 49ers, at Broncos, Ravens
Steelers: Broncos, at Ravens, at Browns
Jets: at Cowboys, Patriots, at Bills
If the Broncos have something to play for, they're probably beating the Chargers in Week 17. And it's tough to see the Jets beating the Patriots. The rest of it would be one hell of a parlay. The Chiefs probably have a better chance of winning the AFC West than the Broncos missing the playoffs entirely.
Use ESPN's playoff machine to find other fun AFC playoff scenarios.