Th 2015 NFL playoff picture is filling up quickly. The Kansas City Chiefs currently sit in the No. 5 playoff spot, which is the top AFC Wild Card team. The Houston Texans are right behind them. The division winners are the New England Patriots, Cincinnati Bengals, Denver Broncos and Indianapolis Colts. The only one of those division winners that could change before the end of the season is Houston beating out the Colts. Other than that, the top three seeds seem pretty locked in. The Chiefs, if they are a Wild Card team, would face either the third or fourth ranked teams here.
The Chiefs have two nice things going for them. They have just two AFC losses and they have key head to head tiebreakers over the Texans, Steelers, Bills and now they get their first of two shots against the Oakland Raiders. That will come into play if the Chiefs are tied with anyone else down the stretch. Of course, they need to keep winning...
Here's how things sit right now:
AFC playoff picture
1. New England Patriots (10-1)
2. Cincinnati Bengals (9-2, 7-1 in AFC)
3. Denver Broncos (9-2, 5-2 in AFC)
4. Indianapolis Colts (6-5, head-to-head win over HOU)
5. Kansas City Chiefs (6-5, 5-2 AFC, head-to-head win over HOU)
6. Houston Texans (6-5, 4-3 AFC, head-to-head losses to IND & KC, win over NYJ)
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7. New York Jets (6-5, 5-4 AFC, head-to-head loss to HOU)
8. Pittsburgh Steelers (6-5, 3-4 AFC)
9. Oakland Raiders (5-6, 5-3 AFC)
10. Buffalo Bills (5-6, 5-5 in AFC)
11. Jacksonville Jaguars (4-7, head-to-head win over MIA)
12. Baltimore Ravens (4-7)
13. Miami Dolphins (4-7, head-to-head loss to JAX)
14. San Diego Chargers (3-8)
15. Cleveland Browns (2-9)
16. Tennessee Titans (2-9)
Chiefs schedule
Week 13: @ Oakland Raiders (Dec. 6, 3:05 p.m., CBS)
Week 14: San Diego Chargers (Dec. 13, 12 p.m, CBS)
Week 15: @ Baltimore Ravens (Dec. 20, 12 p.m., CBS)
Week 16: Cleveland Browns (Dec. 27, 12 p.m., CBS)
Week 17: Oakland Raiders (Jan. 3, 12 p.m., CBS)
Who we're rooting for...
Chiefs over Raiders
Remember that none of this Wild Card talk or this tiebreaker talk matters if the Chiefs don't keep winning.
Bills over Texans
Would you rather the Bills or the Texans make the playoffs? I say the Bills, so I'm rooting for Buffalo to win here. This would make Houston and Buffalo both 6-6, and likely out of the AFC playoff picture.
Giants over Jets
The Jets are in the first spot out of the playoffs. A win here and a loss by either the Chiefs or Texans puts them in the playoff picture.
Steelers over Colts
My rationale on why I'm rooting for Indy over Pittsburgh is that the Chiefs own the tiebreaker over the Steelers in a tie the Chiefs will beat them out. Also a Colts loss could mean the Texans get one step closer in the AFC South. It's possible that Houston wins that division and then, if the Chiefs are in the fifth playoff spot, they would visit the winner of the AFC South. Given what happened in Indy in January a couple years ago, I'm rooting to see Houston in the playoffs.